TeamViewer Trending: De Ligt's Growing Influence

The Dutchman’s effort against the Cottagers was simply immense, from a mental and physical standpoint, and continued the 25-year-old’s quiet rise since the arrival of Ruben Amorim.

 

Against Real Sociedad last Thursday, and Arsenal on Sunday, it was the same again: two challenging contests for the team to negotiate, during which De Ligt opened the shoulders and gave it everything. Concentration, commitment, intelligence, and plenty of combat.

 

While the Reds have gone through the ringer in 2025, De Ligt has shown clear relish for the challenges United have had to negotiate. And in this recent run of games – Ipswich, Fulham, La Real, Arsenal – supporters have really noticed.

 

De Ligt’s first United goal at Old Trafford arrived in the game against Kieran McKenna’s side – a typically full-blooded stab home from close range, following a penalty-area stramash – and throughout that 10-man win, he and Harry Maguire seemed to be in their element. Backs-to-the-wall defending, disgusting weather conditions, endless physical battles against the aggressive Liam Delap? We’ll have a bit of that, the big centre-halves seemed to say.

 

There’s not a lot to shout about at the moment, with injury-hit United in the midst of the club’s worst Premier League season on record. But De Ligt’s growing authority and influence deserves a modest nod…

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De Ligt made six successful tackles across the full 120 minutes against Fulham, but there were two particularly outstanding pieces of defending – the first a crunching effort to stop Antonee Robinson’s counterattack down United’s right, just by the touchline in front of the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand.

 

The crowd loved that one, as they did another on Andreas Pereira. The former United midfielder sent Victor Lindelof the wrong way inside the penalty area, and was lining up a certain goalscoring opportunity when De Ligt crashed in from nowhere to send the ball to safety, and the former Academy graduate rolling towards the advertising hoardings. Minutes later, Bruno Fernandes equalised.

 

The former Ajax captain is at his best when saving the day: remember his amazing clearance from inches in front of the goal line during that remarkable FA Cup tie at Arsenal? There’s a great image of De Ligt shaking the netting with joyous defiance, after nicking the ball away from Leandro Trossard’s feet. To adopt the old cliché, it was a piece of defending almost the equal of scoring a goal.

 

Another personal favourite was Matthijs’s tackle on Southampton’s Kamaldeen Sulemana at Old Trafford back in January. The game was poised at 1-1 with less than 10 minutes left, and Sulemana had already given Leny Yoro a torrid night. De Ligt slammed into the Ghanaian at the first attempt, and helped United maintain control in the Saints’ half. The final result? 3-1 United.

 

But perhaps his finest recent moment came against Real Sociedad, when he slipped as a low ball entered the Reds’ box. On the floor as the ball approached him, he somehow managed to adjust and launch the ball away with his 'other' foot, just as Orri Oskarsson seemed poised for a simple chance to put the Basque club ahead.

 

Heroic blocks and attacking contributions earn players like De Ligt the viral clips that entertain fans, but it’s surely Matthijs’s leadership qualities and mental strength that make him so valuable in this current period of United history.

 

That’s no surprise – he captained Ajax at 18 and has also played for European giants Juventus and Bayern Munich – but that desire to keep competing, to keep coming back for more, when the team is not performing so fluently and the scrutiny is unflinching… well, it deserves recognition.

 

There’s a willingness to adapt too. The player has featured across Amorim’s back three, and has had to work within an array of defensive configurations due to the many injuries that have afflicted United in recent months. Against Fulham, he was the only central defender to play the whole of the contest, which meant he dovetailed with Harry Maguire, Leny Yoro, Victor Lindelof and Ayden Heaven across normal time and extra-time. 

 

“I feel well settled in now. I remember my old agent, Mino Raiola, always told me that after six months you start to feel a little bit better, and after one year you can say that you are completely settled. I feel good with my team-mates, with the stadium, with the fans, so hopefully we can continue like that, and me personally also.

 

“I expected it [the Premier League] to be like this. Obviously, in the beginning it's quite difficult because, first of all, you're coming from a different league and, second of all, I didn't have a normal pre-season in the last couple of years, because of injuries, because of the Euros last summer. So it's quite normal in the beginning you have some trouble with adjusting to the pace of the game, the pace of the players, and I feel that, game by game, I'm getting better, I'm getting more used to the opponents, the league, and then it becomes a lot easier.”

Two-time Champions League winner Wes Brown is a big De Ligt admirer. “Matthijs de Ligt can be an elite defender for Manchester United," he opined recently. “He’s had some really good games and when he settles into life at the club he’ll be a big success. He’s been playing at the highest level for so many years now at such a young age and now it’s about showing everyone what he can do at Old Trafford. I think he’ll find his rhythm in Ruben Amorim’s system and be a valuable player for many years to come.”

 

Despite our FA Cup exit to Fulham recently, even the BBC’s Alan Shearer had time to offer a few words of recognition for the Dutchman, too. “De Ligt has done everything right. His defending is impressive, really tight, not giving anyone any space.”

De Ligt and Maguire became the first centre-backs in United’s Premier League history to score in the same game, when netting against Ipswich. Opta claim that two defenders have scored in the same game for the Reds on six occasions since England’s top flight was rebranded in 1992, but the previous five occasions involved contributions from full-backs who are, of course, more often involved in attacking play.