Andy van der Meijde thinks that Matthijs de Ligt has recently worked not so much on his physical, but more on his mental condition. “He has just become stronger here,” says Van der Meijde, pointing to his forehead. “He was in a slump for a while. At the World Cup he played as a kind of right back, then he himself indicated that someone else could play better there. Then you actually indicate that things are not going well mentally,” says the regular table guest of Veronica Offside.
“It is great for Dutch football that he is doing so well at Bayern Munich. He also scored a nice goal last weekend”, Van der Meijde continues. Wim Kieft agrees with Van der Meijde and complements him further. “He just had a very difficult time at Juventus. He went there when he was 20 or 21 years old. Those experienced players like Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci were still there then,” says Kieft. “They played really crappy football there.”
During the World Cup in Qatar, De Ligt was criticized for being ‘too much in the weight room’. Rafael van der Vaart, among others, said at the NOS that the mandekker could lose some muscle mass. According to Van der Meijde, who was also under contract with Internazionale in Italy, it is quite possible that De Ligt spent many hours in the gym in Italy. “There they just go to the weight room after training, or run a few kilometers. Just by itself. That is very normal there, real professionals,” said the former player of Ajax and FC Twente, among others.
De Ligt made the switch from Juventus to Bayern Munich for seventy million euros last summer. Ajax’s youth product has already played 29 times so far the record master in which he managed to find the net twice. Last Wednesday, the central defender made a big impression in the Champions League match against Paris Saint-Germain. He topped off his good performance in that game with a spectacular save on the goal line.
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