Premier League cult hero who's 20kg overweight claims he's better than Matthijs de Ligt
Matthijs de Ligt has struggled since joining Manchester United from Bayern Munich in the summer and was at fault for two of Porto's goals in Thursday's Europa League clash
by Jacob Leeks · The MirrorPremier League cult hero David Wheater has slammed Matthijs de Ligt and insisted he would play better than the struggling Manchester United star despite being 20kg overweight.
Wheater graduated from Middlesbrough's academy, before going on to make more than 470 senior appearances across spells at the Teesiders, Bolton Wanderers, Oldham Athletic and Darlington.
The former defender also earned 11 England Under-21 caps before retiring in September 2023 after suffering a number of injuries. In retirement, he is still keeping a close eye on football and watched United's Europa League clash with Porto on Thursday night.
It was another difficult evening for the Dutchman, who was at fault for two of Porto's goals. First, he failed to clear the ball and was beaten by Samu Omorodion to a cross at the near post.
He then failed to handle Omorodion's movement for the Porto star's second goal of the night. Those failings saw United throw away a two goal lead to trail the Portuguese side 3-2, before De Ligt and his centre-back partner Lisandro Martinez were replaced in the 79th minute.
United would go on to salvage a draw thanks to De Ligt's replacement Harry Maguire's late goal. But it was De Ligt's poor performance which caught Wheater's attention, with the former Bolton star taking aim at the Dutchman.
Midway through the second-half of Thursday's Europa League clash, Wheater took to Twitter to write: "I’m better than De Ligt at this very moment and I'm 20kg overweight and a dodgy ankle."
HAVE YOUR SAY! Should Manchester United drop Matthijs de Ligt? Comment below.
Wheater is not the first former Premier League star to take aim at De Ligt's performances. Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher blasted the defender following United's defeat to Tottenham, singling him out for his poor positioning.
"I've noticed this with De Ligt and a lot of centre-backs, I don't understand why they don't fill the space and come over. The striker just behind him has got nothing to do with him, that is Martinez's job," Carragher told Sky Sports.
"If De Ligt goes over, Martinez comes across. He looks over his shoulder here, forget that! Forget it. Get here [the space Micky van de Ven runs into]. This is a brilliant run, amazing. But Van de Ven runs because he sees the space.
"Listen, the fullback gets caught out at the back post, we see him with his hand up. Again I want to go to De Ligt. This sums Manchester United up over the last two or three years. Pressing and always being late.
"They're locked in here, you've got the front three of Tottenham locking in the back four and you have him here free. There's two men on one player. De Ligt should already be over. We run it on and just look at De Ligt flying across, flying into the challenge.
"It comes from his starting position. I can talk about United's midfield, running at the back four. But where's De Ligt? The right-back's come up and look where De Ligt is. You've got to get over. So in every situation in the first-half, De Ligt, a player they brought in for huge money, is completely out of position."
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