I thought it was an odd thing for LVG to say though as there is surely even less space in the middle. If anything I think he dribbles between men better in the middle because the opposition have other players movement to worry about. Out wide it's normally 1on1, or even doubling up on players of di Maria's quality.
7
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 32
- Goals
- 4
- Assists
- 13
- Yellow cards
- 3
- Red cards
- 1
- Status
Get him back into the position he looked a world beater last season. You don't change the position of your best player just to accomodate far inferior players. If Real Madrid found their "balance" with him in the middle I'm sure we can as well.
Thats the most infuriating thing.
The most infuriating thing is how a 4-1-4-1 is more balanced than the diamond. A Carrick-Blind (Herrera)- DI Maria midfield is more than capable of doing the dirty work as well as doing a lot of damage going forward. Considering one of the strikers in our diamond fomration would be ROoney who likes to drop deep as well it makes even less sense.
Yep.
Di Maria playing in centre midfield for Madrid come about by them having both, Ronaldo and Bale on the wings, and not being able to displace them, thus being tried in centre midfield, and fortunately for them, it worked. Unfortunately, we don't have that luxury.
Next season, however, say if we were to get in a couple of top wingers, such as Cuardado, Pedro, Depay, etc, Van Gaal might decide to put him back into the middle.
Would like him in midfield and Nani back on the wing personally. Especially if he stays fit. It's a shame it might not happen as we'd be a better team
I think paying on the wing is combination of that we have ironically to much midfielders and no other good options on the wing. We could have shift Rooney on the wing and him in the midfield but other than that what are our options on the wing? Young, Valencia, Januzaj (in bad form), maybe Mata but he play on the right wing. On the other hand we have Carrick, Fletcher, Blind, Herrera, Rooney, Fellaini and maybe even Mata for the three positions in midfield.
I think we can go after at least one winger in the winter tranfer window alongside defender. I just hope he can make it work on the wing, this last three games he just wasn't good enough for the most expensive in the PL history.
I don't know whether it is because of his position or game plan but day after day is becoming Ashly Young with his cross, blind cross
I agree the problem is I think we need two wide players to switch back to a three man midfield successfully and we just don't have them. The diamond was great in patches but we were wide open, easily overrun and ran out of steam, a three man midfield is the future but maybe not until we get at least one wide player in one of the next two transfer windows.
Why does he stay so wide? Sure he is better in a central role but even in a wider role he can be utilized a lot better than he is. He spends most of his time on the left sideline and hardly leaves it and the few times he does are when he does good stuff. David Silva plays a wide role but he comes inside, he pops up on both wings, he roams around. Di Maria is just out on the left, hardly seeing him come inside to get more involved and never see him out the right. He had the 8th most touches and passes for us today and that's just not enough. Who ever we play out wide we need interchangeability and not the two of them standing on their byline.
Its why he was better in the diamond because he just went all over the place. He was out wide so much he was practically a LM but he also was inside and occasionally out right.
Its why he was better in the diamond because he just went all over the place. He was out wide so much he was practically a LM but he also was inside and occasionally out right.
So, playing out wide is the reason why he can't make simple passes, beat the first man with his cross or keep possession? I refuse to buy that. He's just in bad form. Enough of this best player out of position stuff. This is very typical of Di Maria, he's very erratic even at his best.
He's nowhere near as good out wide. I wanted him based off his form as a midfielder. Team needs to be built around him and Herrera in the middle.
Agree.
However, I can definitely see why LvG has changed things. The truth is we do look more secure defensively with this formation and that may be worth sacrificing other strengths for, especially when our back four is in tatters.
The downside of that is that it requires Di Maria to play out wide. In the long term I'd be dead set against this, he is definitely a far better as a midfielder and I have no doubt that being pushed out wide is a massive factor in his dip in form. However, if it's just a relatively short term move (until we strengthen in defence and out wide, say) then I think it does make some sense.
Di Maria is nowhere near as good out wide but that isn't to say he can't perform better from that position than we've seen so far. After all, he got to Madrid in the first place on the back of his performances as a winger. It's not an ideal situation but we definitely need more from him.
Some of the comments about LVG decision to play him out wide are a bit OTT. When he was at Benfica, he played out wide, for most of his career at Real Madrid he played out wide, I'm pretty sure most of his career for Argentina has been from the wing. Therefore not totally surprising that he's going to play his share fair of games for you guys there too. Whilst I think he's a better player from the no 10 he's played some brilliant matches as a winger - he's just not playing very well at the minute.
He played in a diamond at Benfica, in that central hybrid role that Van Gaal initially played him at the start of the season.
At Madrid his best form came centrally as well, really he was never one of the best players in the world as a winger and wouldn't have been worth £60m in that role - whereas last season he was arguably the best offensive midfielder in Europe.
He's not a £60 million winger.
I agree. This out of position thing is a cop out. He needs to be putting in better performances than he is. He is capable of being a good winger.
Ok my bad, I didn't know where he played on a regular basis for Benfica and was just judging from one game against Everton I watched where he played on the left wing.
However I did watch him play wide many times for Madrid and like most wingers he was inconsistent but still had many moments of brilliance. He was wonderful at taking players on but his final ball could disappoint.
Yes last season he was incredible and definetly had his best season but you have to remember that Madrid side had the best or second best player in the world and complete goal machine in Ronaldo. As we've seen with Suarez having that kind of player can make a massive difference so if you do concede a couple of sloppy goals there's still a massive chance that you will win the game. With Di Maria in the no 10 role as good as he is, it can leave you vunerable to the counter attack therefore he will have to play wide sometimes to give you balance. Unfortunately for you- his form since playing on the wing has been extremely poor - he should be taking some of the blame for that because he can undoubtedly do better.
I'd guess he's being told to stay wide, which is why he stays wide. When you look at how the team lines up it seems fairly obvious they have been told to take up the positions they do. The wingers in our current set up seem to be under instruction to stretch the pitch and that's what they are doing. Unfortunately for us that's not really playing to the strengths of our best players.
I've solved why he has been so poor lately. He has been filling up on fizzy orange.
Why not try swapping Di Maria and Januzaj, both are under performing on the wings so switch them to the opposite wing.
Also a bad ball can be made into a good one as long as a CF gets on the end of it! His delivery has be criticised in the last few games but when he only has RVP to pick out it is not easy.
Also a bad ball can be made into a good one as long as a CF gets on the end of it! His delivery has be criticised in the last few games but when he only has RVP to pick out it is not easy.
Di Maria's shopping list is now considered newsI've solved why he has been so poor lately. He has been filling up on fizzy orange.
I haven't seen much of him so don't know if just out of form. But on the wing is he any better than Nani? In the games I've seen him play in midfield he looked verging on sensational. Get this lad in midfield long term along side Herrera.
He definitely needs to go back into a midfield role. I get that we have gone more defensive in the last few games, especially against City and Chelsea I can understand it, but I don't get why we did it against Palace. And the thing is, at Madrid it isn't as though his midfield partners were especially defensive. He played in a three with players like Modric, Alonso and Khedira - very good players, but none of them defensive midfielders. I'll be really confused if Van Gaal doesn't go back to this, given how successful he was there and how unsuccessful he has been since moving out wide
Still such early days with him. He will prove his worth in the long run.
Another awful performance. Get him in the middle.
From what the Madrid lads on here have said, he was basically a good, if not very good winger. But one who was largely inconsistent and would often (along with Ozil) go missing in the big games. It was only when Anchelotti brought him inside that he developed into the sensational player of last season, and became 'world class'. I think it was @Raul Madrid who said that if we've spent £60 million on him only to play as a winger, we'll probably be dissapointed.
He still will produce a lot and do a very good job if he is used on the wing. His and Ozil's stats in regards to assists were very impressive. Like I said before though last year in midfield in the big games and games against "lesser" teams he was just on a different level to what he was before in terms of creating chances, dropping deep to receive the ball and quickly releasing it to start a counter, dribbling, defending and being able to influence a game for the full 90 rather than in moments etc. Him in central midfield (on the left in an unorthodox midfield role in a lopsided formation where he could attack through the middle and move out to the left as well as cover defensively for Ronaldo on the left and help out Modric and Alonso defensively too) was a big reason the defence improved and why the team started conceding much less goals and controlled games better. He was brilliant vs Barca in the league and the cup final and vs Atletico in the CL final and the cup semi finals.
Like I said already, he will do a very good job on the wing but his best football so far has come in midfield so even though he will do well on the wing it still seems like a waste to not use him where he is most dangerous, effective and where the full extent of his abilities will be made use of. It was his performances last year that prompted United to be willing to spend so much. There is no way they would have been willing to have spent 60 million on him for his first three seasons, even though he was still a very good player. At the time Ozil was seen as the better player, but last year Di Maria played at a level that Ozil has yet to reach in his career. There is every chance Di Maria could reach a level on the wing that is higher than what he played at Madrid as he is entering his peak. I can only go from what I have seen from him during his four seasons and 191 games at Madrid. There is still a lot of his career left and plenty of time for him to improve even further and also adapt to new roles.
Thanks for the post @Raul Madrid. Explains it far better then I could.
Interesting to note that moving Di Maria into the middle actually made you guys stronger defensively, yet the general consensus on here is that having Di Maria in the middle is a defensive disaster that leaves us far to exposed.
Interesting to note that moving Di Maria into the middle actually made you guys stronger defensively, yet the general consensus on here is that having Di Maria in the middle is a defensive disaster that leaves us far to exposed.
jorgelinacardoso
1 hour ago
You are free to think whatever you want, but in fact, Angel is absolutely happy of being in Manchester United
... Buenas noches!!! 
1 hour ago
You are free to think whatever you want, but in fact, Angel is absolutely happy of being in Manchester United
... Buenas noches!!! The thing that annoys me is that people instantly scream BRING HIM BACK TO MIDFIELD. Like thats the sole reason hes playing bad. Plenty of times his position overlaps his old position, and he ruins it from there also. His problem is his decision making and over estimating himself.
Its like it went so amazing last few matches that he thinks he can beat the world on his own all the sudden. The amount of times he has tried to make an impossible dribble even Messi would have said "are you stupid?" too is just insane.
Also his shot accuracy, and amount of miss kicks, and worst of all his corners and free kicks have nothing to do with his position.
Its like it went so amazing last few matches that he thinks he can beat the world on his own all the sudden. The amount of times he has tried to make an impossible dribble even Messi would have said "are you stupid?" too is just insane.
Also his shot accuracy, and amount of miss kicks, and worst of all his corners and free kicks have nothing to do with his position.
It's not about "his position" and how it "overlaps his old position". That's an incredibly short sighted and one dimensional look at things.
He was playing in a diamond with Blind and Herrera and had people moving around and ahead of him and Shaw offering himself wide. It was a completely different ball game to the isolated and narrow wing play he's being asked to play currently. He could go wide or play one twos through the centre, he had ghost runs ahead of him creating space for him and two or three options any time he lifted his head.
He's now got the option to pass inside or push up the line and get a cross in. How often are we throwing men into the area to get on the end off them?
jorgelinacardoso
1 hour ago
You are free to think whatever you want, but in fact, Angel is absolutely happy of being in Manchester United
I errm didn't realise there has been rumours that he wasn't happy
I kinda agree with you, he's forcing his dribbing and his shooting. Like he knows he has to carry us or something and it hasn't helped him. He's got great qualities, he just needs to calm down and his football will do the talking.
Agreed with this. He's better centrally - that's fair enough. But that doesn't excuse his poor performances.
And neither does it mean that he'll suddenly be great every game in the centre, if he goes back there.
Quality player, I prefer it this way as oppose the fantastic first season and then nothing. This experience conversely will give his career longevity here....
I errm didn't realise there has been rumours that he wasn't happy
Exactly . . . it never entered my head that he might not be happy until I saw that. Now i'm wondering . . .
I errm didn't realise there has been rumours that he wasn't happy
Paul Scholes claimed in his column last Thursday that Di Maria looked unhappy at Man Utd. Hence the response from Angel's wife.
Di María vs Crystal Palace.
Watching the game, he was given a bit more freedom than some (myself included) thought and I think it's disingenuous to blame his poor performance on his positioning. The basic elements of your game should not suffer when you switch positions.
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