Netherlands boss Ronald Koeman says he took Matthijs de Ligt off early on Tuesday night’s 2-2 draw with Germany for his own good.
The Manchester United defender was hooked at half-time and replaced by Brighton’s Jan Paul van Hecke after struggling to deal with both of the opponents’ goals in the UEFA Nations League clash.
He first misplaced a pass that led to Deniz Undav equalising for Germany at 1-0 down before clearing the ball straight to Joshua Kimmich, who bagged a second for the visitors.
De Ligt also didn’t have his best performance in the 5-2 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina a few days earlier.
And head coach Koeman admits he needed to protect him after another poor display.
Speaking to Dutch broadcaster NOS, he said: “Of course I would rather have kept [Matthijs de Ligt] on the pitch.
🗣️ – Koeman: “Of course I would rather have kept Matthijs de Ligt on the pitch. It just looks like he is now in a period where all his mistakes are being punished. I gave him a new chance today, but eventually protected him by taking him off.” pic.twitter.com/I8hOqYyy9D
— 𝐀𝐅𝐂 𝐀𝐉𝐀𝐗 💎 (@TheEuropeanLad) September 10, 2024
“It just looks like he is now in a period where all his mistakes are being punished.
“I gave him a new chance today but eventually I protected him by taking him off.”
The 45-cap international joined Manchester United last month from Bayern Munich in a deal worth £42million.
And while he will likely merge as a regular starter for the Red Devils, his place in the Netherlands starting XI is not certain.
He is facing competition from Virgil van Dijk, Nathan Ake, Micky van de Ven, Jurrien Timber, Van Hecke and Sven Botman.
So if he wants to keep his place under Koeman, he needs to sharpen up.
