When Manchester United signed Angel Di Maria last summer for a British record transfer fee of £60 million we here at Soccer Transfers thought that the Red Devils had landed themselves a big fish at a good price.
The Argentinian international delivered the goods from day one making now Dutch manager Louis van Gaal seem as if was going to be the saviour of Manchester United, signing world-class players that would not only propel United back to the top of the perch in the Premiership, but build a team capable of taking down Real Madrid and Barcelona.
And yet despite such a promising start to his career at Old Trafford Di Maria has gone from Hero to zero in just seven-short months.
While United fans are asking themselves what could possibly have gone wrong to a player we all know possesses the talent to be up there with the likes of Bale and Ronaldo, and if we were to be honest it is only due to the fact Real Madrid trainer Carlo Ancelotti had that pair in his team that he was willing to let the boy from Rosario leave.
For us the answer is simple, and it is all down to the management style of Louis van Gaal, a manager whose approach to the team is my way or the highway.
Southampton boss Ronald Koeman who worked with van Gaal at Barcelona summed up the difference between himself and the type of manager the 63-year-old Dutchman is when he told the Daily Mirror: “The way he handles his players is totally different from the way I work. I don’t put as much pressure on the shoulder of players.”
In a way Di Maria’s drop in form has not been as noticeable as it should be with out of position Wayne Rooney taking all the flak for his lack of goals as van Gaal tries to justify playing his high-priced strikers.
Di Maria is a natural talent that just wants to go out there and play his own game and not get weighed down by van Gaal’s tactical analysis of where each player should be at any given time, combined with the fact that he has chopped and changed his team so often the players never have the chance to build up a rapport with each other has a gone a long way in disillusioning the expectations Di Maria had when moving to England.
Add to this his personal problems off the field after a botched home invasion by armed men as he and his family were eating dinner, and it is no wonder he is not delivering the goods at Old Trafford.
We know what it would take to get Di Maria firing on all cylinders again, but unfortunately when you are dealing with a manager who thinks he knows everything we will not be surprised to see Di Maria push for a summer exit, and especially so if Manchester United fails to qualify for the Champions League.
The more we see of van Gaal and his idea’s the less we seem to like him, and yes he has had success at other clubs and should probably be given time at Old Trafford to put a winning team together, but we have to say there was a time when even the neutral fan would tune in to watch United play, but not anymore as van Gaal has turned the Red Devils into one of the most boring teams to watch in the Premiership.
Adios Angel and good luck with your new club where you will hopefully have a manager that lets you enjoy playing football once again.
