AMSTERDAM: Manchester United centre-back Matthijs de Ligt was aggrieved by the sacking of club manager Erik ten Hag last month and was angry at the penalty decision which cost his compatriot his job.
A lengthy VAR review showed De Ligt tripping the leg of West Ham’s Danny Ings, a decision which left Ten Hag shaking his head and awarding the London club a penalty to claim a last-minute 2-1 victory.
Ten Hag was then sacked the following day.
“Normally, I often criticize myself and can get angry about things I didn’t do well. But this is not my fault, I can’t blame myself for it,” De Ligt told reporters yesterday ahead of the Nations League action with the national team Netherlands.
“The refereeing committee also called us to tell us it was not a penalty,” he said.
Howard Webb, the Premier League’s chief refereeing officer, admitted yesterday that West Ham were mistakenly awarded the penalty.
“He (Ten Hag) wasn’t very lucky. We played well in many games, but we didn’t take advantage of the opportunities we had. It’s a shame it had to end like that,” explained De Ligt.
The 25-year-old moved from Bayern Munich last August, having previously played under Ten Hag at Ajax.
“He brought me to Manchester, his aim was to achieve success with Erik.”
De Ligt has yet to meet new manager Ruben Amorim, who started his job on Monday after being signed from Portuguese champions Sporting Lisbon.
“He did well at Sporting. Hopefully, he can help us improve. Amorim is not my first coach and he will not be my last coach. I don’t want to move to Manchester United just because of Ten Hag.”