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
Not open for further replies.
Delighted to read the other day that he will stay. Very interesting him for to admit that the Premier League is a harder league to play in than La Liga.
 
God I hope he can return to his best for us next season. I think with us signing him and Falcao the belief was we had signed two world class players which we've not had enough of in recent years. City basically sleepwalked to second despite only Silva and Aguero performing for them. We have a player at or near that level in Di Maria if he can replicate his Madrid form.
 
Scored 2 today. Assisted another for Aguero - who got a hat trick himself - in a 5-0 win over Bolivia. Captain too.

Highlights:

 
I know LVG is all about the team and doing as your told but some players should just be allowed to play!

I really hope Di Maria finds his mojo at United next season, maybe a return to European football will help.
 
There's no surprise he's had a good game for Argentina. On the one hand, he's starting as Captain for his country (WC runners up) and on the other, he's playing 10-15 minutes as a sub for the fourth best team in England. We should have shown more faith in him as opposed to leaving him to rot on the bench. Lets not make the same mistake, again, next season.
 
There's no surprise he's had a good game for Argentina. On the one hand, he's starting as Captain for his country (WC runners up) and on the other, he's playing 10-15 minutes as a sub for the fourth best team in England. We should have shown more faith in him as opposed to leaving him to rot on the bench. Lets not make the same mistake, again, next season.

Yeah, we should put Di Maria interests before the team, he was out of form and the players on the field (Young and Mata) were in form. The team needed the CL qualification there was no time for Di Maria.
 
Delighted to read the other day that he will stay. Very interesting him for to admit that the Premier League is a harder league to play in than La Liga.
I can't understand how everyone doesn't think this. I know the joke about messi not being able to hack it on a cold night in stoke, but it is based on some truth.

Even last night Messi wasn't allowed waltz around vs Juve without a strong tackle coming in. Doesn't seem to happen in spain, whether it's the ref or the culture
 
I can't understand how everyone doesn't think this. I know the joke about messi not being able to hack it on a cold night in stoke, but it is based on some truth.

Even last night Messi wasn't allowed waltz around vs Juve without a strong tackle coming in. Doesn't seem to happen in spain, whether it's the ref or the culture
Spain does it right I think. In our league it is almost accepted to go in very hard on players with a slight physique and quick feet. In Spain that's at least a yellow or a red.
 
Yeah, we should put Di Maria interests before the team, he was out of form and the players on the field (Young and Mata) were in form. The team needed the CL qualification there was no time for Di Maria.

That's the thing, he wasn't out of form. He was our best player in the game FA cup game against Arsenal and lost his form as a result of being out of the team. Young, Mata and Fellaini quite easily could have been dropped after the Chelsea game, and definitely by the Everton game; however, we chose not to and won a mighty one from our last six.

I don't understand the bolded part... If we get him back to his best, then surely we'd reap the rewards?
 
That's the thing, he wasn't out of form. He was our best player in the game FA cup game against Arsenal and lost his form as a result of being out of the team. Young, Mata and Fellaini quite easily could have been dropped after the Chelsea game, and definitely by the Everton game; however, we chose not to and won a mighty one from our last six.

I don't understand the bolded part... If we get him back to his best, then surely we'd reap the rewards?
We can't just keep him in the first team when he's putting cross after cross into row z and is facing a crisis of confidence, when we NEED top 4.

This is the perfect time for him to work hard and come back a stronger player. We need Di Maria to his old standard back.
 
We can't just keep him in the first team when he's putting cross after cross into row z and is facing a crisis of confidence, when we NEED top 4.

This is the perfect time for him to work hard and come back a stronger player. We need Di Maria to his old standard back.

Once we lost to Chelsea, and then Everton, we quite easily could have had him back in the starting XI. Heck, after the loss against WBA, he should have been nailed on for a start, but he wasn't; couldn't have been great for his confidence, hence the wayward crossing in his sub appearance against West Brom.
 
That's the thing, he wasn't out of form. He was our best player in the game FA cup game against Arsenal and lost his form as a result of being out of the team. Young, Mata and Fellaini quite easily could have been dropped after the Chelsea game, and definitely by the Everton game; however, we chose not to and won a mighty one from our last six.

I don't understand the bolded part... If we get him back to his best, then surely we'd reap the rewards?

We will reap the rewards next season, the end of this season was to important to play an out of form player.
 
Once we lost to Chelsea, and then Everton, we quite easily could have had him back in the starting XI. Heck, after the loss against WBA, he should have been nailed on for a start, but he wasn't; couldn't have been great for his confidence, hence the wayward crossing in his sub appearance against West Brom.
The manager obviously got more confidence from young in training, and it's obvious to see why.

Look, I've defended Di Maria a lot this season. I think he's one of the most exciting players in the world to watch and if he gets back to his best he will be our best player instantly. But I don't think lvg made a mistake this season in playing him less. He was under immense pressure to get 4th and he did what he had to. Now Di Maria can work hard and show his best form next season with a clean slate.
 
We will reap the rewards next season, the end of this season was to important to play an out of form player.

Not really, like I said, we picked up 5 points from 18 and still finished 6 points ahead of fifth. He should have started after the WBA loss, if not after the Everton game.
 
Not really, like I said, we picked up 5 points from 18 and still finished 6 points ahead of fifth. He should have started after the WBA loss, if not after the Everton game.

You are trying to rewrite history here, Di Maria was out of form and he probably wasn't better in training hence why he wasn't starting games. Di Maria is a great player but for reasons unknown to us he didn't performed well, next season will be a different story and he will probably start most games.
 
We can't just keep him in the first team when he's putting cross after cross into row z and is facing a crisis of confidence, when we NEED top 4.

This is the perfect time for him to work hard and come back a stronger player. We need Di Maria to his old standard back.

The thing is, aside from the first three or so games last season, we have hardly any evidence of his 'old standard' in a United shirt. It's not like he was playing well for around 2 months and then went to shit. He was poor for the entire season and that worries me.
 
It's so uniimportant as well. It's about the team and we needed confidence in the team and Di Maria was struggling with it and struggling with the new league. Nothing wrong with giving him time to improve while we get what we need and what he would need to be at this club - champions league football.
 
Once we lost to Chelsea, and then Everton, we quite easily could have had him back in the starting XI. Heck, after the loss against WBA, he should have been nailed on for a start, but he wasn't; couldn't have been great for his confidence, hence the wayward crossing in his sub appearance against West Brom.
So he should started the game after West Brom because he was terrible when he came on against West Brom? Di Maria needs to up it massively, he's actually got away quite lightly for how disappointing he's been given how much he cost. Although Van Gaal also has to take the blame for signing a player coming off by far his best season and then quickly deciding he didn't trust him to play there. Until his last year at Madrid he was always a slightly inconsistent winger, I'd take that right now rather than what he showed from about November onwards which was mostly pretty poor.
 
The thing is, aside from the first three or so games last season, we have hardly any evidence of his 'old standard' in a United shirt. It's not like he was playing well for around 2 months and then went to shit. He was poor for the entire season and that worries me.
His numbers are too good for him to have been poor all season.

He's a great player. He'll prove it at United next season like he did at Madrid. If he's motivated and stays as a result, I'm very confident in him doing well.
 
Spain does it right I think. In our league it is almost accepted to go in very hard on players with a slight physique and quick feet. In Spain that's at least a yellow or a red.
I disagree, I don't like the culture of the spanish game. The last ten minutes of every match involves dives and players rolling around on the ground, robbing the fans of an exciting finish and value. I felt sorry for people who aid 1000 euro last night and had to watch 10 minutes of barcelona players diving and acting and limping off. If Bayern Munich had been that low in 1999 they would have won 1 nil and there wouldn't have been a shot in the last ten minutes, and their fans would have been happy, but all the neutral fans around the world would have been robbed of a great finish
 
The thing is, aside from the first three or so games last season, we have hardly any evidence of his 'old standard' in a United shirt. It's not like he was playing well for around 2 months and then went to shit. He was poor for the entire season and that worries me.

Whilst I think he had a poor season, I think that this is very much overstated. Only had 3 or so good games?
 
I can't understand how everyone doesn't think this. I know the joke about messi not being able to hack it on a cold night in stoke, but it is based on some truth.

Even last night Messi wasn't allowed waltz around vs Juve without a strong tackle coming in. Doesn't seem to happen in spain, whether it's the ref or the culture

Yes and Vidal was lucky not to be sent off
 
Whilst I think he had a poor season, I think that this is very much overstated. Only had 3 or so good games?

No, he had a few others, but if we're talking about his old standard, they were still far away from his best.
 
If I was LVG I'd buy a midfielder that would allow Utd to play Di Maria in a midfield 3.

Di Maria ----- Herrera
--------New CM-------

Problem solved!
 
So he should started the game after West Brom because he was terrible when he came on against West Brom? Di Maria needs to up it massively, he's actually got away quite lightly for how disappointing he's been given how much he cost. Although Van Gaal also has to take the blame for signing a player coming off by far his best season and then quickly deciding he didn't trust him to play there. Until his last year at Madrid he was always a slightly inconsistent winger, I'd take that right now rather than what he showed from about November onwards which was mostly pretty poor.

van Gaal refused to make any changes to a team that had just lost three in a row, and it could have cost us since we ended up winning one from our last three. We were lucky that Liverpool somehow managed to trump our form from our last six and failed to capitalise from our mistakes.

In hindsight, it looks different, as it seems as if it worked out as we wanted it to; however, at the time, we should have changed things to avoid squeaky bum time from the last three fixtures. If we're vying for more than fourth place, this coming season, I'd to see a more proactive LvG, especially, if we lose three in a row and our football is dull.

Lastly, we're talking about Angel di Maria, not some chump from the third division. A player who was voted into the world team of the year from 13/14; had we shown him a bit more confidence in him, we may have finished third as opposed to fourth.
 
He deserved to be dropped last season, but i agree that van gaal should show more faith in him.

Let's not forget that he had 4 goals and 11 assists in 24 starts, he could easily double those numbers with regular football next season.
 
If I was LVG I'd buy a midfielder that would allow Utd to play Di Maria in a midfield 3.

Di Maria ----- Herrera
--------New CM-------

Problem solved!

Schnierdelin (or however its spelt)
 
3 things to add to the debate here folks -

1) Di Maria's style by nature is to try things on the ball that will risk giving it away in the final third. Dribbles, through balls, crosses and shots. Those actions create chances regularly for good strikers and individual brilliance is something that we will see flourish with Memphis' arrival too. It also a difference maker when a team is struggling to break an opponent down or force an error in the opposition to exploit - something we suffered from a lot last season.

2) Di Maria creates a hell of a lot of chances naturally. While the consistency of his delivery was awry at times, his actual play wasn't far off what he has been doing week in, week out anyway in his career to date. The price tag and performances in the world cup seem to have over inflated peoples expectations to a level that he simply has never achieved to date. Feel free to look at his statistics and his career, he doesn't score a shed load of goals but he creates huge amounts and poses threat at all times. In fact, had we had an in-form striker finishing some more of the chances he did create - Falcao, Fellaini, Rooney and van Persie often fluffed up - then Di Maria's assists would have been doubled and all of this "flop" talk would have been reversed as praise for a man who creates so much - just like at Madrid when (B, B &) Cristiano would generally score. Therefore his "struggles" are often twinned with the weaknesses of strikers too. Feel some on here miss this part crucially.

3) I'm hoping, by September (because I expect a slow start post Copa America and phased pre-season) he has replaced Fellaini in the team. I think MF has great use in Prem games but generally speaking, his place is open for Di Maria to take directly or Mata to switch infield and Di Maria to start on the right. If Rooney or another striker can hit form and if Memphis edges out Young, then we will have a great deal of movement and quality for Di Maria to create chances for and thrive once more.
 
If I was LVG I'd buy a midfielder that would allow Utd to play Di Maria in a midfield 3.

Di Maria ----- Herrera
--------New CM-------

Problem solved!
He played Young there ahead of him against Hull. It's quite clear he will not play in midfield for us.
 
He played Young there ahead of him against Hull. It's quite clear he will not play in midfield for us.

Yes it was clear Di Maria was not going to play in a midfield 3 in the '2014/15' squad...mainly due to the Leicester shambles.
But i am suggesting that with the right buys in the transfer market Di Maria could find himself back in the centre in the 2015/16 squad.
 
Creates more chances per minute, and had more goals/assists per minute last season than your Fabregas', Silva's, even Hazard. He is the kind of player who would have absolutely thrived under Fergie, or most managers, but I don't think LVG is going to let him here.

Watching Neymar and Messi last night - in the CL Final - being given free license to take risks, try individual skills and just play their way - wouldn't happen under coaches like LVG/Mourinho/Benitez.

I think LVG will make us a better team and functional unit, but I've seen nothing that suggests he's even interested in leveraging ADM's world class talent. He almost seems to resent the unpredictability.

Which is just stupid when you stare at the raw numbers. Di Maria creates chances and goals for us, in a season when we couldn't score. We replace him with Young, who tries really hard, is positionally disciplined, but barely ever actually gets us goals.
 
Creates more chances per minute, and had more goals/assists per minute last season than your Fabregas', Silva's, even Hazard. He is the kind of player who would have absolutely thrived under Fergie, or most managers, but I don't think LVG is going to let him here.

Watching Neymar and Messi last night - in the CL Final - being given free license to take risks, try individual skills and just play their way - wouldn't happen under coaches like LVG/Mourinho/Benitez.

I think LVG will make us a better team and functional unit, but I've seen nothing that suggests he's even interested in leveraging ADM's world class talent. He almost seems to resent the unpredictability.

Which is just stupid when you stare at the raw numbers. Di Maria creates chances and goals for us, in a season when we couldn't score. We replace him with Young, who tries really hard, is positionally disciplined, but barely ever actually gets us goals.

That's wrong, we've seen how much freedom Di Maria gets. If he wasn't allowed freedom with the way he played last season he'd have been dropped before Christmas to never play again. Wingers and 10 always get freedom and can take risks under van Gaal so I don't know why you think that. No other positions can dribble or lose the ball as much as Di Maria does. Ofcourse he has to fit in with the team a bit more, but there is no reason why Di Maria can't.

Have you seen van Gaal's teams in the past? Arjen Robben wasn't exactly restricted, and neither will Di Maria be.
 
I can't understand how everyone doesn't think this. I know the joke about messi not being able to hack it on a cold night in stoke, but it is based on some truth.

Even last night Messi wasn't allowed waltz around vs Juve without a strong tackle coming in. Doesn't seem to happen in spain, whether it's the ref or the culture

Other players who transferred from La Liga to the EPL did say that they now have more space and more time on the ball. David Silva and Aguero off the top of my head.
 
ADM is vital for United to do well in CL. You guys may win the league without him, but in CL it's vital you get the last ounce of juice from this guy. You need that extra quality, that additonal push to win in CL knock-out games. ADM is the perfect guy for that, he can give you something extra in tight games.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.