Ronald Koeman forced to defend Matthijs de Ligt after Man Utd star's nightmare display
Netherlands shipped two cheap goals despite hammering Bosnia and Herzegovina with Manchester United's Matthijs de Ligt contributing to both as Ronald Koeman leaps to his defence
Netherlands boss Ronald Koeman insisted there was no need to make "a big deal" out of Matthijs de Ligt's errors during their win over Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Dutch conceded twice - both goals attributing to De Ligt mistakes - but scored five to ensure they landed all three points in Eindhoven. The Manchester United defender's team-mate Joshua Zirkzee and Liverpool frontman Cody Gakpo were among the scorers.
Bosnia did level through Ermedin Demirovic, who was able to capitalise on some poor defending from De Ligt. The centre-half played Demirovic onside with some questionable positioning.
The 25-year-old was also caught ball-watching for Bosnia's second goal, which meant Edin Dzeko was able to waltz in and make it 3-2 - which set up a nervy finish for the Dutch. Koeman though has highlighted the roles of other players and he defended De Ligt.
READ MORE: Why Thomas Tuchel turned down Man Utd amid new uncertainty over Erik ten Hag's positionREAD MORE: Man Utd include two forgotten Erik ten Hag signings in Europe squad as Casemiro call madeHe said: "Xavi Simons should have done better. He was marking their left midfielder and suddenly walked away from him. Of course, the centre-backs are positioning themselves wrong too."
Quizzed specifically on De Ligt's personal display the Dutch boss added: "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."
The defender did own his mistakes as he said: "I think you know how I feel.. we won.. but then comes the individual part.. 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."
He also added: "If this game is a missed opportunity for me? I don't know.. I just try to do my best."
De Ligt is out to prove he can deliver on the potential he showed years ago at Ajax, when he played a key role in their run to the last four of the Champions League. Top clubs in Europe lined up to land his signature, but he's since underwhelmed at Juventus and Bayern Munich.
He's now reunited with Erik ten Hag, whom he thrived under when at Ajax, in Manchester. De Light hasn't had the early impact he'd have liked, losing in his only start as Liverpool put three past the Red Devils in the last game before the international break.
Paul Scholes was among those to voice concern over the signing of De Ligt - which cost the club around £40million. He cited his decline in Germany as he struggled for regular minutes. The ex-midfielder said: "He’s not played for them. That’s a big concern for me, especially when Eric Dier's playing in front of him. I’m not joking; that is a massive concern for me.
“You’re bringing in players for £40m, £50m, okay, just because he’s played for them three or four years ago… Juventus got rid of him; he wasn’t good enough at Juventus, he obviously hasn’t been good enough for Bayern Munich. He’s coming to us almost like a second-rate defender now."
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