{"id":521845,"date":"2025-10-23T09:35:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T09:35:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/521845\/"},"modified":"2025-10-23T09:35:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T09:35:14","slug":"matthijs-de-ligt-says-he-changed-one-thing-about-himself-at-man-utd-its-helped-revive-his-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/521845\/","title":{"rendered":"Matthijs de Ligt says he changed one thing about himself at Man Utd, it’s helped revive his career"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Manchester United defender Matthijs de Ligt has had a sensational season under Ruben Amorim, and one change might have helped achieve this.<\/strong><\/p>\n

When Matthijs de Ligt<\/a> was signed by Manchester United<\/a> in 2024, there was a hope that he might finally fulfil his potential. After a hot and cold first season under Ruben Amorim, he has kicked on this campaign.<\/p>\n

De Ligt has been living up to Franz Beckenbauer comparisons,<\/a> with the Dutchman looking perfect at the back this season.<\/p>\n

\"mailJoin our newsletter for news & smart analysis. <\/p>\n

After a year of settling, Rio Ferdinand thinks De Ligt is now United\u2019s best defender<\/a>, and he has quickly become the first name on the teamsheet.<\/p>\n

De Ligt always had this potential, but now he\u2019s admitted the changes that may have helped him revive his career.<\/p>\n

\"MatthijsPhoto by Ben Roberts \u2013 Danehouse\/Getty ImagesMatthijs de Ligt says he\u2019s stopped being so critical over mistakes<\/p>\n

United spent \u00a338m on De Ligt<\/a>, which now looks like an absolute bargain as he re-establishes himself as one of the best in the league.<\/p>\n

The quality was always there, with De Ligt\u2019s struggles with fitness and also confidence-wise, meaning he hadn\u2019t reached his top level.<\/p>\n

Speaking to United club media<\/a>, De Ligt explained his attitude has changed, as he\u2019s been less critical of himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a really big critic of myself, but I\u2019ve become a little bit more soft because sometimes I was too critical and it didn\u2019t help me much, so I\u2019m now a little bit more balanced, I think.\u201d<\/p>\n

De Ligt softening his stance on his mistakes is clearly a positive, as in football, there is no point dwelling on bad moments, as that can often lead to more bad.<\/p>\n

This season, De Ligt hasn\u2019t been flawless, but any negative performance has been forgotten as he\u2019s bounced back so well. By making this change, De Ligt has revived his career, and it wasn\u2019t the only thing that has been different.<\/p>\n

Matthijs de Ligt on why he has improved so much this season at Manchester United<\/p>\n

De Ligt was signed with major question marks, but also a belief that if he found his potential, he could be a world beater.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

TalkingPoints<\/p>\n

How good is Matthijs de Ligt right now?<\/p>\n

At the age of just 26, De Ligt can be one of the best in the world<\/a>, and in his interview, he has admitted to further changes that have helped him to become his best version.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, the first thing I think was really important is that I had a proper pre-season. I feel that for me and my body, a pre-season is always really important, and this season I had one.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it was one of the first pre-seasons since five, six years that I didn\u2019t have or a transfer or an injury or a Euros.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last time was probably my last season in Ajax, and it was actually one of my best seasons of my career. So I feel that\u2019s a big thing that is really important until now.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I feel like mentally and physically I\u2019m in a really good place. I feel quite confident. Obviously, the teammates and the manager helps a lot because they also give me this confidence.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I think I\u2019m also used to the Premier League now, the pace, what also helps. I think overall these are the most important things that makes me to this level at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Manchester United defender Matthijs de Ligt has had a sensational season under Ruben Amorim, and one change might…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":521846,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[12237,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-521845","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-matthijs-de-ligt","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115422805055248184","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=521845"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521845\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/521846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=521845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=521845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=521845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}