Erik ten Hag makes Matthijs de Ligt promise after nightmares on international duty

Erik ten Hag has defended Manchester United's Matthijs de Ligt after his nightmare displays for Holland during the international break.

De Ligt, signed by United from Bayern Munich last month for £42million, was at fault for both goals conceded by Holland in their 2-2 Nations League draw with Germany.

The 25-year-old centre-back was replaced at half-time by Dutch boss Ronald Koeman, who said he made the decision to “protect” De Ligt from making further costly errors.

Those errors came three days after De Ligt made high-profile mistakes in Holland's 5-2 win over Bosnia Herzegovina, with Koeman saying: “It just looks like he is now in a period where all his mistakes are being punished.”

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Reacting to Koeman's criticism of De Ligt, Ten Hag said: “I think he said it in reference to the Dutch squad, not a club situation.

“I know Matthijs and he’s a great personality. With his character, he will overcome this and will bounce back in this situation with the Dutch squad. It's definitely not his club situation.

“I’m not afraid of this situation, I know his qualities, I know his personality and I know he’ll fight back. The other thing is that he had a very difficult pre-season, because he didn’t play games.

“The only game from the start was the last game against Liverpool. Without this, he goes and starts for the Dutch squad and he’s not in the right rhythm yet or up to full speed, but when he is you will see his qualities and a different player.”

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