It was a poor begin to the marketing campaign for Manchester United underneath former boss, Erik ten Hag, with the Dutchman having not too long ago left his publish at Previous Trafford.
Earlier than his sacking, the 13-time Premier League champions received simply 4 video games all season, which included a 7-0 thrashing of League One facet Barnsley within the Carabao Cup. Interim supervisor Ruud van Nistelrooy steadied the ship, and Ruben Amorim has now begun his tenure within the function full-time.
The Portuguese supervisor will inherit a squad formed by his predecessor, with the Dutchman spending a rumoured £617m on his squad, a lot of which have a hyperlink again to the Netherlands.
Ten Hag’s finest and worst Man United signings
It’s truthful to say that Ten Hag had a behavior of bringing in his former players, or not less than gamers with a hyperlink to the Dutch league. Of the 21 signings he made, six of them performed underneath him at Ajax, or in Sofyan Amrabat’s case, Utrecht.
A type of additions, who proved to be a catastrophe, was the costliest man United’s former supervisor signed at Previous Trafford. Antony cost the Red Devils £81.3m from the Amsterdam facet however has scored simply 12 targets and has 5 assists to his title in 87 games for the club.
Antony is just not the one Ten Hag signing who has struggled at Previous Trafford. Accidents have ravaged Mason Mount’s time on the membership thus far, and the likes of Casemiro have additionally come underneath fireplace for his performances in Purple, with the Brazilian described as wanting like he was “in Soccer Aid” by pundit Jamie Redknapp.
There have been some investments for the long run made by the Dutchman. He signed promising striker Rasmus Hojlund. He has 18 targets in 55 games for the membership thus far however has struggled for his finest type this season.
Certainly one of his largest success tales has been Noussair Mazraoui. The Moroccan defender cost United just £12.8m with a possible £4.2m in add-ons. Red Devils fan Alex Turk explained the English membership have “plucked out a discount defender” of their new quantity three.
Mazraoui signed for the membership similtaneously one other former Ajax participant, Matthijs de Ligt, who has gone on to show his doubters incorrect.
De Ligt’s Man United profession
Since leaving Ajax in 2019 for Juventus, the notion surrounding De Ligt has been one in all disappointment. Accidents have affected him, and he definitely performed his finest soccer underneath Ten Hag in Amsterdam, a part of a massively profitable crew the place he was captain as a young person.
That’s the reason United nice Paul Scholes was critical of the £42.7m signing, a deal which included add-ons. The Purple Devils academy graduate described the signing of De Ligt as a “large concern”, amid his arrival in Manchester:
“With Man Utd, we’re speaking about gamers who can’t get into their crew. He’s [De Ligt] not taking part in for them [Bayern], that needs to be an enormous concern, particularly when Eric Dier is taking part in in entrance of him. That could be a large concern for me…
“…Juventus removed him, he wasn’t ok there and he clearly hasn’t been ok at Bayern Munich. He’s coming to us virtually like a second-rate defender.”
Nevertheless, in a troublesome season for the Purple Devils, their new Dutch defender has been excellent. He has played 15 times for the membership, scoring as soon as in opposition to Southampton.
The defender has been colossal within the Premier League in 2024/25, as his stats on Sofascore recommend. He has received 1.4 floor duels and 1.5 aerial duels per recreation, and takes care of the ball exceptionally properly, with a 92% go accuracy.
|
De Ligt stats in 2024/25 PL season |
|
|---|---|
|
Stat |
Quantity |
|
Begins |
8 |
|
Touches per recreation |
50.4 |
|
Cross accuracy |
92% |
|
Clear sheets |
2 |
|
Tackles and interceptions per recreation |
2.2 |
|
Ball recoveries per recreation |
2.3 |
|
Duels received per recreation |
2.9 |
|
Stats from Sofascore |
|
He was a primary selection underneath Ten Hag and Van Nistelrooy, with journalist Liam Canning explaining the defender can “thrive” underneath Amorim, too, having carried out “going underneath the radar” for his type thus far. As Canning additionally said, the towering defender is “uber dependable”, has a “good mentality” and is “sturdy in duels”, making him an actual asset for the previous Sporting CP coach.
The brand new United boss appears set to play his famed again three system, and United’s quantity 4 may slot in because the central centre-back as a key element of his facet.
Though there have been doubts surrounding De Ligt’s transfer to United, he has clearly taken nice strides to disprove such beliefs. He’ll virtually definitely be a key participant underneath Amorim and will assist take United ahead after a shaky collective begin to the season.
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