It’s not news that Angel Di Maria has been a huge bust since he arrived at Manchester United. Even Di Maria himself admits that he things haven’t gone quite as well as he (and everyone else in the Red Devils camp) had hoped. He even made the “top flops” list published by Sir Ian Darke last week (along with his teammate and fellow summer transfer window bust) Radamel Falcao.
The £60m winger broke the all time British transfer record when he arrived at Old Trafford. As bad as things have gone for him at United, the bottom dropped out again this past weekend when he played an awful first half and Louis van Gaal had to sub him out for Adnan Januzaj.
It was a shocking development, and an inconvenient truth to realize about the Argentine superstar. It’s been a very rough transition for Di Maria. He’s dealt with the frightening burglary; as well as the adjustment to a new language, new culture and new climate. That’s a really huge transition for anyone. And both Wayne Rooney and Louis van Gaal came to the defense of Di Maria.
“I have already talked about the ‘total human being principle’, so his environment also has an influence on him, on every human being. Me, as a manager, also I have to manage that environment. That takes more time for him? OK, give him that time,” said Van Gaal.
“The difficulty, not only with Angel, but all players, is they have to adapt to the Premier League. He has to adapt to the culture also.
“We have to give him time to adapt, to lift his confidence again because that is also important. He’s also a human being, like me, like you. You can make mistakes.
“But he is a top sportsman and he shall overcome this period, I hope.”
“He’s a great player. You don’t lose your talent overnight. Hopefully he’ll get back to his best and start giving some great performances,” said Rooney.
“I think he will figure it out, we all have to do that sometimes. You have to come to it in your own way and I am sure he will be a big player for us between now and the end of the season.”
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with Fox Sports Digital, eBay, Google News and CBS Interactive Inc.
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