As the match came to a close, Erik Ten Hag was left ruminating on the events that had unfolded on the pitch. The manager’s thoughts turned to his star player, Matthijs de Ligt, who had been forced to leave the field with a concerning injury. When asked how De Ligt felt, Ten Hag replied, “He was okay, that’s what he told me. That’s what I asked him when he came off: ‘Is there a problem?’ No, he was 100 per cent there, not any time [was] there a doubt to take him off.”
Despite his manager’s assurances, De Ligt’s departure was met with a mix of surprise and concern. “I wasn’t furious, but I just was asking my player how he is,” Ten Hag explained. “He said ‘it’s just dry blood, it’s not bleeding’, so we are really surprised that he has to come off.”
The turning point in the match came shortly after De Ligt’s exit, as Brentford, known for their methodical approach to set-pieces, took full advantage of the Dutchman’s temporary absence. The Bees’ systematic execution of their corner kicks proved too much for the manager to bear.
“It was a huge moment, because Brentford are very good in corners, and when you then miss one of your best headers, and they take benefit from it, then of course you are disappointed,” Ten Hag lamented, the weight of guilt and regret palpable in his words.
