Three reasons why Di Maria is struggling (but cannot be written off)

By Shina Peter

Manchester United’s record signing, Angel Di Maria isn’t finding life at the Old Trafford easy. The Argentine has been hugely disappointing despite his good start which saw him score 3 goals and make a number of assists before picking up an injury late November. Di Maria’s talent and ability is not in doubt as he is endowed with pace, dribbling skills, strength and tactical awareness- qualities that makes his poor showings more surprising for football fans, even neutrals.

His price tag makes it harder to make excuses for Angel but playing the devil’s advocate, here are few reasons why his poor performances shouldn’t surprise most.

All work and no play

2014 was a hectic year for Di Maria. Given his talent and significant importance to both club and country, it was hard for his managers to drop him for any game except in the rare case of an injury. Following a lengthy run of games for Real Madrid in La Liga, the Champions League and Copa del Rey and also for Argentina at the World Cup, Di Maria arrived at United with little or no chance of getting a deserved- and necessary- rest.

Old things passed away and all became new

When you cost £59.7 million and are the most expensive signing by an English club ever, you are expected to score, assist, tackle and if possible, help the goalkeeper save goals. Truth is, Di Maria does not seem all too familiar or comfortable with the pressure and huge expectation cast on his shoulder at Manchester United. Though a top player but at Real Madrid, he was ONE of the stars unlike at Manchester United where is obviously the biggest name. There is no hiding place for Angel at Manchester United as opposed to Real Madrid where his lapses could be overlooked in the euphoria of Ronaldo’s goals or Gareth Bale’s exceptional pace. Di Maria went from being an unsung hero who seemingly blossomed without a lot of media attention to being the biggest player, not just his club, but in the league.  Only few players have been known not to cave under such pressure and expectations.

Tactics

When you suddenly move from a club that parades players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema with an established style of play to one that is in the middle of a rebuilding process, you will definitely have problems. More so, if the manager’s tactics are as complicated as Chris Brown’s relationship with Karrueche. (Congrats on the new baby, Chris!)

Di Maria might have cost a lot of money but like they say form is temporary and class is permanent, as the competition for top four gets tougher, United will need saving and Angel might yet be decisive.

 

Credit: ShinaPeter/Soccernation