Matthijs de Ligt has revealed why he thinks his start to the season has been so impressive at the heart of Rúben Amorim’s defensive three.
Manchester United signed Matthijs de Ligt in 2024, joining the club with Noussair Mazraoui to reunite with Erik ten Hag. While the former Ajax defenders only played under their former boss for three months, both have excelled under Rúben Amorim.
Mazraoui has struggled with injuries since the start of the summer, having picked up an issue against Leeds United in the pre-season opener, keeping him out of the side until the Burnley match before the first international break of the Premier League season.
De Ligt, however, has been brilliant in the centre of Amorim’s back three. The Dutchman locked down Viktor Gyokeres on the opening day of the season, while he has also impressed on the right side of the defensive three when Harry Maguire has started in the centre.
Against Chelsea, de Ligt played a crucial role as he often stepped up from the backline to close down the midfield, something Leny Yoro and Luke Shaw have struggled with while playing as a wide-centre-back under Amorim.
De Ligt has been important to United this season, and he has now revealed the reason behind his good run of form.
De Ligt states pre-season as crucial factor
In an interview for MUTV, de Ligt shared that he believed pre-season was a crucial factor in why he had been impressive at the start of this campaign. He said: “I am happy with the way I started, personally. I feel good physically and mentally. I try to help the team as much as possible in every game.
“Obviously, we are not in the place where we want to be in the long term, but I feel like we are also improving as a team and, hopefully in the next weeks, we can get some good results.
“Well, the first thing that’s really important is I had a proper pre-season. I feel, for me and my body, pre-season is always really important and I think it was one of the first pre-seasons in five or six years when I didn’t have a transfer, an injury or a Euros.”
The Dutch international continued to say: “The last time was probably my last season at Ajax and that was actually one of the best seasons of my career! I feel it is a big thing that is really important.
“I feel that, mentally and physically, I am in a really good place. I feel quite confident. Obviously, my team-mates and the manager help a lot because they give me this confidence. I think I am also used to the Premier League as well now, the pace, which helps also. Overall, these are the most important things that take me to this level at the moment.”
De Ligt could force Heaven into January loan
Ayden Heaven joined United not to push for a first-team spot immediately, but to compete for one in the future. However, his training performances – and injuries in Amorim’s squad – led him to four Premier League appearances last season, in which he won the hearts of United fans.
The former Arsenal youngster looked brilliant on the left side of United’s back three, filling in for Lisandro Martínez after his ACL injury. Luke Shaw, who has started in that position this season, was injured at the time, but Heaven’s presence didn’t worry United fans.
However, this season, Heaven has yet to start a Premier League match and looked poor in the Carabao Cup loss to Grimsby Town. At 19 years old, Heaven just needs to be playing regular competitive football, something that seems unlikely at Old Trafford this season.
With Martínez close to a return and de Ligt in the form of his United career, a January loan move for Heaven seems a sensible option. He could excel in the Championship like Harry Amass and Radek Vitek.
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