I didn't say they couldn't - I said they wouldn't. If (and its fantasy talk anyway) Di Maria was brought in, its with intention to play with width.
Angel Di Maria | £59.7M fee agreed I Maybe tomorrow...or the day after...
- Thread starter goin4glory
- Start date
-
In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) and Jamie (@Vault Dweller) are here to talk about United's dreadful home defeat at the hands of Big Ange's Tottenham Hotspur. Should this have been the end of Ten Hag? How long does he actually have left? And does Nik finally want ETH out?!
- Status
I didn't say they couldn't - I said they wouldn't. If (and its fantasy talk anyway) Di Maria was brought in, its with intention to play with width.
He can play in a two with Herrera, with Carrick as covering DM, but that would leave out Mata, so I prefer my setup.
I want Januzaj to develop, but I would love to see Di Maria here as well. It would be awful if Januzaj did develop and then lo and behold went off to a Real/Barca/PSG and then we would seriously regret not signing Di Maria. Also you wonder how many midfielders weren't signed by SAF, so Tom Cleverley could develop.
Last edited:
Sooo... is this happening?
Inside sources tell me it's either happening or not happening.
I'm sure they would under Van Gaal, Di Maria is so much better in the centre, not running wide and crossing, not under Fergie or Moyes, they didn't even play Kagawa really narrow mostly.
Nah, don't be silly, of course not.
That makes it 3, so pretty much same thing. He just plays as a more defensive #10 and someone who drifts more rather than staying central.
I wish Carrick could really cover midfield that way - not convinced he could.
A #10 in a 4-2-3-1 and a more advanced CM in a 4-3-3 isn't the same though and most people don't call it #10 then.
Sport 
We should not pay that.
United aren't willing to pay this kind of money for anybody . . The club is just full of sh*t and spreads wild stories about them chasing players they have little intention of coffing up the funds to get . .
If Marca is to be believed .That's that.
Barcelona have apparently gone back to looking at expensive wide players. They're supposed to have approached Reus but suspect he has a deal for next year with Bayern. They're considering another bid for Cuadrado. So a wind-up enquiry to Madrid wouldn't be that big a surprise.
Sounds mental, but that's probably the going rate right now for a player like him, probably in the top 10 in the world.
If Woodward truly feels we have this big huge budget and we're the biggest club around and can afford to break records then ... why the hell not?
We are not in the position to be picky either as we only have 1 week left to buy someone and we must get back in the Champions League. Players of Di Maria's quality are not available very often so we must go all out for him.
He's not worth that. Even less so playing wide.
And it won't adress our main problem area still.
And it won't adress our main problem area still.
They've already got Messi, Suarez and Neymar. Not sure how they'd find place for Reus.
Maybe, but let's not forget that everyone said the same thing about Mata (although, Di Maria's a better plaer), and the general consensus now seems to be that we didn't really need him and it was a panic buy from a desperate man. I still think Mata will be a top player for us, but we shouldn't fork out a fee like that for Di Maria unless LvG is confident he'll be a big upgrade.
The €70/75m figure is plausible from Madrid's perspective. It's the kind of money they paid for James. It's a little less than Barca paid for Suarez (who scores goals as well as assisting). People expecting a bargain price from Madrid are basing it on Madrid needing to sell which they don't.
Could we bear to bid £60m? Well as we see here, even United fans find it hard to swallow. We insist on "our own valuation" argument even here in the transfer forum as much as SAF did and as much as United's management still do.
Incidentally one of AS's feature writers, a rabid (way over the top fan) reporter called Roncero did an article defending Di Maria today and saying that it will be Madrid's own fault if the lose him. So the Real Madrid wants him out argument may not be as cut and dried as it sounded yesterday.
Could we bear to bid £60m? Well as we see here, even United fans find it hard to swallow. We insist on "our own valuation" argument even here in the transfer forum as much as SAF did and as much as United's management still do.
Incidentally one of AS's feature writers, a rabid (way over the top fan) reporter called Roncero did an article defending Di Maria today and saying that it will be Madrid's own fault if the lose him. So the Real Madrid wants him out argument may not be as cut and dried as it sounded yesterday.
I think we could line up with a pretty great diamond with Di Maria here with him and Kagawa being central midfielders capable of pushing wide. It would allow us to have all of our best players on the pitch with great balance. Kagawa and Shaw will provide much more width than Shaw alone and Di Maria and Rafael would of course be world-class at providing width.
---Rooney---RVP
---------Mata
Kagawa-------Di Maria
--------Herrera-------
---Rooney---RVP
---------Mata
Kagawa-------Di Maria
--------Herrera-------
There's concept of Real Madrid selling their players on the cheap but when you look at £42m fee they got for Ozil it's not always the case when they don't necessarily need to sell the player in particular window. They'll gladly keep Di Maria for another season if no one pays what they want.
Sanchez went for 30 odd million pounds. Di Maria at best is worth 40.
If we are gonna overpay let's overpay for a quality midfielder.
Disagree. Most Real Madrid fan and it's dog would have swapped Di Maria and Mata probably going into December - January where he was even being jeered by the home crowd at times.
I've always rated him but he has gone from being underrated to overrated now.
Great balance? That team has no balance whatsoever, the only player in our midfield remotely capable of doing any defensive work is Herrera and that'd be restricting him massively to ask him to do the dirty work. We cannot fit Di Maria, Kagawa and Mata into one team.
We have the money and he is worth it. For those who watch Madrid often, know he was absolutely brilliant for them last season. Their most influential player and probably made the difference in the champions league final. One of the best wingers in the world, worth every penny.
Who gives a damn about defending formation. With our defenders being inexperienced will give pretty entertaining matches that's for sure.
Remove Kagawa and put Carrick, then maybe it could work.
Sanchez was £35m.
Di Maria's clearly a better player than Mata right now, a lot of Real fans will say he was their best player last season, their best performer in many important games (including El Clasico and the CL final). I'm not sure where you're getting that bolded part from, either.
Keep reading that Van Gaal has decided to pass on Di Maria.
No idea how reliable but about 4 articles I've seen so far say he has decided to pass due to:
1: His price tag, 75 mil no negotiating.
2: He's a massive fan of Januzaj and wants to develop him as much as possible.
Number 2 is a good point but at the same time we need signings.
If we aren't going to sign Di Maria then use the 60m on another world class player, maybe a CM and another CB.
And do it quickly god damnit.
No idea how reliable but about 4 articles I've seen so far say he has decided to pass due to:
1: His price tag, 75 mil no negotiating.
2: He's a massive fan of Januzaj and wants to develop him as much as possible.
Number 2 is a good point but at the same time we need signings.
If we aren't going to sign Di Maria then use the 60m on another world class player, maybe a CM and another CB.
And do it quickly god damnit.
In our current formation he can play CM, AM, striker and probably wingback too.
Who cares how much he costs if he improves us... At the end of the day having a player of his quality in the team may be the difference between a good season and a not so good one.
Who cares how much he costs if he improves us... At the end of the day having a player of his quality in the team may be the difference between a good season and a not so good one.
Most Madrid fans wanted him sold and not Ozil ignoring the tactical sense and many jeered him when he was giving his usual hard working but not as spectacular and little inconsistent performances in first half. He upped his game only after that. And yes he was a important player in few big games then and even the CL final.
But that doesn't make him a better player than Mata because of few months when Mata before that had a much more consistent record and the season before was probably the best player in the league arguably carrying Chelsea to 4th. Last season Maureen came and first froze him out and then Moyes bought him without a idea of where to use him. Still he gave some output when played.
And you could go and look back in any Madrid forum to see what they thought of Di Maria upto what point and What they thought of bringing Mata back who was their academy product at one time.
The way transfer dealings work nowadays, him requesting he wants to leave would lead me to believe that personal terms will already have been discussed with a prospective team and his agent - they get agreed and, once happy, he formalises his desire to leave. It wouldn't make any sense to upset the supporters and his teammates only to find that no team would match his requirements.
I suspect it's a case of Madrid holding out for as much money as possible so he's requested to leave to force their hand a bit more.
It all makes me think that whichever club is going to get him, basically, already has. Hopefully that's us but it just doesn't feel like it 'fits', if that makes sense.
I suspect it's a case of Madrid holding out for as much money as possible so he's requested to leave to force their hand a bit more.
It all makes me think that whichever club is going to get him, basically, already has. Hopefully that's us but it just doesn't feel like it 'fits', if that makes sense.
You are effectively playing 5 number 10's in your front 6. It is a terrible team.
These are the same Real fans who've often jeered Ronaldo before though. They're a highly irrational bunch. Anyway, 'jeering' by Spanish supporters is often (quite weirdly) seen as a way to motivate a player, not like in England. Ultimately Ancelotti was happy enough to see Ozil go but refused to let Di Maria go and found a way to keep him in the team week in, week out even with Bale there, which tells you how highly he rates him. I also don't think it's fair to really compare the players previous two seasons as Di Maria was still a winger then, he's become a far better player since adjusting to his central role.
As i said above, you could go and look back in any Madrid forum to see what they thought of Di Maria upto what point and What they thought of bringing Mata back who was their academy product at one time.
Anyway, Di maria was kept and not Ozil because of workrate by Ancelotti basically. He wanted someone central to compensate for Bale and Ronaldo out wide and Di Maria did that while Ozil didn't. And Di Maria could alternate with Ronaldo pretty well too.
Also, if we buy Di Maria we will play him wide most likely not central, so we'll have to see if he goes back to his less consistent self out wide. At the World cup in a drifting role from out wide he wasn't that great as well before his injury.
I know it's a very controversial stance, but does anyone think selling Mata might actually ease up and help us form a more natural lineup?
Maybe he could be part of the deal for Di Maria meaning we would ultimately need to pay less.
Januzaj---------Rooney--------Di Maria
-----------------RVP------------------
That way we can play Januzaj, Di Maria, Rooney and RVP in the same team, all in their preferred positions currently without having to shunt someone (Mata) out of their natural position to play them all, rendering them nowhere near as effective as they can be.
Di Maria is not a wing back, if we could play him as a wing back and he be as effective as he is at Madrid then that would be the ideal and this argument invalid but I can't see it.
It's a much more traditional United style lineup too.
I suppose Rooney could also fall into this category instead of Mata however Rooney just being made our captain I can't see that happening.
Ok maybe it's a bit harsh, cause I love Mata.. he's a genuine nice guy off the pitch as well as a top player, and I don't want him to go, but it just seems it would be easier on all and more natural for everyone with this line up, if we can do that without selling Mata that would be great but I just feel someone is going to need to compromise otherwise. Would be nice to just try it with Mata on the bench or something so if it doesn't work we can bring Mata back however the only reason I suggest selling is it could be used as a weight in the transfer considering they are accepting no less than 75 mil.
Maybe he could be part of the deal for Di Maria meaning we would ultimately need to pay less.
Januzaj---------Rooney--------Di Maria
-----------------RVP------------------
That way we can play Januzaj, Di Maria, Rooney and RVP in the same team, all in their preferred positions currently without having to shunt someone (Mata) out of their natural position to play them all, rendering them nowhere near as effective as they can be.
Di Maria is not a wing back, if we could play him as a wing back and he be as effective as he is at Madrid then that would be the ideal and this argument invalid but I can't see it.
It's a much more traditional United style lineup too.
I suppose Rooney could also fall into this category instead of Mata however Rooney just being made our captain I can't see that happening.
Ok maybe it's a bit harsh, cause I love Mata.. he's a genuine nice guy off the pitch as well as a top player, and I don't want him to go, but it just seems it would be easier on all and more natural for everyone with this line up, if we can do that without selling Mata that would be great but I just feel someone is going to need to compromise otherwise. Would be nice to just try it with Mata on the bench or something so if it doesn't work we can bring Mata back however the only reason I suggest selling is it could be used as a weight in the transfer considering they are accepting no less than 75 mil.
What time is LVG's presser? Doubt they'll ask him about Di Maria in the video press conference but think they might in the written one.
- Status