Matthijs de Ligt image 4

Matthijs de Ligt Netherlands flag

2025-26 Performances

View full 2025-26 profile

6.2 Season Average Rating
Appearances
14
Clean sheets
1
Goals
1
Assists
0
Yellow cards
0
BrilliantOrange said:
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..
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I fully agree but I have to admit I was a little surprised with his passing abilities after he left Ajax. Never realized how much Blind and Schone covered up for this flaw of him.
 
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
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I agree he's a bit underrated. While I think he's pretty reliable, he also makes some mistakes (surprisingly to me) but still more reliable than other CBs bar Harry, defensively. He wasn't always fit to play, which is my concern. Think he will only get better in Amorim's system. Takes time to get used to it and solve midfield issues, but De Light for the money was a goo buy, we could have bought someone like Lindelof who would stink the place for many years. De Light will be a good servant, still 25
 
Bondi77 said:
I still think Harry is the better player.
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There's no doubt at all from watching performances. The hope is that he improves coming into what should be his peak years, while Maguire will starting to decline.
 
Bondi77 said:
I still think Harry is the better player.
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I would say de Ligt smells danger much better than any other centre back at the club. He's the best centre back attacking set pieces (despite Maguire's height). He is also the best centre back at stepping out of defense to win the ball higher up the pitch. And he's probably the best tackler of them all, to a fault. Both he and Martinez are happy to fly in, which is fun, and a good thing to have so opponents are psychologically limited knowing they could get smashed. But both he and Martinez can do it too much and injure themselves with needless tackles. I was pleased to see him let go of one opportunity against Bournemouth where he could have flown in.

In terms of the buildup, Maguire has a better passing range, but Maguire is the #1 issue in our slow build up. He takes on average 4-5 touches before the ball moves, and those touches are laboured. De Ligt, despite not being a ball playing centre back, tries to keep up the tempo. I would say Yoro is the best, followed by Martinez, in terms of upping the tempo and being positive, Martinez the best ball player obviously.

If you just want someone to win the aerial battle Maguire is clearly untouchable.
 
He has a lot of good attributes and suits the PL but has a good few brainfarts as well.
 
Disaster playing out from the back with him, especially when he's the central leading cb in a 3.
 
FrankDrebin said:
Disaster playing out from the back with him, especially when he's the central leading cb in a 3.
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I think the central role suits him better in Amorims system where the central CB has less responsibility in progressing the ball.
 
I have not seen any preseason games but he as central CB and our slow and underwhelming midfield really concern me.
 
I know he's not exactly great on the ball but the CCB going straight into midfield and not being an obvious pass option is such a baffling poor tactical choice from Amorim. I don't understand the intent or execution at all. Really hampers our already weakened midfield play.
 
FrankDrebin said:
Disaster playing out from the back with him, especially when he's the central leading cb in a 3.
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Yep. And he is so slow to react to danger in front of him at times which is concerning with our midfield options. Also got bullied in the air by Everton which was surprising.
 
Dominos said:
Was Maguire starting today a sign Amorim is eyeing Maguire as the starter for the first game? And presumably the season unless he has some shockers that results in him being dropped.

If we've spent 50m on De Ligt and significant wages only to conclude he needs benching in favour of a 32 year old Maguire then you have to wonder what the hell our recruitment team are doing. This is an Ineos era signing too.
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Healthy competition for places, what is not to like about it. Maguire was been good and consistent all preseason and De Ligt has been looked pretty good as well.
 
Dominos said:
Was Maguire starting today a sign Amorim is eyeing Maguire as the starter for the first game? And presumably the season unless he has some shockers that results in him being dropped.

If we've spent 50m on De Ligt and significant wages only to conclude he needs benching in favour of a 32 year old Maguire then you have to wonder what the hell our recruitment team are doing. This is an Ineos era signing too.
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It’s a lot of assumptions based on this friendly. He’s started in 3 of the last 5 friendlies, Maguire 2. I wouldn’t read too much in to it yet, he’s either still testing his lineup or keeping them both fresh.
 
Fantastic performance. When he is good, he is crazy good defensively.. our frontline, especially Mbeumo were great as well, but he was MOTM for me
 
Great performance. Need to trust him more and just let him play as many games in a row as possible. We can’t play a different back 3 every 2/3 games
 
MoTM for me. Can't remember if he was at fault for the goal (not strong enough). If not, that was a 9/10 performance.
 
We are lucky to have him If he stays fit nobody is displacing him.
 
Wow. Monster CB. All of those regularly slagging hom off dont have a clue. People really think this guy was basically the most wanted CB in the world at one point for nothing? He's unreal when he's on form. Long may that continue.
 
Top tier today. Dominated practically every situation and showed his class.
 
Saw the player we thought he'd be way back when he was at Ajax.

Absolute beast of a defender. Hope he continues this way. Rock solid.
 
Was excellent today and looks in better shape than last year? Hope he can stay fit for the full season and keep improving.
 
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