Apparently he travelled to Zurich to be in FIFPro World XI.
7
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 32
- Goals
- 4
- Assists
- 13
- Yellow cards
- 3
- Red cards
- 1
- Status
Really, it's incredibly frustrating. AdM is a beast in CM, and we saw that we he came. Rooney is a better player close to the goal.
YET, Rooney plays on midfield and Angel shoved up front. How can this be real?
LvG seems hellbent to get his formation and pattern to work, instead of accommodating the best players in their best positions.
Am I crazy to think like this?
Agreed, it's not they are subpar players, there are not being managed well.
Lack of match rhythm.
Stop arsing about and play him in a midfield three, please and thanks.
Also, sometimes you just have to laugh.
Blind played the whole 90mins after missing out for weeks so I really hope you're right. I think you probably are.
LvG said after the match that he planned to sub Blind also, but because of RvP getting injured he couldn't do that.
RVP got injured before or after Di Maria being replaced ?
Can't remember, but there is not much in it. He said that he had planned to sub Shaw, Di Maria and Blind.
United have not had a player in the World XI since 2011 so congrats to Di Maria! Even Fifa know ADM should play in the middle 
Yeh, congrats to him. Having Luiz in there makes a little bit of a joke of it but it's still a great achievement and a fully deserved one. Hopefully he can find some of that form during our run in. Because we are going to need it.
If only he was performing for us how he did to get there.
Oh but wait! Our manager is playing him as a striker for feck sakes.
Oh but wait! Our manager is playing him as a striker for feck sakes.
Can anyone else see Di Maria looking for a move at the end of the season? He is being played all over the place and, as a result, looks disinterested.
Not really. And even if he did, we wouldnt let him go, so at the end of the day he can look all he likes.
Seen this thrown around elsewhere as well. How did you come to this conclusion?
It's absolutely baffling to me that van Gaal put him up top against Southampton. He's one of the best midfielders and creators in the world, not a fecking striker! I just do not understand why van Gaal continues to put him in positions where he is not nearly effective as he can be.
Just immensely frustrating.
Just immensely frustrating.
It would have meant he couldn't play Rooney in midfield, seems to be his thing of late.
Which is also incredibly baffling and frustrating. God knows what Louis is trying to make happen with this fecking formation and where he's putting players.
Infuriating! The only player who can dribble and get past players by using skill as well as speed doesn't get the chance to do so as he is played as a striker. And this while we actually have Rooney/RvP/Falcao as strikers and a lack of quality midfielders. Words fail me.
The only reason i can think of is that LvG believed that with the way we are struggling to create chances atm, if S'ampton managed to always defend with enough players behind the ball we would never break them down. He wanted to use Di Maria's early runs into the box and his pace to get a player behind the backs of S'ampton's CBs.
The problem was that Koeman expected that and had his answers ready: Wanyama, Schneiderlin and Davies worked their arses off closing down Mata and Carrick and we couldn't find the right through ball towards Di Maria. Plus his defensive wingers were always there to provide cover. The utilization of Alderweireld as a central defender, instead of another "heavy" CB, also indicates that Koeman had read LvG's mind well and expected Di Maria to start in that position.
There's nothing wrong with losing the tactical battle in a game but that's just one side of the story. I agree with you that it's frustrating to see our most expensive signing struggling to find his place in the team and if LvG doesn't sort this out and the results don't get better the Di Maria "problem" might get out of proportions.
I give him one point though, people keep complaining because Real Madrid managed to get the best out of him in two positions while we can't do that. I don't believe that's quite true. He flourished in a three man midfield with a holding midfielder (Alonso) and a deep lying play maker (Modric) playing behind him and giving him the opportunity to stay in the attacking half of the pitch. We are asking of him to cover more ground and play a bigger role defensively in each game.
He was also good as a winger at Real Madrid but he played alongside Bale and Ronaldo who provided the majority of the goals and assists. In both cases Ancelotti managed to get the maximum of Di Maria's abilities to link well with his teammates, open up spaces for them and also carry the ball and press in the final third. We are so desperate in the creative area and we expect him to suddenly become an amalgam of Iniesta/Ronaldo...
It shows when he is so desperate to make things happen (the long distance shooting). He knows he has a lot more responsibilities than at Madrid here because he's our best player ability wise.
Don't know really, just things like his body language, the fact he is not 'looking for the ball' as much and the fact that he no longer seems to be smiling much!
Well Di Maria was never a 60 million player to begin with, he is never going to be a prolific goal scorer but when teams play to his strengths he is a complete game changer. He is actually perfect for us but LVG needs to just stop being stubborn and play him in his best position
We still miss two or three players to settle ADM in his best position.
I'm still unclear if his better as a CM or a winger. I know that he's better with assisting than scoring, and as a winger he could be less effective, but he can still tear defense apart. Knowing that he's very draft in his play, he's better in the middle.
But I repeat that Di Maria is a top top lieutenant not a captain. He will make other better, he will not win us trophies alone
---------------------------------------Carrick/Blind---------------------------------------
--------------Herrera/Rooney------------------------------Di Maria-------------------
Winger-------------------------------RVP/Roo-----------------------------------Winger
Or
---------------------------------------Carrick/Blind---------------------------------------
--------------Herrera/Rooney--------------------------------Midfielder--------------
Winger-------------------------------RVP/Roo---------------------------------Di Maria
I'm still unclear if his better as a CM or a winger. I know that he's better with assisting than scoring, and as a winger he could be less effective, but he can still tear defense apart. Knowing that he's very draft in his play, he's better in the middle.
But I repeat that Di Maria is a top top lieutenant not a captain. He will make other better, he will not win us trophies alone
---------------------------------------Carrick/Blind---------------------------------------
--------------Herrera/Rooney------------------------------Di Maria-------------------
Winger-------------------------------RVP/Roo-----------------------------------Winger
Or
---------------------------------------Carrick/Blind---------------------------------------
--------------Herrera/Rooney--------------------------------Midfielder--------------
Winger-------------------------------RVP/Roo---------------------------------Di Maria
It's waste to judge him when he's not being utilized properly. LvG must be very stubborn to keep playing these guys in weird roles, he just needs to do the simple stuffs first before going for such crazy experiments.
I am seriously worried about losing him, at the end of this season or next
He's only in the first year of his contract, the only way he'd be leaving is if there was some plan involving financial fair play and an elaborate player merry-go-round.
People are only thinking about him leaving because we're going through a shitty patch and we hadn't seen Di Maria in ages because of injury.
Once we get going again and he's scoring and assisting, he'll look happy and all this talk will go away. He looked bloody ecstatic at the start of the season when he was banging them in and assisting all over the shop.
Once we get going again and he's scoring and assisting, he'll look happy and all this talk will go away. He looked bloody ecstatic at the start of the season when he was banging them in and assisting all over the shop.
Just came across this interview on skysports. Apologies if its already been posted.
Doesn't sound like someone on his way out
Doesn't sound like someone on his way out
Ffs. I hope he's not saying were still going to continue with this 3-5-2 disaster of a formation...
Someone is certainly overpaid, our wage bill is astronomical.
A few are, but we do have a lot of feckers still scrounging around on our bill. Aren't we also paying Nani's wage - or a large percentage of it?
Probably. When we're no longer paying most of Fletcher, Evans, Cleverley, Hernandez, Nani, and possibly some of van Persie, Smalling, Rafael, Jones and Valencia, it will look a lot better. But we'll need replacements, a top CB and CM would cost a tidy sum.
Di Maria isn't the problem, wages wise, anyway.
Am I the only one who thought there was potential there for him and RVP?
Obviously I would like to see him play in the middle, but I didn't think it was that bad when he played forward as some make it out to be. Of course, he was a little rusty and his passing wasn't the most accurate, but that was down to the kind of balls he was trying, he rarely goes for the easy side way pass like Mata, for example.
He's got great vision and we should encourage him keep doing what he is doing, not try to limit him because he has low passing accuracy. We have enough guys who shit their pants when they have to play a through ball.
Obviously I would like to see him play in the middle, but I didn't think it was that bad when he played forward as some make it out to be. Of course, he was a little rusty and his passing wasn't the most accurate, but that was down to the kind of balls he was trying, he rarely goes for the easy side way pass like Mata, for example.
He's got great vision and we should encourage him keep doing what he is doing, not try to limit him because he has low passing accuracy. We have enough guys who shit their pants when they have to play a through ball.
Unless someone comes in with an incredible bid, I don't think we're in too much danger of losing him. Even though he's perhaps not been brilliant, he's showed enough of what he can do to ensure that we won't get rid of him. At the same time though, since he's not been at his very best constantly, no club is going to come in with a price that would result in us selling him.
I seem to remember in the match day thread in the buildup to the game there were quite a few people putting Di Maria up front in their team predictions. Cant be bothered to go back and check who but certainly such ideas didnt seem to be so roundly ridiculed before the game as they were after the fact.
I'd also like to him in back in midfield. Either centrally or out wide if we have to. Just not up front please!
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