I'd like to think we'd give him more than one start, unless it's an absolute stinker.
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I'd like to think we'd give him more than one start, unless it's an absolute stinker.
I don't know why this myth perdure but Di Maria isn't a central player, last season he was more often dangerous in wide areas than centrally. Play him as a center midfielder and you have a poor but fit Anderson.
I'd like to see a midfield like that (at least for home games):
----ADM-------Herrera-----
--------Carrick--------
----ADM-------Herrera-----
--------Carrick--------
I think we would need to add a new physical midfielder to the team then we could drop Fellaini and go with:
----ADM-------Herrera-----
--------new CM--------
He should be playing in the middle, taking up Fellaini's position in the inside left channel when the plan A is not working out. It'd be a niightmare for the opposition to prepare for Fellaini and end up facing Di Maria's pace and drive from midfield. I think LvG missed that trick against both Everton & Chelsea.
What do you mean "flopped"? You're missing the point completely. I'm talking about players who struggled in their first season, then came good in their second and subsequent seasons.
Can't believe I actually need to give examples tbh. Anyway, here goes. Robert Pires, Mikael Essien, David Silva, Luka Modric, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra, do I really need to go on?
I can't argue with that. I guess it's all about hindsight. If it pays off, it looks good. If it doesn't, then it's just sheer infuriating and shit.
TBH I get pissed off more when we're loosing or its 0-0 and we've been struggling all game to get chances and no one even bothers to have a pop when they get anywhere near 25-30 yards out. I find this infuriating tbh. We used to have so many players who would have a go, Beckham, Scholes, Nani, Ronaldo, RVP, Rooney (used to do it more often)
All those players you mentioned developed into better players after moving to new leagues (None of them were world class players prior), you heavily underrate their first seasons, none of them went impactless for 5 months, Di Maria has already shown his quality in the EPL so the "New League" argument is invalid, but like i said before i don't think any player 25 and over should get away with using a new league as an excuse, talk less of a WC player.
Or are we trying to compare the expectations we had for Evra and Vidic with the ones we had for Di Maria?
No. I'm simply pointing out that plenty of "grown men" have improved significantly in their second and subsequent seasons in the PL.
Oh and all those players were stars in their own leagues before moving to England. That's why I mentioned players who were all signed by the strongest clubs in the league.
Our midfield is being built on possession and protecting the ball, there's no way I see LvG using Di Maria there again.
Doesn't mean their sole reason for struggling in their first season was because of a new league, i don't know maybe the likes of Evra,Vidic,Essien,Silva ,Pires and Modric just happened to improve as players?
Happened to get back to the level that was the reason they were signed in the first place, more like. Obviously, they continued to improve from then on but that's neither here nor there.
He had a bit of a hybrid midfield role last season right? Whenever I watched them, he seemed like he was playing LM at times, because Ronaldo went central, effectively partnering their striker. It certainly wasn't a normal midfield role he played. Whatever it was, he did it very well, but I'm not sure that for the balance of the team we can accommodate him LCM. Maybe I'm wrong. I don't particularly care for possession based football, but even as he is, I think he's way too sloppy to play in our midfield on a regular basis. Neither wing is foreign to him, so I just hope he can show his quality there instead.
Yes. It usually looked like this:
---Cristiano--Benzema---
-ADM----------------Bale
-----Alonso--Modric-----
And this:
Cristiano---Benzema---Bale
-------ADM---------------
---------------Modric-----
-------Alonso-------------
Those were the zones he occupied. More important than his position however was how well he complemented the rest of the team. Modric and Alonso is a central midfield pairing that can easily hold its own in a 2. ADM tucking in and supporting them as an auxiliary midfielder isn't the same as playing him in a leading central midfield role. Even less so under van Gaal where clean ball circulation matters a lot. The best role for him under van Gaal would be as an out and out left winger. But in such a role he can be very predictable because of his extreme 1-footedness. A very skilful winger with a very high top level but also very hot and cold and his best career performances came in a very specific role.
On form he's usually better than most of our other players with a great work rate. Plus our most creative player. I can see plenty of reasons why LVG will put him back in
Seriously?
Well yes, how often have we broken down a team who mainly parks the bus and hits on the counter this season? We have been heavily struggling with it, and now Everton has punished us for it. These are the kind of tactics we will face in the CL next year. We perform at our very best when the opponent isn't parking the bus either, see our few performances before the Chelsea game. How can you deny that our game doesn't need tweaking?
I can't, he gives the ball away too much, is slightly built and lacks patience, pretty much everything LvG seems to not want in a CM. He'll play on the wing from this point on I think.
We definitely need to get in some new players. Possession based football is here to stay. Whether it's us or the likes of Barca, the approach is going nowhere.
That was when we, in general, played shit. He, like Mata, Herrera or Fellaini should be given a chance now again
If you're expecting LVG to change the possession based system, or make allowances for Di Maria to be in the team, while still not playing in the way LVG wants, then you'll be waiting for a long time.
It's not about that, it's about him not possessing any of the traits LvG likes in a midfielder.
I would rather see di Maria central as well, but my feeling is that LVG really doesn't like "risky" players in his midfield. By this I mean players who take risks and lose possession, and/or don't offer a lot defensively. It was why Herrera struggled to get into the team for a whIle (his interviews support this), and would also explain why ADM and Mata are primarily used out wide.
Tired of the cliche "he's our most creative player." Creative in ways of losing the ball? Even in the early days when he was playing better, he was still sending crosses after crosses after crosses into the box whenever he got the ball. That's not creativity. Your average joe knows how to do that.
I am too, but he probably is - he doesn't seem to show it 75% of the time though (this season).
I'm confident he'll be excellent next season. I always think signings especially from a different league needs at least 12 months to settle. So with that in mind I'll be waiting a few more months before I begin to get critical of his performances. He'll have a good pre season you watch.
He isn't even going to have a pre season I don't think. He is going to play in the Copa American and won't be back until late. Also the new season starts really early on August 8th.
Against teams looking to counter that kind of makes sense. You just got to make a trade off I guess by asking Young to stick close to midfield in case a break starts.
A bit OTT, isnt it?
Di Maria has to start in the last 4 games, to give him confidence and because he is good enough.
Not as far as midfield goes I don't think it is. Herrera had to modify his game to get starts there and he takes a lot less risks than Di Maria.
We talk here about ADM, one of the best players around last season. You dont lose your ability within a couple of months and he already showed this season who good he can be
Di Maria the winger correspond to LVG, but Di Maria the hybrid center midfielder doesn't, at least not when he is not at the top of his game.
I didn't say he has lost quality, I am saying that when you look at what LvG wants from a CM, Di Maria is not it, that's why he'll play on the wing.
I think he ticks quiet some boxes in midfield and brings a lot to our play. I don't see why LVG wouldn't want to play him in midfield ever again
Not LvG's boxes though, he likes patience, control, possession and accurate passing in midfield. This is not Di Maria, he likes to run with the ball, takes risks with it all of the time and plays more on the counter than as someone who will methodically build play.
We have Herrera who is also much more dynamic. I think LVG knows that he can't just have a midfield full of "Blinds" but needs something to compliment the others. Di Maria's passing is actually very good and losing balls has mainly started once his form got worse. He brings so much into our game and I see him as an added value. Against Everton, it showed where we struggled and he could have helped there as well. Let's see where LVG will play him
I don't van Gaal likes the chaos he creates when played as a midfielder. Plus, he tends to lose the ball in stupid situations quite a lot, has inconsistent touch, and isn't disciplined. He will probably play a winger for us, as soon as he settles down.
Herrera is more dynamic than Blind or Carrick but he is now much more careful with the ball than he was, he chooses his moments carefully when to inject something more urgent into the game. We simply don't have a DM strong enough to even try and accommodate Di Maria's weakness in midfield, it's the same with Mata, both of them need to find their form on the wings if they are to start games for LvG as he has already said he'll be buying another CM this summer, one who I am sure will fit with Carrick and Herrera while being much less risky than Di Maria.
Gundogan?
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