Matthijs de Ligt has given a critical review of his individual performance during the Netherlands’ 5-2 win over Bosnia.
The centre-back returned to the side for the Nations League win on Saturday but produced an error-prone performance despite the Dutch win. De Ligt was at fault for both Bosnia goals, particularly Edin Dzeko’s goal that made it 3-2 with 17 minutes to go.
The 25-year-old, who signed for Manchester United from Bayern Munich for an initial fee of £38.5m in the summer transfer window, is aiming to reclaim his place as a regular with the national team. He failed to make an appearance at Euro 2024 amid strong competition for a place at centre-back.
Following a poor performance against Bosnia, De Ligt critiqued his own display and admits he must perform better for the Oranje.
“I think you know how I feel… we won… but then comes the individual part,” he said at full-time.
“I should have done better at their second goal, and I know that. I don’t really know what happened. I should have cleared the ball but I kept having doubts during the play. It’s just f****d.”
Koeman comments on De Ligt defending
Netherlands head coach Ronald Koeman was keen to downplay De Ligt’s mistakes but admitted the defender knows he must do better.
“He himself realises that he was in the wrong position. This should not happen, but mistakes are part of football. I think it is unfair to make a big deal out of it.”
