Manchester United striker Joshua Zirkzee has come out to defend teammate Mathijs de Ligt, insisting he is “great for us”.
ViaPlay have an interview with the Dutchman today in which he backs his club and international teammate after a difficult few weeks.
De Ligt found himself being hauled off at half time by Netherlands manager Ronald Koeman after a costly mistake in a 2-2 draw with Germany.
That led to a week’s worth of discourse about the defender, his future with the national team and a focus on his performances for Manchester United so far as well.
He managed to bounce back after a tricky start in the clash with Southampton, though, bagging the opening goal of the game in the eventual comfortable 3-0 victory.
He celebrated that wildly and was joined in doing so by Zirkzee, who admits he was simply happy for his teammate after a difficult period.
“It was nice to see him score. Matthijs is of course my buddy here. Also in the Dutch team,” he said.
“I don’t really want to say it, but I think it was written about him in a difficult period because of what happened at the Dutch national team. I don’t think that had an effect on him.
“But I was just super happy for him. He also played great. He’s in the group. He’s great for us. I was just very happy.”
Dutch connections can be found in plentiful number at Manchester United these days, with Erik ten Hag adding the likes of Ruud van Nistelrooy and Rene Hake to his backroom team.
That also includes the players he’s signed with Dutchmen such as De Ligt and Zirkzee joined by other former Ajax alums such as Antony, Noussair Mazraoui and Lisandro Martinez.
Zirkzee is more than happy with that, particularly the presence of Van Nistelrooy, who he is sure he can learn plenty from to develop his own game.
“I want to keep it a secret,” he added when asked about what he’s working on with the former striker.
“(It’s) Great. He’s been a striker. Detailed work. Watching footage. Looking back. The way he works with you. That’s very important. I can relate to that; You can learn a lot from him.”
