Former Dutch international Van Hooydonk has come down hard on defender De Ligt, who now plays for Juventus and represents the Dutch national team, in a recent interview. Van Hooydonk believes that de Ligt's performances for the Dutch team have been extremely poor and even asserted that the end of his national team career would be the logical outcome.
De Ligt played for the Netherlands against Bosnia and Herzegovina and Germany during this international day, but in both of these key battles he made glaring errors. These errors not only affected the Dutch team's defensive stability, but also triggered extensive questions from fans and media about de Ligt's form.
Van Hooydonk pulls no punches in the interview, stating, "De Ligt's performances have been so bad that it's a logical consequence that his national team career is over. We all used to think he was a very good player, but how often do you see mistakes like that in the Dutch national team?" Van Hooydonk's words were full of disappointment and dissatisfaction with de Ligt's performance.
He further emphasized, "This has to stop at some point, especially when you have competitors in the same position at a high level." Van Hooydonk's comments imply that de Ligt's place in the Dutch national team is not unassailable, and if he fails to adjust his form in time and minimize his mistakes, he is likely to be replaced by other, more accomplished players.
As one of the outstanding defenders to emerge from Dutch soccer in recent years, De Ligt had been regarded as the core force of the Dutch national team in the future. However, his poor performance during this International Match Day has undoubtedly cast a shadow over his national team career. In the future, de Ligt will need to put in more effort to improve his performance in order to regain the trust of the fans and coaching staff. At the same time, the Dutch national team also needs to consider whether it should give more opportunities to other young defenders to ensure the team's stability and competitiveness in the defensive end.
