For Manchester United you don’t get games any bigger than against Liverpool or Manchester City. So you can understand why the English Premier Leagues’s most expensive purchase Angel Di Maria may have been extremely disappointed to be benched for both of these huge fixtures.

So far, the Argentine hasn’t had the best of times in Manchester.

His form hasn’t been sensational, if anything his careers seems to have stalled at Old Trafford rather than take off and rumours have surfaced that Di Maria’s wife wants to leave England after the families home was nearly broken into.

All of those factors has seen speculation linking the player with a move to PSG once again in the press.

So can the twenty-seven year old save his United career? 

Well firstly it’s not all lost for Angel, it may seem that coach Louis van Gaal doesn’t rate him at the moment but the same could have been said of Marouane Fellaini, Juan Mata, Ashley Young and Ander Herrera earlier this season. Those four stars have been pivotal in United’s recent successes in the league, yet they have all spent time on the sidelines this term.

So Louis van Gaal has shown that he’s willing to try again with players and not just isolate them forever. If Di Maria can wait it out and work-hard then you’d imagine he’ll get more chances to shine in a United shirt.

The fact he came on and contributed with an assist against Liverpool and celebrated each Man United goal that was scored against City from the bench should show his commitment.

I actually feel a bit sorry for the Argentine.

I don’t think Van Gaal has played Di Maria on the wings enough or given him the license to just go out and attack opposition defences. Personally I’d stick him out on the wing, preferably on the right. I am not necessarily suggesting that Dutchman drops either Mata or Young at the moment but should one have a dip in form then get Di Maria in on the wing.

People seem to forget that this is Di Maria’s debut season in the Premier League and he needed time to settle in. Fans will no doubt compare him with other summer La Liga recruits like Alexis Sanchez and Cesc Fabregas and suggest Di Maria hasn’t done as well. But again I think he’s not fully comfortable in the central role he’s been given at Man Utd. Plus as a forward Sanchez catches the eye with his goals, while Cesc knows the English game like the back of his hand.

Now when you look at the stats, Di Maria’s not had a terrible season at all. Angel may only have scored three times this campaign but he’s also contributed with ten assists, thats more than double any other United player. Only Fabregas has set up more all season in the Premier League.

At Real Madrid that was the main role given to Angel Di Maria, just to assist Cristiano Ronaldo. Unlike Gareth Bale, Angel understood this as his prime duty and that’s why he was appreciated by the Real fans and his teammates.

 

In the closing months of the 2013-14 season he was integral for the Bernabeu club and was instrumental in their Champions League final success, more so than Bale or Ronaldo in my opinion.

Manchester City’s Pablo Zabaleta has backed his international teammate…

“He’s quick, fast and a great dribbler and whenever you play against him you know you are in for a difficult game and he’s the sort of player who can really hurt you if you give him too much space and time.”

In England, he’s expected to score more. He cost around £59.7m and at that price they seem to think you need to do more.

Yet he always tries hard and wants to find himself on the ball whenever possible.

I really can’t see his stay at Old Trafford ending any time soon.

I’d expect that Louis van Gaal will soon give Di Maria another chance and like Mata and Co the United number seven will come good again.

Sometimes we all need to sit back and let players settle in at a new club, league and country. We also need to appreciate that players need to play in their best positions to get the most out of them. Finally I’d also like to say that without goals you don’t win football matches and with out unselfish players like Angel Di Maria then strikers wouldn’t get the amount of goals that they do!

Posted on April 13th, 2015 by scott
Filed under: Article