New fears for Matthijs de Ligt as Dutch boss Ronald Koeman reveals he had to haul Man United’s £38.5m signing off for his own good after horror error… and German press slam him in ratings

Ronald Koeman has revealed that he felt he was forced into taking off Matthijs De Ligt during the Netherlands’ draw with Germany in order to protect the Man United star.

De Ligt, 25, moved to Old Trafford from Bayern Munich in the summer for a £38.5million fee.

The centre back has featured in all of United’s Premier League games so far this season, although Erik ten Hag’s side have made a difficult start by losing two of their opening three matches.

De Ligt endured a disappointing display during the Netherlands’ 5-2 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina on Saturday night, with the defender describing his own performance as ‘f****d’. 

He was hoping to bounce back against Germany on Tuesday after being given another chance by Koeman, but the 25-year-old put in a dismal display before he was substituted at half-time. 

De Ligt’s disastrous international break continued when his error led to Germany’s first goal

The Manchester United star was subbed at half-time against the Germans after struggling

The Dutch were leading 1-0 in the first half, before De Ligt gave the ball away in a bad position

Germany pounced on his error, before Denis Undav eventually tucked home to equalise

With the Netherlands leading 1-0, De Ligt inexplicably gave the ball away inside his own half and Deniz Undav went on to capitalise and level the scores.

He didn’t cover himself in glory for Germany’s second goal either and his side went in trailing 2-1 at the break, when he was replaced by Brighton’s Jan-Paul van Hecke.

And, speaking at the end of the game, Koeman claimed he felt as if he had no other option but to replace De Ligt as his catastrophic international break continued. 

‘Of course I would rather have kept Matthijs de Ligt on the pitch,’ Koeman said.

‘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.’

Netherlands did fight back to draw 2-2 in the Nations League clash, but De Ligt’s night was made worse when he was handed a brutal rating by German outlet BILD.

The paper – whose ratings work by marks of 1-6, with one being the best and six being the worst – gave De Ligt a five.

This meant the United star was awarded the second worst possible rating, while he was unsurprisingly viewed as the most disappointing Dutch player on the night.

Koeman’s comments on De Ligt’s substitution come after he had thrown his backing behind the former Ajax, Juventus and Bayern defender at the weekend, despite his below-par display against Bosnia.

Tearing into his own performance De Ligt had 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.’

Koeman revealed he felt he had to replace De Ligt at half-time in order to ‘protect the defender’

De Ligt was then handed a five in player ratings by German outlet BILD, the second worst score

De Ligt’s torrid display came after he labelled his performance against Bosnia as ‘f****d’

‘If this game is a missed opportunity for me? I don’t know, I just try to do my best.’

Koeman responded: ‘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.’

De Ligt will hope to return to form after the international break when United take on Southampton on Saturday lunchtime, with the Red Devils desperate for a win to ease the early season pressure on Ten Hag.