- 13 hours ago
How Ten Hag can save De Ligt's career at Man Utd
Jacque Talbot
- 12 Aug 2024 08:28 BST
- 4 min read
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 experienced Harry Maguire; reliable, efficient on the ball, but not much else?
READ MORE: Man Utd 'ready' third Branthwaite offer for defender after Yoro injury
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 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.
How De Ligt would work at Man Utd
Ten Hag said of his former player back in 2019: "I do not know if Matthijs de Ligt has shown 60 to 80 per cent of his potential. 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."
Current ETV
Matthijs de Ligt
D (C)
Bayern
Matthijs de Ligt
D (C)
Bayern
ETV Range
€40.9M - €68.2M
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 phase 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.
De Ligt isn't a stopper but rather a complete defender, competent in all areas. Being the last man is an important job and it would serve Ten Hag to give Andre Onana more freedom to come off his line. The Cameroonian goalkeeper enjoys a high volume of touches (42.59 per 90 minutes) but is in the lower bracket for defensive actions outside the penalty area (less than one a game) and a minimal average distance for those touches (12.4 yards from goal).
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.
