Angel Di Maria

[franksinatra]

Fair play to United as they have managed to sign a very highly regarded player while not having the benefit of Champs League Football.

Fair? whats fair about one club(in heavy debt) being allowed to spend 60 odd million on one player while others(no debt) have sanctions?

Its a well known expression as I think you well know. If he lives up to his reputation in the game he could be an excellent addition

 

[Marvin]

I think Anchelotti may be a city fan deep down :)

He has played the rags like a fiddle, he knows they are desperate yet again to make some signings and every day that passes the price the scum will have to pay is rising and rising...

Don't forget after all they are not only the biggest club in europe and the world but also the entire universe....and the gravy train the yanks keep milking will never end...hahahahahahhahahaha please....

It's a big fee, but it should be. World Class player.

If they get another defender they'll be in business.

This should spell the end of LVG's 3 at the back

 

[FantasyIreland]

Of course I realise the context in which you used the expression,however,other than the attraction of an astronomical fee and similar wages,i can see nothing else that would have tempted the player to Trafford.

So,to use the word fair,when all and sundry have used money as the stick to beat us and,as such, subsequently claiming we have been anything but fair....... doesn't quite sit right with me.

The game fucking stinks.

 

[franksinatra]

Of course I realise the context in which you used the expression,however,other than the attraction of an astronomical fee and similar wages,i can see nothing else that would have tempted the player to Trafford.

So,to use the word fair,when all and sundry have used money as the stick to beat us and,as such, subsequently claiming we have been anything but fair....... doesn't quite sit right with me.

The game fucking stinks.

Of course football stinks. I do not know the motivation for Di Marias move but so what if its money? No different to the majority of players.

 

[dekabreak]

Di Maria is leaving because of one man's whim: Florentino Perez, the man who is obsessed with pretty faces and the galacticos policy. Di Maria was utterly outstanding last season, the most productive attacking midfielder in Europe. But as soon as (the inferior) James Rodriguez, youthful looks and shirt-selling potential and all, had a few good games at the World Cup, Florentino made his mind up to discard Di Maria for James. It's the Real Madrid way, the reason they sold Makelele (ruining the team balance), Robben (who Pellegrini wanted to keep but he had to go to make way for Kaka and Ronaldo), Sneijder (again, Pellegrini wanted him to stay) and others.

Ancelotti and Ronaldo both wanted Di Maria to stay but Perez has all the power at Real Madrid. Just like when he sold Ozil, except this is even worse as Di Maria was one of the main reasons they ended their 10+ year wait for the Champions League.

This post is so wrong in many levels.

Madrid tried to give him a contract extension after the CL final, Di Maria rejected it, he wanted to leave because he's a merc, don't you see why he initially wanted to go to PSG in the first place? Wanted Rooney level salary, Madrid told him to fuck off, PSG offered it, but couldn't buy him due to FFP. Madrid can't do anything about a player who wants to leave, and bought James as his replacement

You can see why Madrid didn't want to give him a huge raise, because before last season he was inconsistent as fuck when Maureen was in charge. He was woeful in the first half of last season before Ancelotti decided to move him to CM, and that's where he thrived

 

[LoveCity]

Di Maria is leaving because of one man's whim: Florentino Perez, the man who is obsessed with pretty faces and the galacticos policy. Di Maria was utterly outstanding last season, the most productive attacking midfielder in Europe. But as soon as (the inferior) James Rodriguez, youthful looks and shirt-selling potential and all, had a few good games at the World Cup, Florentino made his mind up to discard Di Maria for James. It's the Real Madrid way, the reason they sold Makelele (ruining the team balance), Robben (who Pellegrini wanted to keep but he had to go to make way for Kaka and Ronaldo), Sneijder (again, Pellegrini wanted him to stay) and others.

Ancelotti and Ronaldo both wanted Di Maria to stay but Perez has all the power at Real Madrid. Just like when he sold Ozil, except this is even worse as Di Maria was one of the main reasons they ended their 10+ year wait for the Champions League.

This post is so wrong in many levels.

Madrid tried to give him a contract extension after the CL final, Di Maria rejected it, he wanted to leave because he's a merc, don't you see why he initially wanted to go to PSG in the first place? Wanted Rooney level salary, Madrid told him to fuck off, PSG offered it, but couldn't buy him due to FFP. Madrid can't do anything about a player who wants to leave, and bought James as his replacement

You can see why Madrid didn't want to give him a huge raise, because before last season he was inconsistent as fuck when Maureen was in charge. He was woeful in the first half of last season before Ancelotti decided to move him to CM, and that's where he thrived

I watch La Liga every week, thanks, and Di Maria was also excellent in the 11/12 season under Mourinho besides the spell he had out injured. He wasn't that good in 12/13 along with many others in a deteriorating team that became fed up with Mourinho, a season that had uncanny parallels to our own with great players underachieving for a manager they had grown to hate.

But he was brilliant for the majority of last season. You say he was no good in the first half of the season and he wasn't at his best to start, yet scored 3 and set up 5 in their 6 Champions League group games. You are right, he did improve when moved to midfield but that only showed he has more strings to his bow than previously thought. It basically meant Real Madrid had an extra way to use him than before, so how can this be a bad thing? He will probably play on the left of a midfield 3 if United play the 3-5-2.

BTW, Ramos said just days ago that Di Maria didn't want to leave Real Madrid. Maybe he just didn't feel loved by a regime that doesn't view its players as human beings but assets. They are a club lacking any sort of humanity thanks to the overgrown child Florentino Perez constantly throwing toys out to bring in new ones and vetoing his coaches then sacking them if they don't achieve lofty goals.

Who was man of the match in the biggest game in club football last season?

 

[Tricky_Trev]

It's staggering how often Real Madrid get bored of players and sell them to get the latest 'big thing'. Di Maria was their best player last season for me. He was amazing. James Rodriguez will go the same way as Isco and won't even get in their starting line up. They will try to shoe horn him into a 4-2-3-1, before eventually realising that they are better with a 4-3-3 with Kroos Modric and Alonso in midfield and Ronaldo, Bale and Benzema as the front three. They operate like they are a kid playing football manager.

 

[BillyShears]

He will probably play on the left of a midfield 3 if United play the 3-5-2.

Be interesting to see how that pans out. Ancelotti got away with it in Europe and in La Liga because he had world class midfielders around him, but i'm not entirely sure how that's going to work out in the PL. Particularly if the rest of the 3 is going to be Herrera/Carrick or Herrera/Fletcher.

Stinks of a shit vanity purchase to appease the supporters. It's hilarious for so many reasons, not least because they still won't finish in the top 4.

 

[Ric]

Good signing for United, albeit a very expensive one. He'd improve them greatly, but still doesn't address their fundamental problems in centre defence and midfield. We're still well ahead of them; regardless of this signing it's Arsenal and Liverpool who will be getting more nervy than us and Chelsea.

 

[Tron Coltrane]

I just can`t put my finger on why di maria would leave a club in the champions league to a team that is in the 2nd round of the milk cup....
I just wonder what could have tempted this world cup finalist,playing at a top European club and on a decent wage,to a club that finished 7th..
I think I know what it could be but not from the rags,not the utd way boys and girls.
does anybody know what could have lured di maria to the biggest club in europeTM

Feel like I'm going to get shelled for this, but I'm confused about why this is confusing. It's a big club and it pays good wages, and with a prominent managerial appointment and a shocking level of investment he's probably under the impression that they're only out of the Champions League for one season. What's more if he didn't feel loved in his current setup, he probably felt there were worse players to link up with than RVP, Mata, Rooney, Herrera, Januzajdxxfy, De Gea, et al.

I give Man U. fans shit for their unending "big club" bullshit about as much as I give scousers shit for thinking they're God's own club, and sole possessors of all things righteous and good. But that doesn't mean Manchester United isn't a big club, and I always think it makes us sound small to pretend it's not. When Di Maria was 9 years old in Argentina there were Man U. games on TV and they had Cantona and Scholes pulling strings. When he moved to Buenos Aires and saw kids running around in knock-off shirts, Man U. was probably one of the clubs you'd find in the mix. That's not to say he's always dreamed of pulling on the red shirt for the cause, or has a tattoo of Bobby Charlton over his left ass cheek... it just means that our neighbors were busy while we were making ends meet. It means that to a lot of the world, Manchester United is a big club and it's earned the right to finish 7th one season before everyone flips out and writes them off. I don't see what's wrong with calling that spade a spade.

As for my two cents, I think he'll be a very good signing for them without ever living up to that price tag. But there's nothing about it that scares me... another poster mentioned how fearsome their front 4 will be, but there isn't a single player in that midst that I would exchange for one of our starters. And as another poster aptly mentioned, this is a nice fancy painting to hang on a seriously broken wall... they have a lot of work to do in central midfield and defense before I'm going to spend any of my time looking over my shoulder nervously.