How Ten Hag can save De Ligt’s career at Man Utd
There is a certain glibness surrounding the transfer of Matthijs de Ligt to Manchester United.
A 24-year-old ball-playing centre-back who should be in the prime of his career heading to Old Trafford from Bayern Munich.
But it’s not the mega transfer that one working with Ajax in 2017 would have expected given the talent of De Ligt. He enters the club, not without any fanfare, but a rather reserved expectation about what’s to come. Are we going to see the second reckoning of Jaap Stam, or will it be another, less experience, Harry Maguire; reliable, efficient on the ball, but not much else?
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De Ligt has been with a spate of elite clubs during his relatively short career, but none have worked as expected.
Thomas Tuchel, former Bayern Munich manager, found the player too slow in the build-up and overly reliant on sideways passes, which doesn’t fit his tactical preferences.
Bayern president Uli Hoeness this summer said De ligt could be sold this summer, with a preference for Dayot Upamecano.
He said, “We still have to wait and see whether De Ligt will come. But the good thing is, during my vacation I was out of the process for three or four weeks.”
“During that period it was really the club, the newly established scouting and recruitment department, that brought in these players.”
During his three years at Juventus, De Ligt struggled to fulfill his potential. Despite featuring in over 30 Serie A matches each season, the Dutchman never quite reached the heights expected of him with the Bianconeri.
But the defender was outstanding in Ajax’s run to the 2018-19 Champions League semi-finals under Ten Hag and this is something we can see replicated.
Current ETV
Matthijs de Ligt
D (C)
Bayern
Matthijs de Ligt
D (C)
Bayern
ETV Range
€40.9M – €68.2M
“I do not know if Matthijs de Ligt has shown 60 to 80 per cent of his potential,” the Man Utd boss said back in 2019. “But we are talking about one of the best defenders in Europe and I have no doubt that he will soon be number one in this position.”
How De Ligt would work at Man Utd
What can change at Man Utd? Under Ten Hag, Ajax mostly lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation that occasionally resembled a 4-3-3 during the season. It was difficult to pinpoint their build-up structure due to the many variations they employed, but they played a higher tempo with short passes. They utilised diagonal passing lanes to progress the ball from one end of the pitch to the other. The method worked superbly for De Ligt.
At Man Utd, the build-up phrase is a little slower. But they still enjoy making long balls over the final line to make 1v1 situations. Lisnadro Martinez is deployed as the main provider to the attacking third or half from defence. But the Argentine has suffered injuries that make his duration of next season questionable.
When Martinez plays, De Ligt will be solid in enduring those battles with attackers if a transition occurs. He is an immense dueler. But he can also play as the ball-player if Martinez is out.
The most important aspect, however, is getting De Ligt’s confidence back, and there is no better man to do that than his initial teacher – Ten Hag.