The signing of Angel Di Maria from Real Madrid is
considered by many to be a coup for Manchester United, they paid a record
breaking British transfer fee of almost £60m for the Argentinian international.
Such a transfer fee is bound to draw much speculation and put pressure on the
player to perform.
Di Maria’s pedigree is not in question, he made 17
assists in La Liga for Real last season, the most in the Spanish top flight and
also the most in Europe’s top 5 leagues, with Rooney and van Persie In the side
United have the players who can finish off those chances. He did only manage 4
goals last season, a tally he’ll be expected to improve on if he is to justify
his price tag. A lack of goals is also an issue considering how reliant United
were on Rooney and van persie last season, the pair scoring 29 (17 and 12
respectively) of United’s 64 goals, they lacked goals from other sources and Di
Maria will surely have to become a source of goals.
The real issue is where Di Maria will fit into Van Gaal’s
United side, so far the Dutchman has persisted with a 3-4-3 system, which hasn’t
really worked out. United lack natural
wing backs, Luke Shaw is predicted to fill the void on the left when he returns
from injury, but the right side is a position yet to be filled. I’m not sure Di
Maria is the man to fill it either, despite being a right sided player.
He made just 1.3 tackles and 0.6 interceptions per game
last season. A lot more is needed if he is to play as a wing back, in a role
where defending is just as important as the attacking work.
Di Maria’s natural position is on the right, he
predominantly played on the right of a midfield 3 whilst at Real Madrid last
season, should United use that system he could prosper once more. That would almost
certainly involve playing a back 4, which United’s defenders would be more
comfortable with but may not be the direction Van Gaal wants to go in.
Statistics courtesy of whoscored.com
