Angel Di Maria image 7

Angel Di Maria Argentina flag

2014-15 Performances

View full 2014-15 profile

5.7 Season Average Rating
Appearances
32
Goals
4
Assists
13
Yellow cards
3
Red cards
1
Status
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Orton said:
The difference between playing in a 3 for us and for them is that the rest of their team is better than ours.
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Well he mostly played in a midfield 3 last season, however them having a better team than us doesn't really excuse his amount of wasteful possession and lack of tracking back.
 
Would need to see a gif of this again, but i thought Rooney should have done better with that pass from Angel. It wasn't the worse ball ever, and Rooney had all the time to track that pass and re-position himself for the shot again
 
SATA said:
Would need to see a gif of this again, but i thought Rooney should have done better with that pass from Angel. It wasn't the worse ball ever, and Rooney had all the time to track that pass and re-position himself for the shot again
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Rooney mistakes was that he was too flat, he should have been 2 or 3 meters behind.
 
Devil may care said:
Well he mostly played in a midfield 3 last season, however them having a better team than us doesn't really excuse his amount of wasteful possession and lack of tracking back.
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Well, it sort of does in a way. He had Ronaldo, Bale and Benzema ahead of him with Marcelo on the left. He always had an outlet so his passing was less wasteful and he worked his socks off too, so that part of his game has been a bit of a let down here so far.
 
Orton said:
Well, it sort of does in a way. He had Ronaldo, Bale and Benzema ahead of him with Marcelo on the left. He always had an outlet so his passing was less wasteful and he worked his socks off too, so that part of his game has been a bit of a let down here so far.
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It's fair enough he had more options but then he needs to learn when to release and when to keep the ball until we have more options, however it doesn't really excuse the lack of workrate, he just seems out of sorts here.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
He's Nani without the work ethic.

Astonishing we broke the English transfer record for someone who is so similar to (and arguably no better than) a player we were so keen to get rid of we ended up paying all his wages on loan.

I've seen nothing from Di Maria going forwards that Nani couldn't do, combined with blatantly failing to do a lot of the defensive stuff that Nani would do, even when not at his best. Annoying.
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Think at his best he could be great for us, but he has been far from it this season. Nani at his best could be brilliant as well and a player who would also cost 40m+ as he was between 2010-2012 though. The problem with him turned into injuries while with Di Maria, I have no idea really. Could be confidence, not used to new league, motivation after winning the CL last season, off field issues, etc.. I think he still has it in him to be a brilliant player and if he finds his form then it will be great for us, I don't believe that last season was just a one off for him.
 
The assist aside, that was a really shite performance again. What makes it even weirder, is how he messes up the easiest things, whilst doing the hard things right.

I disagree with the people who says he can't handle the league though. He has shown plenty of times he can make things happen.
 
SATA said:
Would need to see a gif of this again, but i thought Rooney should have done better with that pass from Angel. It wasn't the worse ball ever, and Rooney had all the time to track that pass and re-position himself for the shot again
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I was actually thinking a more agile striker might have done this, but I might be wrong. I'll need to watch it again.
 
Devil may care said:
It's fair enough he had more options but then he needs to learn when to release and when to keep the ball until we have more options, however it doesn't really excuse the lack of workrate, he just seems out of sorts here.
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The passing thing like I say is obvious with a complete different set up, and his quality shining through in patches rather than consistently. Sort of like his performances on the wing for Real Madrid. I still have massive hopes for him here, and I hope he can improve.
 
Got an assist so won't hate on his performance.

What annoyed me was early in stoppage time I think, Blind had the ball at left back, had no options and need Di maria to run closer to the touchline (was in an inside-left position) for the release ball. It was a painfully obvious run to make but he didn't make it. Forced Blind to kick it long and we conceded possession.
 
Did Nani ever get such an impressive assist return? For all his faults, I get the impression Di Maria's end product in terms of goals and assists will be far superior to Nani's.
 
kps88 said:
Did Nani ever get such an impressive assist return? For all his faults, I get the impression Di Maria's end product in terms of goals and assists will be far superior to Nani's.
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Yes, he nearly hit 20 assists in 2010/11 along with 9 goals. People forget how good he was for us during that period.
 
kps88 said:
Did Nani ever get such an impressive assist return? For all his faults, I get the impression Di Maria's end product in terms of goals and assists will be far superior to Nani's.
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In 11/12, he had 10 goals and 12 assists
In 10/11, he had 10 goals and 14 assists.
 
Orton said:
The passing thing like I say is obvious with a complete different set up, and his quality shining through in patches rather than consistently. Sort of like his performances on the wing for Real Madrid. I still have massive hopes for him here, and I hope he can improve.
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To me though I look at Herrera and how he has changed his game across this season to adapt to the team he is in as opposed to the team he used to be in, Di Maria hasn't done this. I hope he can still come good for us but I personally don't think the unhappy stories are just made up, he doesn't look the fired up player I watched last season for Real Madrid.
 
Di Maria's assist to Mata wasn't actually that good. He played it to the wrong part of the box and forced JM to pull off a world class finish.

I know that's a churlish thing to bring up since we scored anyway, but I don't consider it an example of a 'good' pass when it was actually mis-hit.
 
Dante said:
Di Maria's assist to Mata wasn't actually that good. He played it to the wrong part of the box and forced JM to pull off a world class finish.

I know that's a churlish thing to bring up since we scored anyway, but I don't consider it an example of a 'good' pass when it was actually mis-hit.
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Had he not "miss-hit" the pass, Mata may not have scored; and there'd be no goal or assist to speak of.
 
kps88 said:
Did Nani ever get such an impressive assist return? For all his faults, I get the impression Di Maria's end product in terms of goals and assists will be far superior to Nani's.
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09/10 - 6g/15a from 34 games
10/11 - 10g/20a from 49games
11/12 - 10g/15a from 40games
12/13 - 3g/6a from 21 games

too many injuries and inconsistency but great numbers by Nani I guess

diMaria's on similar numbers so far, different money, more ugly and can't do backflip celebrations...

14/15 - 4g/11a from 27 games
 
Dante said:
Luck has always been a factor in football. That's no revelation. But it wasn't the great pass that people are claiming it to be.
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Doesn't have to be. It led to goal and that's all that matters. If, and when, we finish in top 4, we won't be talking about great passes, we'll appreciate the contributions made by players both in terms of numbers and performances on the pitch.
 
I personally thought we looked worse when he came on but the ball to Mata doesn't get played unless he's on the field. LVG needs to decide whether he wants Angel's brilliance, his tendency to give the ball away and his poor defensive ability or whether he wants to go with predictability.
 
Captain Hindsight said:
Doesn't have to be. It led to goal and that's all that matters. If, and when, we finish in top 4, we won't be talking about great passes, we'll appreciate the contributions made by players both in terms of numbers and performances on the pitch.
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That's a completely different point to what I'm discussing. The quality of the pass relates to Di Maria's form, which is shit at the moment. Juan Mata's ability to turn it into an assist doesn't make his passing good all of a sudden.
 
I think all this criticism is massively overblown myself. He's been an important player for us this year and on the whole he's had a good first season. Inconsistent, flaky and careless, yes, but then so was the player we brought him in to replace (Giggs).
 
Dante said:
That's a completely different point to what I'm discussing. The quality of the pass relates to Di Maria's form, which is shit at the moment. Juan Mata's ability to turn it into an assist doesn't make his passing good all of a sudden.
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Yes, and I'm saying it doesn't matter... He got the assist and that's more important than the quality of the pass...
 
Brwned said:
I think all this criticism is massively overblown myself. He's been an important player for us this year and on the whole he's had a good first season. Inconsistent, flaky and careless, yes, but then so was the player we brought him into replace (Giggs).
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Yeah it's been way over the top for me.

Nice pass for the assist today and played another lovely pass for the penalty. Did what he came on to do.
 
he did ok, but he did ok in a great match for us to win.....

shows the high standards when he plays ok he has an assist and wins a penalty

a nice international break followed by another big performance vrs Villa and we may see the best of Di Maria creeping back in
 
Dante said:
Luck has always been a factor in football. That's no revelation. But it wasn't the great pass that people are claiming it to be.
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It was a very good pass. Everyone expected him to go left or shoot and he went the other way and pulled it off which through the defenders off. Of course nothing compared to the increible finish but it was still a very good pass. He did the same for the penalty. That's basiclaly what he came on to do. To stretch liverpool, exploit the space and create some chances. That's exactly what he did do.
 
Travesty that one of the best counter attacking players around was bought for a team that plays with little pace and prefers to hold the ball.

Will always be a hit and miss player like Nani but needs to be in a fast system that plays in the counter.

He was decent today. Nice assist along with so easy dumb moments but that's what he does all the time so get used to it.
 
amolbhatia100 said:
It was a very good pass. Everyone expected him to go left or shoot and he went the other way and pulled it off which through the defenders off. Of course nothing compared to the increible finish but it was still a very good pass. He did the same for the penalty. That's basiclaly what he came on to do. To stretch liverpool, exploit the space and create some chances. That's exactly what he did do.
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The pass for the penalty was better, imo. But Di Maria does have a tendency to play his passes too far ahead or behind the man. He did the same thing for the cross to Rooney later in the game. This game did nothing to convince me that he's got a top class passing game in his locker.
 
Dante said:
I'm talking about Di Maria's form. The quality of the pass is the only thing that's relevant.
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If this bad form continues, yet he still manages to get assists like today and the one against Arsenal; then I wouldn't mind this form.
 
Dante said:
The pass for the penalty was better, imo. But Di Maria does have a tendency to play his passes too far ahead or behind the man. He did the same thing for the cross to Rooney later in the game. This game did nothing to convince me that he's got a top class passing game in his locker.
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He's not a playmaker if that's what you're looking for. He's like giggs in that regard. He'll always get a few wrong but he's capable of opening teams right up with some gems which makes him very very dangerous. I'm not sur you need convincing in this regard. He's never been an ozil like passer. What he is, is an attacker who is capable of defense splitting dribbled, passes and crosses who also has a terrific engine. The more comfortable he gets well hopefully see more of the latter.
 
Thought he was pretty good today. I don't understand people who think he's going to be sold. It's his first season, he's always been a player who's out of form from time to time but it looks like he's getting a bit better again.

Had the assist for Rooney against Arsenal, his wonderfull assist for Mata and he played in Blind who won the penalty. Does he have 100% pass accuracy? No, but he's one of the players who can lose the ball in van Gaal's system. He's on the pitch to make things happen and he does if he's in form. I'm 100% sure he will be here next season and he will be better.
 
He just needs more time. I'm sure he will find his best form soon enough and LVG can help him like he did with so many other players
 
Played a vital role in a goal and a penalty so the criticism shouldn't be too over the top today. We all know he is far from his best at the moment, don't see the point in beating that drum over and over. He's still got an end product on him even now and hopefully next season he'll be back to his roaring best (which is a phenomenal level).
 
Awful again yet still assisted one and played the ball to Blind for the penalty.
 
Carl said:
Awful again yet still assisted one and played the ball to Blind for the penalty.
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That's the thing with him... Even way off form, he still makes so many chances (had that moment where he played it just behind Rooney as well). A Di Maria at his best will be lethal for us I think. He just needs his confidence back, which will make the biggest difference in terms of actually going past players 1 on 1 and his normal passing I think. When he finds himself in positions like for Mata's goal, you can always count on him to pick out the pass playing on instinct, even off form.
 
His decision making was also poor in the beginning of the season, he had also a lot of stupid mistakes. I don't think it's a question of form either, he doesn't seem susceptible to form like normal players. It's not that didn't have his touch today or something like that. His 'form' can change within a match, within a few minutes even. It's not that if he hits a ball completely wrong, he starts to doubt his form or something and loses confidence, no, he just tries again.

What he should work on is a becoming a bit more solid, and learn that there are moments and places he can't take on a defender, but needs to keep it simple. He should know where and when the leash can come off.
 
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