Matthijs de Ligt agrees with Rúben Amorim over Erik ten Hag Manchester United claim

Matthijs de Ligt has agreed with Rúben Amorim over a claim the media have made surrounding changing from Erik ten Hag’s old Manchester United formation.

Rúben Amorim’s first six weeks as Manchester United’s head coach have been fraught with challenges after he took over from Erik ten Hag in November.

A disappointing run of form sees the team sitting 14th in the Premier League, and they now face a daunting trip to league leaders Liverpool on Sunday—a match many fear could end in humiliation.

United’s best chances of salvaging their season lie in the Europa League or pulling off an upset against Arsenal in the FA Cup next weekend, as they aim to retain the trophy they claimed under Ten Hag in 2024.

With limited time for structured training sessions, Amorim has been forced to evaluate his squad’s strengths and weaknesses on the pitch, adding to the difficulty of his early tenure.

De Ligt agrees with Amorim over Ten Hag claim

In the media, many have been discussing whether Amorim’s decision to employ his 3-4-3 formation from the get-go has been too much to handle for United players.

Under Ten Hag, the side played a staunch 4-2-3-1 formation, but Amorim’s shift has seen the players falter on more than one occasion, leading many to theorise that the change has caused more problems.

However, Amorim has been keen to explain in the media that there has not been as much change as they are saying, and that a lot of the principles United players had under Ten Hag have remained the same.

This is a point that defender Matthijs de Ligt has agreed with. The Netherlands international has explained that he feels a lot of the build-up play is similar as they used a back-three to do so under the former manager.

“I think people from the outside are looking into it too much,” the 25-year-old told club media. “If you saw our matches this season, it was also with Ten Hag, we build up always with a three, with Diogo Dalot as an inverted midfielder.

Read More: Manchester United ‘make contact’ to sign £33m midfielder after star was ‘confirmed’ to leave

“So, we built up with a three like we do now. We defended high up the pitch with one full-back, so we defended also with a three. With [Ruud] van Nistelrooy it was also the same, we built up with a three.

“I can understand that people are always watching and looking to find a solution but the only thing we can do is to control our performances, control our way of working, and that’s what we try to do.”

Make sure to follow UtdDistrict on X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok to never miss out on any of our Manchester United content. Our podcast, What the Devil?, is released every Wednesday at 6 pm (BST) on the United View YouTube channel.