Pundit Robbie Mustoe has expressed his concern about Manchester United centre-back Matthijs de Ligt.
This follows the defender’s performance in the 3-2 loss to Nottingham Forest in the Premier League fixture played at Old Trafford on Saturday.
De Ligt joined United in the summer for €45 million, but he has not made any significant impact on the club’s defence.
The 25-year-old has started the majority of the Red Devils’ games this season and has been named in the starting line-up of every game played under manager Ruben Amorim.
He played alongside Lenny Yoro and Lisandro Martinez in a three-man defence against Forest and did not impress.
Mustoe is worried about De Ligt’s suitability for the Premier League and playing in Amorim’s three-man defensive set-up.
He told NBC Sports: “De Ligt worries me, to be honest with you. At this level in the Premier League, when you haven’t got a ton of protection around you, you are asked to defend one-on-one.”
The Dutch centre-back was supposed to help the Red Devils’ defence become solid, but he has not done much to justify his acquisition.
He is too slow to react to situations, and his reading of the game and aggressiveness need to be better.
He ranks 12th for most tackles per game in the United squad and ranks fourth for most interceptions per game, behind Martinez, Kobbie Mainoo and Diogo Dalot.
De Ligt has been decent with the ball. He has recorded 92 percent pass completion, the joint-highest in the United squad, and he is only behind Martinez for the most passes per game.
To get the best out of him, Amorim should not play him as a wide centre-back because he lacks the pace and aggressiveness to play there.
He is suited to playing as a central centre-back and should be rotated with Harry Maguire for that position.
Stats from sofascore.com.
Article written by Henry Thornton .
