'Unfair' - Manchester United player has received scathing criticism after making his debut
"It's just f****d," said Matthijs de Ligt after his first appearance of the international break.
De Ligt's performance for the Netherlands against Bosnia and Herzegovina was highly scrutinised, but he took ownership of his mistakes in a refreshingly candid post-match interview.
"I should have done better at their second goal, and I know that. I don't really know what happened," he added. "I should have cleared the ball but I kept having doubts during the play."
Netherlands manager Ronald Koeman defended De Ligt and diplomatically said of his performance: "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."
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De Ligt retained his starting role in the Netherlands' Nation's League clash against Germany, however, he made a mistake in the first half - he played a poor pass and lost the ball - and was eventually hooked at the interval, suffering the same fate as Casemiro did against Liverpool.
De Ligt has fallen down the central defensive pecking order for his country in the last 18 months and Stefan de Vrij, Virgil van Dijk and Micky van de Ven are all now ahead of him.
Koeman spoke to Dutch broadcaster NOS after the game and was asked to explain his decision to remove De Ligt at half-time. "Of course, I would rather have kept Matthijs 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 thought he was 'protecting' De Ligt by removing him from the match, but his early substitution attracted more attention from the Dutch and English media.
It's hard not to feel for De Ligt. He was brought in from the cold for the Netherlands during the international break and needed to perform after not playing a single minute at Euro 2024, but the games didn't go to plan and that might damage his future prospects for his nation.
Fortunately, De Ligt has the personality to deal with it. He showed tremendous character by fronting up and discussing his mistakes with the Dutch media and Erik ten Hag made him captain of Ajax when he was a teenager for a reason - he is a natural leader and his voice is respected.
You don't become the youngest captain in Ajax's history without having outstanding credentials and De Ligt will need to lean on those qualities in the coming weeks in Manchester.
De Ligt has been exclusively part of successful dressing rooms during his career - Ajax, Juventus and Bayern Munich - and he is facing the challenge of giving the best possible account of himself in a team that can struggle and is far away from winning the Premier League.
There will be tough times for De Ligt this season, which he experienced against Liverpool before the break, but he must persevere and show his quality in those moments regardless. That is what separates the good players from the brilliant players.
Some have speculated that De Ligt could lose his starting place for United after a poor international break but Ten Hag will be aware that would be a hammer blow to his confidence.
He made his full debut against Liverpool after two substitute appearances and must be given a run of fixtures now he's in the team. De Ligt is close to a certainty to start against Southampton and he shouldn't have trouble keeping a clean sheet against their toothless attack.
Recording a clean sheet will do De Ligt the world of good after a mentally straining two weeks with the Netherlands and provide him with the momentum he needs to push on.