Manchester City defender Nathan Ake had another tough night as he put in a disappointing performance for the Netherlands against France.
The Dutchman headed into this current international break after going through a tough period for City.
Specifically, after criticising his own performance in the club’s 2-1 defeat to Wolves, the defender was then involved in an unfortunate deflection that led to Arsenal beating the treble winners 1-0 last weekend.
Now though, the 28-year-old was involved in another defeat as the Netherlands were beaten 2-1 by France in their latest qualifying match for Euro 2024.
Ake handed another disappointment after Netherlands defeat
In terms of his individual performance, the City player was on the pitch for 80 minutes last night before being replaced by Tottenham Hotspur defender Micky van de Ven.
During his time on the pitch, Ake ended up losing possession nine times in total, with only 45 of his 52 attempted passes finding their intended target.
While his efforts on the ball may not have been up to the standards that Pep Guardiola wants from his players on this occasion, the Dutchman was able to show how much of a capable defensive figure he can be.
As well as winning four of the six duels he was involved in, Ake made two interceptions, two clearances, one tackle and blocked one shot, although this wasn’t enough to stop Kylian Mbappe from scoring France’s two goals on the night.
Overall, this display earned the treble winner a rather underwhelming match rating of 6.6/10 from SofaScore, with Football Oranje saying in their player ratings article that this was “not his finest game” for the Netherlands.
While this has undoubtedly been a disappointing few weeks for the City star, he’ll have to make sure he can turn his form around and help his side get back to winning ways once the international break comes to an end.
