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Netherlands national team boss Ronald Koeman has admitted that he substituted Manchester United defender Matthijs de Ligt at half-time against Germany to protect him after his latest mistakes.
The Oranje were held to a frustrating 2-2 draw by Germany in their second Nations League group match on Tuesday evening.
Koeman’s men raced to an early lead courtesy of a sensational finish from Tijjani Reijnders. However, a De Ligt mistake – when trying to play out from the back – allowed Deniz Undav to restore parity for Germany.
Moments before the break, De Ligt didn’t cover himself in glory yet again as Die Mannschaft took the lead through his former Bayern Munich teammate Joshua Kimmich.
De Ligt was taken off during the interval and replaced by Brighton and Hove Albion star Jan Paul van Hecke.
This latest horror performance from De Ligt comes just days after he made another high-profile error in the side’s Saturday clash against Bosnia and Herzegovina. On that occasion, the 25-year-old insisted that he should have done better.
Criticism of his performance even led to Koeman publicly defending the player.
Speaking after the Netherlands’s 2-2 draw with Germany, Koeman addressed De Ligt’s troubles and admitted that his blunders led to his substitution at the Johan Cruyff Arena.
Koeman told the media, “Of course I would rather have kept Matthijs de Ligt on the pitch.”
“It just looks like he is now in a period where all his mistakes are being punished.”
“I gave him a new chance today, but eventually protected him by taking him off.”
Liverpool captain and De Ligt’s centre-back partner for the national team Virgil van Dijk also had his say on the matter.
Van Dijk remarked, “This is football. You have to learn from this. It was one moment but at the highest level you will get punished for it.”
De Ligt and United return to action on Saturday when they travel to St Mary’s to take on newly-promoted Southampton.
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