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Monday, April 13, 2020 at 23:08
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Matthijs de Ligt has had a turbulent first season with Juventus. The defender, who came over from Ajax, alternated well with lesser matches and ended up on the bench several times during the year, but was mostly in the starting line, partly due to the serious knee injuries of competitors Giorgio Chiellini and Merih Demiral. In conversation with teammate and goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny for the Polish YouTube channel Foot Truck De Ligt reveals that he had to get used to the change in playing style in Italy.
“There are of course similarities, but an Italian trainer is always different from a Dutch one,” De Ligt compares his current trainer at Juventus, Maurizio Sarri, with Ajax trainer Erik ten Hag. “I think it is more predictable here, you know how to put pressure, how to build. At Ajax you also knew how to put pressure, but with the ball you could do everything you wanted, you could just At Ajax you have to defend as a rearguard player, but you also try to score. “
Juventus uses a different style of defense than Ajax, which De Ligt had to get used to. “We now play with zone coverage, while I have always played man coverage,” said the twenty-year-old center-back. “I always stayed close to the attacker so he couldn’t escape. Now I am further away from the attacker. I had to get used to it when I have to be on top of it and when I have to walk back.”
De Ligt also sees a distinction between Italy and the Netherlands in the way of training. “It is excluded here that as a defender you will work on long shots after a training, but in the Netherlands that is normal. The defenders attack and the attackers help defend, everyone together.” De Ligt says he learns a lot from his experienced teammates Chiellini and Bonucci at Juventus, as well as from Virgil van Dijk at the Dutch national team.
“I talk a lot with them about how they see situations and what they would do defensively in those situations,” said the 23-time international. “You try to take over certain things from them and add them to your own game. You observe them, but I think in the end it is important not to change your own playing style. Each player has their own style, so I try to find things that I can improve on that. “
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