Matthijs De Ligt admits Manchester United owe their fans after a dismal season that ended with the club’s worst-ever Premier League finish and failure to qualify for Europe for only the second time in 35 years.

United opened their pre-season tour of the US with a 2-1 win over West Ham at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, and De Ligt hopes it can be the start of an upturn under Ruben Amorim after they made supporters suffer so much.

‘Of course we owe it to them,’ said the Holland defender. ‘But I think, first of all, we owe it to ourselves. We are all unhappy with our performances last season. 

‘So that’s the first thing we have to do. We owe it also to ourselves to play much better. And then, obviously, the fans are the most important thing also. So hopefully we can give them a lot more joy this season.

‘I think after a season like that, it’s normal to have to build your confidence. So that’s why I think a win like today is really important. I think with winning, you become more confident. You start to believe more in what you’re doing.

‘Last season wasn’t good enough, we know that, and now we have to find a way to improve. 

Matthijs De Ligt admits Manchester United owe their fans after a dismal season

Defeat in the Europa League final saw United fail to qualify for Europe for the first time in 35 years

‘I think we’ve made some good signings already. You saw today already, Matheus (Cunha), that he can bring a lot to the team.’ 

Asked if it will be difficult for United to put last season behind them, De Ligt replied: ‘No, I don’t think it will be difficult because last season is last season. It’s a new season. There’s a lot of positivity now in the camp.’

The former Ajax and Bayern Munich centre-back also believes United can benefit from not being in Europe by having fewer fixtures and more time to train under Amorim at Carrington.

‘I think if you use the time well, it can definitely be an advantage. We have a lot of time to train now, so that aspect is really, really important,’ he said.

‘Obviously, as a football player, you want to play as much as possible, so it’s a shame we are not in Europe. 

‘But I think if you saw the last season, some teams in the Champions League had a difficult season in the Premier League. 

‘So I think if we use the time well, if we train every day at maximum, we can make it our advantage.’

Two goals from Bruno Fernandes gave United victory over the Hammers, and De Ligt was impressed with how they performed in their Premier League Summer Series opener ahead of the games against Bournemouth and Everton.

United opened their pre-season tour of the US with a 2-1 win over West Ham at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey

‘I think it was a good performance from us, especially in the first half. You always want to win the first game, so we are working every day really hard to be at our best for the first (Premier League) game against Arsenal, then we’ll see game after game.

‘It was also good that we played against a Premier League team. They also play at a high pace and it was good that we showed already some things today that we want to improve and what we do improve.

‘You saw what kind of intensity we can bring. I think we’re still at the beginning. We have a lot more potential to show in that aspect. 

‘But I think for today it was good intensity and good performance. These games are really important for us to win, so we can build on this.’