Virgil van Dijk has demanded improvement from Matthijs de Ligt after he was “punished” for his Netherlands howler.
The Manchester United defender has endured a rotten international fortnight having been named in the Netherlands squad. He dropped a clanger during the Dutch side’s 5-2 win against Bosnia last week.
De Ligt retained the faith of boss Ronald Koeman and remained in the starting line-up in Tuesday’s 2-2 draw with Germany. But it was another awful evening for the former Bayern Munich star.
His error allowed Denis Undav to score, while he was also at fault for Joshua Kimmich’s goal. That led to Koeman hauling De Ligt off at the break in favour of Brighton ’s Jan Paul van Hecke.
And speaking after the full-time whistle, Van Dijk has issued a simple message to his Dutch teammate after his errors. The Liverpool star said: "This is football. You have to learn from this. It was one moment but at the highest level you will get punished for it."
Koeman has agreed with Van Dijk’s assessment of De Ligt’s mistake. And he explained why he felt compelled to take him off at the break.
"Of course I would rather have kept Matthijs de Ligt on the pitch,” he 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."
Koeman’s assessment comes just days coming after he had attempted to allay fears over De Ligt’s error against Bosnia & Herzegovina. He had also called for improvement - an appeal that appears to have fallen on deaf ears.
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“We talked about it briefly. That was focused on the goal,” Koeman said on Monday. “He is not in a good position. He did not come out well with his steps.
“That was an individual bad moment from a defender. You have to learn from that but also not be too dramatic about it. Don’t put too much emphasis on it.
“He also had very good moments on the ball. That resulted in another big chance, when he played directly forward once. But it is clear that he also has to improve.”
De Ligt will now hope to get back to form for club side Manchester United. The Red Devils take on Southampton this weekend. De Ligt has made three appearances for the Red Devils so far since a £38m move from German giants Bayern Munich.
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