[Hamadovich86]

Was he crap because he played as a winger as opposed being on the left side of the diamond? I dont think so because yesterday he simply lost the ball (more than usual) couldnt complete his dribbles and overall his touch was poor. Not sure if those factors are related to his position.

 

[LeftyBlaster]

Was he crap because he played as a winger as opposed being on the left side of the diamond? I dont think so because yesterday he simply lost the ball (more than usual) couldnt complete his dribbles and overall his touch was poor. Not sure if those factors are related to his position.

They are imo. He's played a lot better having more movement and options around him as opposed to being confined with the touchline to his back.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Van Gaal obviously thinks Mata at 10 leaves us very exposed through the middle. Will probably see the diamond again (and Di Maria at his best) when Rooney's back.

Mind you, I do agree that it's a bit too simplistic to blame his position alone for his recent form. He's just having a wee dip. Probably would have been below par centrally too.

 

[gaucho_10]

Was he crap because he played as a winger as opposed being on the left side of the diamond? I dont think so because yesterday he simply lost the ball (more than usual) couldnt complete his dribbles and overall his touch was poor. Not sure if those factors are related to his position.

They're not. This is also Di Maria, the one I've been watching for years in Madrid. You just didn't see him until yesterday. He goes from incredible to incredibly bad in one game (few posters have mentioned that during the transfer discussions), and when he goes to shit he just loses balls one after another for the whole game.
He played best football of his life from February until few weeks ago, and his run of good form never lasted that long. He was due a dip in form. He'll be back...

 

[Mali_Zeus]

Was he crap because he played as a winger as opposed being on the left side of the diamond? I dont think so because yesterday he simply lost the ball (more than usual) couldnt complete his dribbles and overall his touch was poor. Not sure if those factors are related to his position.

Just had a bad game I think. Nothing to do with the position although I'd rather see him at CM.

 

[Escobar]

Still think he's better when coming from deeper but yesterday was just a bad day

 

[blitz133w]

Think the fans chanting his name is going to his head. tried to many flashy dribbles and shots from random areas. I can remember the first volley which Mata had played to him in the 4th min or so, completely unnecessary. He could have easily taken one extra touch and placed it for a goal. One more volley from outside the box which went closer to the corner flag than the goal. There was no chelsea player in front of him, Could have taken two extra touches and shot. One time he tried nutmegging Fabregas(?) just outside the box and lost the ball. Few more crucial mistakes which cost us possession. Just a bad day at the office for him. This is the second or third game where LvG has played him on the wing and he looked subdued. He was insanely good in a 3-Man-Midfield. We need that formation back.

 

[Treble]

I think his dip in form may have psychological roots. Watching Madrid doing so well without him may be not particulraly pleasing and confidence boosting...

 

[Ady87]

I honestly think ADM is better when given a bit of freedom to roam and influence the game in the same way Rooney does. He picked up the ball loads on the left side last night and his touch in the second half ranged from brilliant to awful. The good news at least though is that with his pace and desire he will win lots of fouls. Had any of our other wingers been on that side and relcutant to beat a man we wouldn't have seen the move that led to the Red and resulting goal. The ball would have been knocked back to Shaw/Blind and recycled with no end product.

We don't play Chelsea every week. Get City out of the way and I think we are going to do Hull and Arsenal.

 

[Jev]

We're blaming his position? The guy is a natural winger. He's played CM for one season, and he was basically a half-winger in that season. Nonsense.

 

[Carlsen19]

We're blaming his position? The guy is a natural winger. He's played CM for one season, and he was basically a half-winger in that season. Nonsense.

Agree with this. Nothing he did wrong yesterday related to his position.

 

[Randall Flagg]

He was poor yesterday because sometimes ADM blows hot and cold. Many people said this when we signed him that he has a fair few off days, which is normal for players like this.

 

[Summit]

ADM is human after all.

 

[Summit]

We're blaming his position? The guy is a natural winger. He's played CM for one season, and he was basically a half-winger in that season. Nonsense.

More to the point, when he plays in CM he naturally moves out to the left. Often when playing in CM he';s whipping in crosses from the left flank.

 

[Rado_N]

He was poor yesterday because sometimes ADM blows hot and cold. Many people said this when we signed him that he has a fair few off days, which is normal for players like this.

Basically yea, this.

 

[2mufc0]

He has been carrying us this season, so it's encouraging we had our best game this season when he wasn't at his best, if we can play like that every week and ADM plays like he has been we will get into the top 4.

 

[freshibal]

I didn't even think he was too bad. Considering we were playing Chelsea.

 

[Borys]

We're blaming his position? The guy is a natural winger. He's played CM for one season, and he was basically a half-winger in that season. Nonsense.

Agree with this. Nothing he did wrong yesterday related to his position.

I do blame his position. I could see it coming when I first saw him wide right. Offered nothing, losing ball after ball and not linking well with Rafael. You just know he will always cut on his left foot, if he’s double marked it leaves him much less space and he won’t use his speed to move away from the marker and cross with his right. He just doesn’t do that.

He was the same at Madrid, of course he did well at times against poor opposition but I still maintain it’s his worst position.

You could see a big improvement from him on the left hand side, couldn’t you?

LCM>LW>>>RW

 

[Parma Dewol]

Lost count of how many times he gave the ball away yesterday, and until the very last minute his delivery into the box had been poor all game.

Realisation that he can't be scintillating in every game. Good to see other players stepping up to fill the void, though - Adnan looked impressive.

Also nice to see Di Maria last the full 90 minutes. Now expecting more from him against City.

 

[saivet]

We're blaming his position? The guy is a natural winger. He's played CM for one season, and he was basically a half-winger in that season. Nonsense.

This.

Even though it was a friendly, we saw how devastating he can be on the right wing not so long ago vs Germany.

 

[Jev]

I do blame his position. I could see it coming when I first saw him wide right. Offered nothing, losing ball after ball and not linking well with Rafael. You just know he will always cut on his left foot, if he’s double marked it leaves him much less space and he won’t use his speed to move away from the marker and cross with his right. He just doesn’t do that.

You could say the same thing about Robben and he manages to make it work alright. They have very much the same skillset, ADM and Robben, so there's no logic that says he shouldn't be able to perform on the right wing. It just requires more pace and movement than we had yesterday.

Though I do agree that he's better on the left than on the right. I was reacting to posts saying he shouldn't play on the wing because he's a midfielder. Basically, I disagree with this.

LCM>LW

He just had a poor game. It happens.

 

[Borys]

You could say the same thing about Robben and he manages to make it work alright. They have very much the same skillset, ADM and Robben, so there's no logic that says he shouldn't be able to perform on the right wing. It just requires more pace and movement than we had yesterday.

Though I do agree that he's better on the left than on the right. I was reacting to posts saying he shouldn't play on the wing because he's a midfielder. Basically, I disagree with this.

He just had a poor game. It happens.

Robben argument is obvious I guess, but he plays for much better team than us at the moment, and it’s not a given he would do much good against this Chelsea side. They did very well to keep him out of that game, but I’m sure he would do much better from the left.

I do think he’s more effective when coming from the deep, he’s more consistent in that role, that’s why I rate him higher as a midfielder than a winger (although he’s probably something in between to be precise).

 

[HabeasC]

We're blaming his position? The guy is a natural winger. He's played CM for one season, and he was basically a half-winger in that season. Nonsense.

It is true, he was a very very good winger, but a world class CM. We need to play him where he has been at his best. There is a reason why his best season at RM was at CM.

 

[Jev]

It is true, he was a very very good winger, but a world class CM. We need to play him where he has been at his best. There is a reason why his best season at RM was at CM.

The reason he was at his best was that it was an extremely specialized position. He was a half-winger. You had Ronaldo starting on the left wing but constantly drifting in looking for goal opportunities, which created space for Di Maria to take that long raid down the left. Not unlike an overlapping full-back. He may have started in midfield but the danger he created was from the left-wing.

However, we don't have that Ronaldo type of player to drift in from the left. In fact, we don't have a left-winger at all so that space isn't created for Di Maria to take that long trip down the left. In theory, it shouldn't work as well for him in our 4-4-2 diamond. Plus, he has had plenty of outstanding games for both Argentina and Real as an out-and-out winger. That is his natural position.

 

[Pyroblazer]

Was he crap because he played as a winger as opposed being on the left side of the diamond? I dont think so because yesterday he simply lost the ball (more than usual) couldnt complete his dribbles and overall his touch was poor. Not sure if those factors are related to his position.

Yeah, he just wasn't at his best yesterday, nothing really to do with his position imo and everone knows that he can be a strong winger too. That said, I also want to see him in the 3-man midfield, it's his best role for us.

 

[HabeasC]

The reason he was at his best was that it was an extremely specialized position. He was a half-winger. You had Ronaldo starting on the left wing but constantly drifting in looking for goal opportunities, which created space for Di Maria to take that long raid down the left. Not unlike an overlapping full-back. He may have started in midfield but the danger he created was from the left-wing.

However, we don't have that Ronaldo type of player to drift in from the left. In fact, we don't have a left-winger at all so that space isn't created for Di Maria to take that long trip down the left. In theory, it shouldn't work as well for him in our 4-4-2 diamond. Plus, he has had plenty of outstanding games for both Argentina and Real as an out-and-out winger. That is his natural position.

He has had good games as a winger, I never denied that. Your theory about Ronaldo is interesting and naturally having a player like him make space makes life easier for everyone else - the same was the case for Liverpool last year.

However, Di Maria works much better centrally as he can use those dribbling skills up against midfielders or centre backs and still has options to pass. On the wings he will always be doubled up upon and will almost always be stopped in his tracks as the shut out all space. In the middle, he has passing options around him which enable him to either do a 1-2 or to use the passing options to beat a man. Either way, him playing on the wing vs. Chelsea was never going to be insanely successful as they have some of the best fullbacks in the league and have wingers who do a stupid amount of work defensively, so Di Maria was always going to be up against it.

I have no doubt that LVG bought him to play at CM, and it is not a coincidence that the best year of his career and when he had the largest impact was when he was able to dribble and pass through the middle. Being played out-wide is no excuse for his lacklustre performance, poor passing and for giving the ball away a lot yesterday though.

 

[MancFanFromManc]

Gone off the boil a bit in the last couple of games. I dont imagine he's the sort of character to be getting carried away with the adulation he's been receiving. Hope not anyway. A few good game doesnt a legend make. TOP top quality player, but has to deliver it consistently over the season (and pretty sure he will)

 

[#07]

 

[mufcwarm92]

His worst game in a United shirt, but that's not much of a criticism. I'm happy if he's still producing crosses like that when he isn't in form.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

5 key passes sounds absurdly high?

His role in the team seems to be of the one who takes risks. Not many others would really. We've got a fair few safe passers in our team.

 

[Still ill]

He has been carrying us this season, so it's encouraging we had our best game this season when he wasn't at his best, if we can play like that every week and ADM plays like he has been we will get into the top 4.

I think this was important for us. Important that the burden of responsibility is shared. The likes of Van Persie, Fellaini, Januzaj all stood up yesterday when it counted. We can't be so reliant on one player.

 

[Dirty Schwein]

He seemed to want to impress really badly yesterday but failed to realise that the Chelsea defence is a whole other proposition to QPR or West Brom. Still seemed dangerous on the ball, got Ivanovic sent off and whipped in the ball that lead to our goal so not all bad. He will learn and do better next time.

 

[Trizy]

Dunno if it was posted already but does anyone think he shouldn't be taking corners? I actually think he's hopeless at them, if he's not finding his target he's giving it straight into the keepers hands.

 

[Jev]

However, Di Maria works much better centrally as he can use those dribbling skills up against midfielders or centre backs and still has options to pass. On the wings he will always be doubled up upon and will almost always be stopped in his tracks as the shut out all space. In the middle, he has passing options around him which enable him to either do a 1-2 or to use the passing options to beat a man.

I won't dispute too much of your post because I don't think we disagree that much in truth, but going by the logic in this highlighted part, you could say that about any winger in the world. Di Maria's skillset is a winger's skillset, pace, dribbling skills and good crossing, so if he isn't suited for a wide spot, who is?

I have no doubt that LVG bought him to play at CM

That might be true but whether that's because he considers it his best position or whether it simply has to do with our midfield being a weak spot, I'm not sure. I certainly don't think he's opposed to playing him on the wing regularly, as we've seen in the last few games.

I'd like to clarify that I'm not saying we shouldn't play him in central midfield, just that he's perfectly capable of being a world-class player in both positions. He's proven already for us, as well as for Madrid and Argentina, that he can be amazing in midfield. In fact, when rumours of our interest started surfacing in the summer, I was one of the few people who said that he could easily play CM for us. Almost everyone else opposed that idea, insisting that he was a winger and only a winger. Opinions really do change quickly.

 

[Will Singh]

His worst game for us, but still created more chances then anyone else on the pitch!

I think his carrying a injury so that's a big factor. Hope he shines against citeh...

 

[vidal7]

His worst game for us, but still created more chances then anyone else on the pitch!

I think his carrying a injury so that's a big factor. Hope he shines against citeh...

Everyone seems to forget this. He has had a thigh strain for a couple of weeks now. I think he will be rested for crystal palace once Rooney,valencia,falcao and carrick are all back.

 

[Jed I. Knight]

He has had good games as a winger, I never denied that. Your theory about Ronaldo is interesting and naturally having a player like him make space makes life easier for everyone else - the same was the case for Liverpool last year.

However, Di Maria works much better centrally as he can use those dribbling skills up against midfielders or centre backs and still has options to pass. On the wings he will always be doubled up upon and will almost always be stopped in his tracks as the shut out all space. In the middle, he has passing options around him which enable him to either do a 1-2 or to use the passing options to beat a man. Either way, him playing on the wing vs. Chelsea was never going to be insanely successful as they have some of the best fullbacks in the league and have wingers who do a stupid amount of work defensively, so Di Maria was always going to be up against it.

I have no doubt that LVG bought him to play at CM, and it is not a coincidence that the best year of his career and when he had the largest impact was when he was able to dribble and pass through the middle. Being played out-wide is no excuse for his lacklustre performance, poor passing and for giving the ball away a lot yesterday though.

Just to add to that, there are more differences with a more central starting position as well. For me, the most important is that because he can pick up the ball much deeper he will far more often come up against a line of defense that's not in balance, and because he is able to bring the ball forward so quickly and effectively it causes all sorts of problems for the opposition who will generally have to reorganize on the fly as their first line of defense is bypassed.

Contrast that to when he's played out wide. In those situations he will generally receive the ball higher up on the pitch and further out wide, but more importantly, he will be receiving the ball in a situation where he's almost always coming up against a balanced defensive line. At best, a one on one against the full back who's very prepared for that situation, or even a wide midfielder / winger tracking back. In comparison, when he's played more centrally this season, he is usually getting the ball deeper, and dribbles / outruns the opposition's midfield with it. That means their defenders have to make a choice of who should step forward to press him, and who should stand off. This immediately causes unease for the defense as a whole, and much more so than compared to when an orthodox winger receives it out wide.

As someone said, this could of course be applied to all wingers. Well yes, in theory you'd want players who have pace and can dribble centrally, but the reason that it works especially well with Di Maria is because he is tenacious and has a very high work rate, and is good at picking up the ball in the right positions. Call it a combination of tactical awareness and physical capability that is necessary to play centrally. As a result, the positives outweigh the negatives that you usually would get from putting a typical winger more centrally.

If we had one or more midfielders other than Di Maria who had close to his ability of driving with the ball in midfield, I would be all for having him out wide. But because we don't, we lose a dimension in our attacking play by placing him there.

So I just want to make it clear that I am not saying Angel Di Maria is any less of a footballer if he plays out wide. But because of the composition of our squad, his impact will be lesser when he does. Ideally we should have had two of him, one to play out wide and one to play more centrally.

I'm also a hundred percent certain that LvG knows all of this, but has decided to play him out wide the past two games anyways for one reason or another. Yesterday I think the main reason was that he wanted to have Fellaini in that slightly left central midfielder role to do a job on Fabregas, and it worked quite well.

 

[gaucho_10]

After years of watching him play, I believe that his best position on the pitch is left CM in a 3 man midfield, with right footed winger (who likes to cut in) on the left wing. It's the perfect combo for Di Maria and brings the best out of him.

 

[Phil Duck]

Are you guys aware that putting him in midfield represented a huge risk for Real Madrid defending wise? Everytime he played on that position Real Madrid was always in the danger of conceding a goal.

Right now is not the best time to try him on that position.

 

[Cheesy]

Are you guys aware that putting him in midfield represented a huge risk for Real Madrid defending wise? Everytime he played on that position Real Madrid was always in the danger of conceding a goal.

Right now is not the best time to try him on that position.

In an attacking midfield role? He might be more attack than defensively minded, but we're not going to risk conceding a goal anymore than we are at the moment. He's our best player, and we have to try and use him to full effect.