Manchester United returned to winning ways in the Premier League with a 3-0 demolition of Southampton at St Mary’s Stadium on Saturday.
The start was far from positive though with the visitors having to fend off early pressure and Andre Onana needed to save a penalty to keep the scores level.
It was a different story after that and it was under-fire Matthijs de Ligt and Marcus Rashford who scored in a six-minute spell to hand the Red Devils the advantage.
The Dutchman came under heavy fire after back-to-back poor displays during international break but Erik ten Hag trusted him and he eventually delivered.
Why Bayern sold De Ligt
Back in Germany, his former club Bayern Munich keep getting asked about the decision to sell him even though the fans signed a petition to try and change the club’s mind.
The Bavarian giants’ sporting director Max Eberl was asked why the club decided to move the Netherlands international on and he revealed that the decision was due to both sporting and financial reasons.
Eberl felt De Ligt’s lack of pace while covering meant Kim Min-jae and Dayot Upamecano are better suited to Bayern’s style under Vincent Kompany, who prefers his team to play a high line.
“I followed it, including the petition. I know that many fans identify with him,” he told a press conference.
“Nevertheless, I had to make this decision because we also had to sell players. We felt more comfortable with Upamecano and Kim because they can defend higher up the pitch. And then an offer came in for de Ligt.”
EtH will know all about De Ligt’s strengths and weaknesses
The former Juventus star’s ability to lead and fighting spirit have been praised before but he does look to be too aggressive at times, which can lead to the opposition forward spinning in behind at times.
Ten Hag was the one to hand De Ligt the captain’s armband during his Ajax spell and knows a lot about the player’s strengths and weaknesses and how to handle him.
With Raphael Varane departing, United needed a right-sided centre-half and after missing out on Jarrad Branthwaite, they eventually opted to sign the Dutch centre-back.
Now that the 25-year-old has a goal and clean-sheet, Ten Hag will be hoping he can kick on and recapture the form he showed back in Amsterdam which had made him one of the hottest properties all across Europe.
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