Mathijs de Ligt will never be the player that many thought he would be when he came through at Ajax, and Erik ten Hag is partly to blame for it.
That’s according to Dutch pundits René van der Gijp and Johan Derksen, via Soccer News, who both agree that it may only be a downward path for De Ligt in future.
De Ligt moved to Manchester United in the summer as part of the continued rebuild under Erik ten Hag, who was keen to bring another of his former Ajax proteges to Old Trafford.
The move came after spells at Juventus and Bayern Munich had failed to work out for the Dutch centre-back.
He was once considered a rising star in Europe after breaking through under Ten Hag at Ajax but has failed to live up those expectations, or the big price tags put on him, in the intervening years.
His early career at Manchester United has been somewhat rocky too, with a series of shaky performances, as well as a horror show on international duty for the Netherlands, leading to further criticism and scrutiny.
The hope that he could perhaps bounce back at Manchester United and show his true talent is starting to fade and Van der Gijp and Derksen agree that will never happen, a rare instance of the pair agreeing on anything.
“That De Ligt gets a lot of criticism there,” said the former on Today Inside.
“I had the idea that he would develop in the direction of Gerard Piqué, rather than in the direction he has now gone. Ruthless, lying on the ground, making sliding tackles. Such a shame. He has now chosen that direction, so that won’t be him anymore. A real shame.”
“I really thought he was a talent at Ajax. There is no one who could head as well as De Ligt,” added Derksen.
“It is always unwise as a trainer to only bring in compatriots. That went wrong at Barcelona, when all those Dutch people were at Real Madrid it went wrong, but things only went well with Gullit, Van Basten and Rijkaard at Milan.”
