The Netherlands’ head coach, Ronald Koeman, was quick to assess new Manchester United defender Matthijs de Ligt after their 5-2 victory against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the UEFA Nations League.
Nevertheless, De Ligt received some flak after he was at the heart of both Bosnian goals, and it elicited responses from the Dutch fans.
Matthijs de Ligt constantly looking at the ball while Dzeko scores..
Koeman’s response to Defensive Mistakes
Netherlands seized the early initiative through a goal from Joshua Zirkzee, but Bosnia equalized through Ermedin Demirovic whose body was positioned against De Ligt.
Demirovic was offside initially, but the Manchester United defender failed to make this realisation before playing him onside, hence scoring.
However, Koeman didn’t hold back, assessing that De Ligt had made these mistakes but also saying that it is wrong to make a big drama out of it since these are common in football.
This is not the first time Matthijs de Ligt makes a mistake. Does it start to worry you now? “Matthijs de Ligt himself knows that he did wrong. This can’t happen.”
De Ligt losses concentration
Fans didn’t hold back, putting the Manchester United defender through the sword as tags like “Dutch Maguire” went viral. One X user said, “How can Manchester United have this guy and Onana in defence? He’s a very terrible defender. Another added no wonder: “Bayern sold him so cheap.”
New Manchester United signings in action as Netherlands win emphatically
Koeman was satisfied with the team’s actions for the most of the time, with an emphasis on their speed and smooth passing in the final third.
He said they did well in handling them, especially in the second half, but they should have sealed the match before Dzeko scored. Mainly, Koeman insisted that, even though the team lost two goals, they played great, and Bosnia scored a goal from very few opportunities.
The Dutch team emerged winners of this match with goals from Zirkzee, Reijnders, Gakpo, Weghorst, and Xavi Simons.