Matthijs de Ligt image 4

Matthijs de Ligt Netherlands flag

2025-26 Performances

View full 2025-26 profile

6.2 Season Average Rating
Appearances
12
Clean sheets
1
Goals
1
Assists
0
Yellow cards
0

IRN-BRUno

Full Member
Joined
May 26, 2021
Messages
2,189
https%3A%2F%2Fsportsmole-media-prod.s3.gra.io.cloud.ovh.net%2F25%2F15%2Fmatthijs-de-ligt.jpg


Full Name: Matthijs de Ligt
Date of Birth: Aug 12, 1999
Nationality: Netherlands
Height: 189cm
Squad Number: 4
Position: Defender - Centre-Back
Foot: Right
Player Agent: Rafaela Pimenta
Contract expires: Jun 30, 2029
Contract option: Option for a further year​
 
Decent in a back four but his limitations are horribly exposed in a 3.
 
FrankDrebin said:
Decent in a back four but his limitations are horribly exposed in a 3.
Click to expand...

What are you basing that on?

I know we need a quicker CCB than de Ligt (and certainly Maguire) but de Ligt had quite a few good games last season.
 
Bastian said:
What are you basing that on?

I know we need a quicker CCB than de Ligt (and certainly Maguire) but de Ligt had quite a few good games last season.
Click to expand...
He can't play or carry the ball from the back into midfield. His passing is equally limited.
He's a OK rough and tumble centre in a backfour but he is extremely ineffective in a 3 because so much of the role relies on his ball playing, which he has none.
 
FrankDrebin said:
He can't play or carry the ball from the back into midfield. His passing is equally limited.
He's a OK rough and tumble centre in a backfour but he is extremely ineffective in a 3 because so much of the role relies on his ball playing, which he has none.
Click to expand...
Agreed. De Ligt's limitations are far more apparent in a 3. Mobility and ball playing ability aren't among his strong points, yet he is the one moving up into midfield to bolster numbers. It doesn't make any sense to me.

I can't see him remaining a starter if we continue playing a back 3 beyond this season. He might have more of a chance if we revert back to a 4.
 
FrankDrebin said:
He can't play or carry the ball from the back into midfield. His passing is equally limited.
He's a OK rough and tumble centre in a backfour but he is extremely ineffective in a 3 because so much of the role relies on his ball playing, which he has none.
Click to expand...

I don't disagree about his limitations, but given the enormity of what we need to do with the squad I'm fine with him for the season ahead. More concerning is the absolute shite midfield in front of the defense that cannot pick up the ball and circulate it at a good tempo.

We'll likely address the glaring issues up front and in goal, but the midfield is poor and it doesn't help either when you're playing RWBs like Dalot who cannot beat a man to save his life. I don't think we'll buy another centre back until Maguire's contract runs out next summer.
 
Oh, I agree. I think next summer we'll concentrate on midfield and defence. All about the offense this summer, which is logical considering we're moving so many attackers out.
 
He was an odd signing, just don't get why we spent a good chunk of money on someone with similar characteristics to maguire
 
He's the worst ball player of our CBs. Which is a problem in a system relying on them for progression.

The way I see it there's one spot up for grabs in our first XI either side of Yoro and Maguire, between him, Shaw, Maz and Heaven.
 
Matt851 said:
He was an odd signing, just don't get why we spent a good chunk of money on someone with similar characteristics to maguire
Click to expand...
I think Maguire is the more natural footballer on the ball but he's almost equally limited.
Both turn like a oil tanker though
 
He's not a first choice quality player in a side challenging for the title (albeit so much went wrong last season, we didnt see the best of him). But still, you'd have to have a pretty good squad to reach the point where you had no room for him on the bench.
 
Leftback99 said:
He's the worst ball player of our CBs. Which is a problem in a system relying on them for progression.

The way I see it there's one spot up for grabs in our first XI either side of Yoro and Maguire, between him, Shaw, Maz and Heaven.
Click to expand...

Yeah nah, Maguire isn't starting. You need to accept that.
 
He was very good tonight. He was composed and he had a couple of good interceptions and tackles. He should be our starting center back the next season.
 
Very good in the box but was at fault for the west ham goal. He should have stepped up and closed the gap in midfield.
 
ManRed said:
Very good in the box but was at fault for the west ham goal. He should have stepped up and closed the gap in midfield.
Click to expand...

Yeah agree. This really has to be addressed by the CCB and Amorim. Three CBs will natural get comfortable sitting behind the halfway line covering each other but this just leads to ceding too much space behind the midfield.

I really hope I'm wrong but I'm not holding my breath thinking these tactical issues will be fixed by Amorim soon as it was prevalent in his Sporting teams too. A fairly gung-ho press, getting bypassed and then a deep defensive line. A not-so-worse version of ETH's 4-2-4 in essence but still bad.
 
FrankDrebin said:
I think Maguire is the more natural footballer on the ball but he's almost equally limited.
Both turn like a oil tanker though
Click to expand...
I think De Ligt has always been quicker than Maguire but I agree that Maguire is better with the ball (though can be wasteful). He’s definitely got to step up this season though.

Big year for his career I feel. A World Cup year too and the Netherlands have a ridiculous amount of options at centre back. He’ll have to be good to get back in to that team.
 
I don't think he is at fault there, even if he is, it's not a huge issue as he is usually a lot more proactive than most other centre backs and will probably play his way into his usual form.

I thought he was excellent defending the box yesterday and was used well in the build up, it is something he will get better at and it was good early signs.
 
Irwin99 said:
I think De Ligt has always been quicker than Maguire but I agree that Maguire is better with the ball (though can be wasteful). He’s definitely got to step up this season though.

Big year for his career I feel. A World Cup year too and the Netherlands have a ridiculous amount of options at centre back. He’ll have to be good to get back in to that team.
Click to expand...
Think de Ligt can forget that anyway, even if he goes to the World Cup he is not playing much.

He's messed up so many times and the Dutch CB position is one of the most stacked in world football (Van Dijk, Timber, Van der Ven, Botman, Ake, Van Hecke, Geertruida, Hato, de Vrij, Beukema, de Ligt + Flamingo en Goes coming through as well).

Think he's toast.
 
Irwin99 said:
I think De Ligt has always been quicker than Maguire but I agree that Maguire is better with the ball (though can be wasteful). He’s definitely got to step up this season though.

Big year for his career I feel. A World Cup year too and the Netherlands have a ridiculous amount of options at centre back. He’ll have to be good to get back in to that team.
Click to expand...

VVD, Ake, De Ligt, De Vrij, Timber, Van Hecke, vd Ven are our main options, with also Flamingo (PSV) and Beukema (Napoli just paid 30million for him) coming up.

I dont reckon De Ligt will start for NL in the coming World Cup regardless of the season he will have, as he is not compatible with VVD in a back four. They havent paired successfully in the past and VVD is nailed as a starter. De Ligt needs to make sure he is ready to be thé starting Centre Back once VVD will stop after the upcoming World Cup.
 
FrankDrebin said:
He can't play or carry the ball from the back into midfield. His passing is equally limited.
He's a OK rough and tumble centre in a backfour but he is extremely ineffective in a 3 because so much of the role relies on his ball playing, which he has none.
Click to expand...
Completely agree about his passing abilities. Has neither vision or passing skills.

Was it always like this, also at Ajax @BrilliantOrange? I feel he was part of an Ajax team that mastered many things.
 
ROFLUTION said:
Completely agree about his passing abilities. Has neither vision or passing skills.

Was it always like this, also at Ajax @BrilliantOrange? I feel he was part of an Ajax team that mastered many things.
Click to expand...

He was never a master passer, but in the Ajax system with Blind, Schone, Frenkie, Mazraoui and Ziyech closely around him in build up all he needed to do was give them the ball.. It was not expected from him. I can imagine that in a system where you have fewer passers around you, that the shortcomings become more visible.. De Ligt was great in leading the defense and more than capable of doing in possession what was expected of him, meaning give the ball to one of the many creative players around him.

Same for Donny in that Ajax side.. Donny was never a creator, but had Ziyech, Schone, Frenkie, Tadic, Neres around him to deliver the ball in the box.. All Donny needed to do was play in combination deeper on the pitch and get in the box when the ball was there and he was great at that for us.. If you expect him to be creative on the ball as a potential Bruno replacement, purely because has is at #10, you are going to be very disappointed.

If you expect De Ligt to be the creative mastermind in build up, you will be dissapointed. If you surround him with players who will do that and you expect him to lead the defense, thats something you could expect from him..
 
FrankDrebin said:
He can't play or carry the ball from the back into midfield. His passing is equally limited.
He's a OK rough and tumble centre in a backfour but he is extremely ineffective in a 3 because so much of the role relies on his ball playing, which he has none.
Click to expand...
He’s a decent squad option for a back 3 but that’s it.
 
I feel like lots of people massively underrate him here. I thought he was easily our best and most consistent defender last year, provided some real leadership and fighting spirit a chipped in with some goals too.
What we have to remember is our main defensive problem was teams running rampant past our non existent midfield. No defense on earth would look good when they are constantly faced by strikers AND midfielders ahead of all our other players. It’s just impossible
 
Adamsk7 said:
I feel like lots of people massively underrate him here. I thought he was easily our best and most consistent defender last year, provided some real leadership and fighting spirit a chipped in with some goals too.
What we have to remember is our main defensive problem was teams running rampant past our non existent midfield. No defense on earth would look good when they are constantly faced by strikers AND midfielders ahead of all our other players. It’s just impossible
Click to expand...
That's the United way I suppose, people convince themselves that Bruno actually works at CM, but also blame everything else other than our non existing midfield for the team being carved open whenever an opposition player decides to run through the core of the team.
 
Insanity said:
With the overall cost of the deal he was another terrible purchase.
Click to expand...
If you only believe he is a squad player, sure. I think he should be starting and is a very good player though.
 
FrankDrebin said:
He can't play or carry the ball from the back into midfield. His passing is equally limited.
He's a OK rough and tumble centre in a backfour but he is extremely ineffective in a 3 because so much of the role relies on his ball playing, which he has none.
Click to expand...
Yes he is no Franz Beckenbauer I agree.
 
JJ12 said:
If you only believe he is a squad player, sure. I think he should be starting and is a very good player though.
Click to expand...
I think he'd be good for a team that plays a low line or in a low block. A CCB in a three should ideally have excellent ball playing skills and recovery pace, which he has neither.
 
Insanity said:
I think he'd be good for a team that plays a low line or in a low block. A CCB in a three should ideally have excellent ball playing skills and recovery pace, which he has neither.
Click to expand...
Do you think Yoro is eventually the CCB? I know given how far advanced the WB's can be in this system the LCB and RCB need to be agile/fast in order to cover the wider areas. Which may mean we need to over haul the position to a degree next summer.
 
JJ12 said:
Do you think Yoro is eventually the CCB? I know given how far advanced the WB's can be in this system the LCB and RCB need to be agile/fast in order to cover the wider areas. Which may mean we need to over haul the position to a degree next summer.
Click to expand...
He does have the tools.

With 'Arry leaving and Martinez's limitations I think we'll definitely address the position next season.
 
He seemed to blame the ground for that own goal maybe the pitch was crap.
 
JJ12 said:
Do you think Yoro is eventually the CCB? I know given how far advanced the WB's can be in this system the LCB and RCB need to be agile/fast in order to cover the wider areas. Which may mean we need to over haul the position to a degree next summer.
Click to expand...

He was absolutely brilliant for Ajax in a very high line with Daley Blind next to him, Mazraoui and Tagliafico only running forwards as fullbacks and Frenkie and Schone in front of him, which are neither defensive cm's,.. He is a lot quicker than you think ánd if the press high up field is good then the backline will also be less exposed in general.. So he has proven he can be very good in a high line as well..

I think the main problem with him in a back 3 is that he is really bound to the middle position.. Where I think he is underrated in the ability to defend spaces in his back vertically, he has more problems (both on the ball and defensively) when he needs to move further away from centre and to the sidelines.. He is just far less comfortable there in general..
 
That being said I still really think he can be monumental for us if he can stay fit and the teams organization will get better in general.. With Mazraoui/Yoro next to him on the right and Martinez/Heaven/Shaw next to him on the left I really think he can lead our defense and has the ability and potential to be our captain for another 5 years after Bruno leaves...
 
He needs to start ahead of Maguire. I know Arry can play a long ball but he can only do so to the left side. When he passes right it takes him ages to orient his body and then play a pass to the right that takes another age in the air before it finds the winger/wb, who is under pressure by that point.

De Ligt isn't exactly agile, but he's much more so than Maguire both with the ball and without. Also has recovery pace even if his first 5 yards are slow.

Long term I expect one of Yoro or Heaven to take that role, but probably not for a couple years
 
You must log in or register to reply here.