It's very easy to see that he's captain material (assuming that he continues to be a regular), I'm not sure why that's up for debate. It was literally one of his biggest qualities as an elite young talent coming through Ajax.
4
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 22
- Clean sheets
- 7
- Goals
- 1
- Assists
- 0
- Yellow cards
- 3
After getting blamed for the international games it was good to see him put in a decent performance and the goal will do his confidence a lot of good.
Cracking header for the goal. Solid in defence as well after the bad defending, letting KWP get past him easily.
Maguire is mentally resilient. He got so much shit last year and was almost sold and told he didn’t have a future with us and he still ended up playing well for us the majority of last season.
I know it doesn't look great but we have to stop jumping all over our CBs for getting beaten on the odd occasion, it will happen because they're being asked to be aggressive and get on the front-foot.
Yes it needs to be acknowledged that a CB being beaten often leads to a goalscoring opportunity for the opponent, and so it's needs to happen as infrequently as possible, but it's modern football. I also think pointing out a defender is rash or easily beaten on a regular basis is fine and is part of how we critically evaluate a defender..but I would discourage people from letting one instance blight what was a very good performance overall.
Go to any Sunday League pitch in the country and you'll see a 40 year old hungover CB who never gets dribbled-past because he's sits on the edge of his own penalty area and spends the game kicking and heading anything that comes into his space.
Also, wasn't there some mental stat about Lindelof not being dribbled-past in like three seasons? It's because he's so passive and never commits to trying to win the ball unless he's a heavy favourite. At least with Maguire, De Ligt and Martinez we have three who will engage opponents early.
I will add, the Dalot one was very poor, for a couple of reasons...
- he has a tendency to be beaten on the outside as he over-values his pace. I think this is because his top-speed is excellent (apparently fastest at the club over 50m+) but because he has a larger frame than most wingers, he won't be quite as quick on the turn over 5m-10m, and it catches him out.
- full backs should be better one vs one defenders than CBs in take-on scenarios
Excellent post. Very much agree on Lindelof as well. Great take on Dalot. I’ve always thought the same. He plays a little like he’s Walker, and most of the time it works, but he isn’t quite at that level, so he needs to be more aggressive. I think he was that last season, but his acceleration is decent but not electric, so he can’t leave the attackers too much space on the outside. In a folt race over distance, he mostly comes out on top.
He's so big and strong and handsome. He's reminds me of a sexier Vidic in his mannerisms.
Maguire is absolutely fragile- so many times we have seen him go to shit when the going got tough in a match.
I really like him. It’s still obvious he has a level to go up to as he’s still getting to full match sharpness and adjusting to the PL but you can tell instantly he’s a proper defender and our best CB.
I do get the feeling that Martinez is probably not the right partner for him. With how Ten Hag has us defending De Ligt is coming really high into the pitch to win first balls. If he misses that we need an insurance policy at RB or CB. The other big teams have Walker, VVD, Saliba and Van de Ven to do this but Licha is nowhere near athletic enough to cover this ground nor Mazraoui.
I think De Ligt and Yoro is probably the CB partnership that will work best unless Martinez really becomes consistently dominant again.
I do get the feeling that Martinez is probably not the right partner for him. With how Ten Hag has us defending De Ligt is coming really high into the pitch to win first balls. If he misses that we need an insurance policy at RB or CB. The other big teams have Walker, VVD, Saliba and Van de Ven to do this but Licha is nowhere near athletic enough to cover this ground nor Mazraoui.
I think De Ligt and Yoro is probably the CB partnership that will work best unless Martinez really becomes consistently dominant again.
A lot more than tinny.
That hook back clearance to stop Archer from a tap in gets left by Maguire because he's simply not agile enough.
Very impressive. Looks like a real leader and maybe captain in the future.
Very good signing.
Very good signing.
That was a normal and common reaction to receiving an overhit pass, don't you think?
He was like 19 then too
He’s a leader in absolutely every sense, it’s his best attribute.
He's a big character no doubt who says the right things and knows how to rouse a crowd. A PR dream. Match going fans and others love to see this in a player and most clubs have at least one such character. If his leadership along with his talent is truly as magnificent as claimed since his teens, he'd be indispensable to any club. So what went wrong at Bayern and Juventus that doesn't have anything to do with his wages?
How does one gauge how these leadership characteristics translate to or augment De Ligt's on field performances? How close is he in this respect of leadership to some of the best in any era, including the current?
The leaders of yesterday, the likes of Maldini, Carles Puyol, Rio, Vidic, Sergio Ramos, Keane, Viera, Robson to name a few set themselves aside by bringing real quality along with these leadership attributes. They raised their levels when the team needed them most. In other words they took games by the scruff of the neck and seldom wilted even with backs against the wall. They set a high standard and inspired their teammates to do the same
I haven't seen this consistently from De Ligt since his departure from Ajax, which (his time there) was mostly a cakewalk in a dominant Ajax side in the Eredevisie, and thats not taking from his more challenging European exploits under Bosz and Ten Hag in the EL and CL which were impressive
In terms of so called leadership I don't know how to separate De Ligt from the likes of Herrera, Maguire, McTominay, Declan Rice and say John Stones to name a few. These are players who were/are touted for being 'leaders' but who have never demonstrated it routinely on the field. De Ligt is safely in this tier of talked up players until he proves otherwise in my humble opinion. These are the type of players who fall with the team when the going gets tough. After Liverpool went 2 nil up at OT for instance De Ligt looked nervy and he misplaced some simple passes. The same has happened several times for the Dutch NT including during the last international break. The leadership is clearly not there when direly needed.
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Give him a break. That's pathetic.
How is it pathetic? Have I insulted him? Im not fully convinced and I've asked fair questions
Matthijs has played two games, put in a massive performance and you are trying to write him off. Pathetic indeed.
Oh feck me, how many times do people need telling that Juve were desperate to keep him? A million maybe?
One quality EtH’s signing tend to share is they have a good character…Martinez, Onana, De Ligt, Hojlund are all captain material in that regard.
Good to see him bounce back from the Liverpool defeat and the negatively around the International break.
Good to see him bounce back from the Liverpool defeat and the negatively around the International break.
He cant be a leader for our national team. He has Virgil van Dijk next to him and Virgil is the captain and also all other players look up to Virgil as the leader. Koeman clearly made Virgil the big leader of the team too.
When Virgil quits the national team, de Ligt will take over as leader and organise the defense the way he wants to defense to play. Hopefully that will stop him from making mistakes when he plays for our national team too. I think de Ligt becomes better when he is the one who organises the defense instead of following someone else his lead. I do like Virgil but i am also looking forward to seeing a de Ligt and van de Ven duo in the future.
That header was magnificient ..
Who's saying anything went wrong at Juventus? Bayern München, one of the top clubs in the world and a might of force in CL made him their second most expensive player ever, so what is it that you're implying happened at Juventus?
You know you can be a leader without being among some of the best players in the world. Sergio Ramos, Keane, Vieira, Robson etc. I mean, really? You can't be a leader without being world class? You don't know what you're even saying here.
Is De Ligt not considered world class? Among the top centerbacks in football today? Why should I compare him to players not hyped up as much as he is? Of course, any kind of player can be a leader.
I mean, if you think De Ligt is as good as Maldini, Sergio Ramos and Vidic, then sure. I think he is a very good player, but not world class. He can still be one as centre backs usually need a lot of experience before they take the next step (Rudiger, Van Dijk, Vidic, Nesta etc). As for leadership, he isn't that in the sense of Ramos, Keane, Vieira and so on but very, very few are. He is vocal on the pitch and brought clear inspiration to our players after his goal. To me, inspire is what a leader does.
Got done by Kyle Walker Peters near the goal line. Apart from that had a solid game.
Glad he got his goal, hopefully he can lead and form a steady partnership at the back now.
Glad he got his goal, hopefully he can lead and form a steady partnership at the back now.
Hopefully he keeps up playing like he did last time, it will really be helpful to the team, he was very focused and determined, even after he was skinned, he kept his focus and determination.
What I want to see more from him is more penetrative forward passing, I think he is capable of it, and when starts doing so, him and Martinez will cause all sorts of problems for teams that try to press us hard.
What I want to see more from him is more penetrative forward passing, I think he is capable of it, and when starts doing so, him and Martinez will cause all sorts of problems for teams that try to press us hard.
Said that when we signed him, him and Yoro will become first choices. Martinez is under threat. I see similarities with Vidic & Rio
Decisiveness is far from abstract. He does not fanny about or seem unsure about his positioning and decisions on the pitch. He decides what he needs to do and does it. He takes control of situations defensively which is why he displays alot more authority than Maguire, who whilst good can be unsure and indecisive which leads to mistakes like the Brighton goal where he failed to clear the ball twice because he was indecisive. Another clear difference is how long they take to make passing decisions when on the ball, Maguire tends to put his foot on the ball and take an age because he is indecisive.
Martinez is very good at uniting that defence and is superb in playing out from the back. Doubt wel see him dropped unless injured, especially considering he's a left footer.
Is he the best looking guy in the PL? I think he probably is.
Im not talking short term, but I think he will be the one to lose out
Agreed, if all goes to plan Yoro - de Light is a monstrous CB pairing that is still good enough on the ball without the physical shortcomings of Martinez (i.e.= he's a slow midget).
I think it’ll be Yoro and De ligt long term too but probably not this season. Yoro will be given time. He looked super composed in preseason but if the lads are doing the business he’ll be rotation this year as it should be
Thought he was outstanding against Southampton.
There was one cross he intercepted on the 6 yard line and cleared that you just know other defenders would have put into their own net.
I’m very confident he’ll be a rock for us.
There was one cross he intercepted on the 6 yard line and cleared that you just know other defenders would have put into their own net.
I’m very confident he’ll be a rock for us.
Matthjis was immense over the weekend, clearly on top.
Man of the match at Soton He's heavily involved at both ends and a goal scoring defender is always useful. I also like his heading in defence, the way he nods it down to an unmarked team mate instead of just heading it aimlessly up the field. A proper footballer and our best centre back, as others have said.
Man Utd 7:0 Barnsley
quiet game from de Ligt. No mistakes, though
He played twelve minutes while we were cruising.
Ignore that poster, he also wrote in the Amad thread that Amad had a quiet game even though he came on in the 84th minute. I doubt they even watched the match.
Crystal Palace 0:0 Man Utd
Thought he was excellent and is a massive threat from set pieces, which we've severely lacked.