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Manchester United defender Matthijs de Ligt has emphasised that he is not to blame for Erik ten Hag’s sacking as club boss.
Ten Hag was sacked late last month, following a string of poor performances and results, the culmination of which was a 2-1 loss at the hands of Premier League strugglers West Ham.
The defeat was a controversial one as West Ham were awarded a dubious late penalty that ultimately secured them all three points at the London Stadium.
There was a coming together inside the box between De Ligt and Danny Ings. Initially, on-field referee David Coote deemed that there was no infringement. However, VAR official Michael Oliver intervened and instructed Coote to head to the monitor for further review.
Inevitably, Coote reversed his original decision and gave the Hammers a penalty. Jarrod Bowen made no mistake from the spot-kick as he beat Andre Onana. Less than 24 hours later, United confirmed they had parted ways with Ten Hag.
PGMOL chief Howard Webb later admitted that it shouldn’t have been a penalty and Oliver was wrong to send Coote to the pitchside screen.
De Ligt, who is currently away with the Netherlands on international duty, spoke to De Telegraaf and said that the blame for Ten Hag’s sacking does not lie with him.
“Normally I am always self-critical and I can get annoyed about things that I do not do well. But here I could not do anything about it, I could not blame myself for it. The referee committee also called us to say that it was not a penalty.”
He added about Ten Hag, “He brought me to Manchester, the goal was to achieve success together with Erik. He has not been very lucky. We played well in many matches, but we did not use the chances we got. It is a shame that it has to end like this. A dismissal can always be quite hard. We discussed some things.”
De Ligt revealed that he has not yet had contact with Ruben Amorim.
“He did well at Sporting, hopefully he can also take us to the next level. Amorim is not my first coach and he will not be my last coach. I did not only move to Manchester United for Ten Hag. It is still one of the biggest clubs in the world, I think. I just have to do my own thing and play well myself. I feel really fit now and things are going well. Hopefully I can continue that.”
In September, De Ligt endured a difficult international break, making numerous high-profile errors in games against Bosnia and Herzegovina and Germany.
These mistakes led to speculation over his position with the national team. According to the player, so much of the criticism aimed at him is down to his early breakthrough at Ajax, which came with heightened expectations.
“Of course you’re disappointed because it was a kind of chance for me. And I actually played well. It’s a phase you’re in. I hadn’t played many minutes then. I know that I’m a player who needs minutes. Now I’ve played seven times in a row and I notice that I’m getting into my rhythm.”
“Because of the past, something is expected of me, which is working against me a bit at the moment. The expectations were very high when I left the Netherlands, which means that it quickly becomes not good enough. That’s the difficult part.”
He explained that he is not worried about competition and he feels really good at the moment because of how well things are going at United.
Featured image Shaun Botterill via Getty Images
