da casino： If Manchester United’s FA Cup defeat at the hands of Arsenal last night highlighted one thing, and one thing only – it was that Angel Di Maria’s Old Trafford career is seemingly not going to plan. After making a name for himself as one of the most effective stars at the Bernabeu last season, the 27-year-old Argentinean simply hasn’t been able to transfer that form into the Premier League, in spite of the obvious hype that initially came with his high-profile signing.
da dobrowin： Although he cost Louis van Gaal in the region of £59million this summer – easily becoming the most expensive Premier League player to date – the former Real Madrid man has only managed a grand total of four goals this season – looking nowhere near worthy of such a hefty pricetag in the process.
In light of such a troublesome time for the current Old Trafford man, just what has been the cause of Angel Di Maria’s fall from grace at Manchester United – and perhaps more subtly – is the tricky Argentine winger even the one to blame for such a disappointing turn of events?
First things first, the former Benfica and Real Madrid star has hardly done himself any favours with his recent sending off against the Gunners in the FA Cup. Diving and pulling on the ref’s shirt isn’t something you would expect from a player said to be worth close to £60m. In accordance with the other high profile spending carried out in Europe this summer, Manchester United could have theoretically bought themselves three Toni Kroos’ for the same amount they spent on Di Maria – with the German international signing at the Bernabeu for around £20m at the beginning of the season.
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The out-of-form Argentinean’s senseless behaviour has hardly endeared him any further to the Old Trafford faithful, who must surely now be getting tired of his inefficient lacklustre displays. The ex-La Liga star has simply failed to utilise his dangerous pace effectively enough this season, he has lacked the same commitment and passion that took him so far throughout the course of 2013/14 – and while the pricy wide-man has in-fact shown glimpses of his touted world class talent every now and then this season – his overall contribution for Louis van Gaal has simply not been good enough.
Having said all of that however, perhaps Manchester United’s newly appointed Dutch boss may actually be the man to blame throughout this whole debacle. Last season Angel Di Maria was deployed as an out-in-out winger. He seemingly thrived off playing with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema, who would offer the wide-man the chance to get involved when they were playing at the top of Real Madrid’s attack. Nowadays though, van Gaal has chopped and changed Di Maria’s position, raising doubts as to whether or not he knows how best to deploy the United’s expensive summer acquisition.
The supposed winger has of course been played out on the flanks across this campaign, but sometimes Di Maria has seemingly been playing as a hybrid striker as well as a deeper lying midfielder. Such inconsistency has hardly paid off for the Red Devils this season – regardless of who is ultimately to blame.
With the marquee signing reportedly being the victim of an attempted break-in at his new place in Manchester, and his family subsequently feeling the strain of such a testing ordeal, it is believed that Angel Di Maria simply won’t be sticking around in the Premier League for much longer.
As PSG are supposedly willing to give the former Madrid man another crack at the whip with another of Europe’s top clubs however, perhaps Manchester United’s once dream signing seems to have ultimately backfired – and backfired with real drama at that.
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