Manchester United legend Paul Scholes has ripped into Matthijs de Ligt following United’s embarrassing home defeat against Tottenham Hotspur.
Manchester United’s tie against Tottenham on Sunday saw the team slump to a shock 3-0 loss.
Spurs wasted no time in punishing United’s cringe display. Micky Van De Ven was allowed to travel from his own half to the United box to tee up Brendan Johnson, who put the visitors a goal ahead just three minutes after kickoff.
Spurs dominated proceedings for most of the half. Things went from bad to worse for United when skipper Bruno Fernandes was sent off for a rash challenge on James Maddison.
Manchester United never really looked to come back after Fernandes’ red card. Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke added salt to the hosts’ wounds after the break.
The result saw Manchester United fall to 12th place on the table, with just two wins out of six matches.
It was the second time United had lost 3-0 at home to one of the Premier League top six teams in just a few matches to the season. This shows glaring lapses in the team under Erik ten Hag despite the Dutchman’s £560m raid of the transfer market since assuming the reins as United manager in 2022.
Paul Scholes singles out Matthijs de Ligt for criticism
Ex-United midfielder Paul Scholes believes the signings haven’t made a difference in the team. He particularly singled out Netherlands star Matthijs de Ligt for criticism, claiming the defender hasn’t made a difference following his move to the club.
“When you bring players in, you expect them to be a lot better than who you’ve already got. I don’t see players coming in who are a big difference,’’ he told SuperSports.
‘‘De Ligt has come in for Maguire, let’s say, but there’s no big difference there”, he added.
Also, Scholes didn’t hold back in his assessment of United under Erik ten Hag’s management, saying: “You don’t know how they’re going to play.
‘‘You don’t know how they’re going to approach games, whether they are going to play on the counter-attack or sit deep or whether they’re going to try to have all the possession in the game. We’ve no idea. They look like an uncoached football team.”
He urged United players to stop making excuses and find solutions to overcome their poor run of form.
‘’These are experienced players who United have paid a lot of money for,” he added.
‘’We need to stop hearing excuses and get on that training pitch and find a way of playing.”
‘‘Find something, give us something!’’
Matthijs de Ligt’s performance for Manchester United this season
De Ligt was Erik ten Hag’s prime target to fix Manchester United’s defense. The 25-year-old was brought to Old Trafford after growing frustrated at life at Bayern Munich. Ten Hag pushed for the signing of the player, having previously worked with him at Ajax. De Ligt joined United for €45m, signing a five-year contract.
He made his debut for the club on August 16, coming off the bench in the 1-0 win against Fulham. He also appeared in United’s next game against Brighton although off the bench again.
In the third match against Liverpool, De Ligt played 69 minutes with the team collapsing to a 3-0 home loss to the Merseyside club. He got his first Premier League booking in the game for a foul on Luis Diaz.
Against Southampton, he scored his first Man United goal, heading home a Bruno Fernandes’ cross past Aaron Ramsdale. In United’s 7-0 mauling of Barnsley, he put up an impressive 12-minute shift.
His first full 90 minutes in United shirt came in the club’s barren draw with Crystal Palace.
Is Paul Scholes fair with de Ligt’s criticism?
De Ligt still looks to be trying to get back to settle for life at Manchester United. The 25-year-old has looked solid in some instances. Statistics show he has won 50% of his tackles this season. He has also won 65.4% of his duels, and made six interceptions so far this season.
While he may share in United’s woeful start to the season, it is still too early to measure his prospects in the Red Devils’ shirt.
Matthijs de Ligt’s contract and salary
The defender was signed on a five-year deal from Bayern Munich that will come to an end on June 30, 2029. He currently earns £195,000 weekly and is on a yearly salary of £10,140,000.
