How to solve a problem like Di Maria
ANGEL DI MARIA was branded a £59.7million flop at Manchester United – but why are we so quick to write off world-class talents in the Premier League?
I was as excited as a kid on Christmas Eve when Di Maria arrived at Old Trafford in 2014 – he was a World Cup runner-up with Argentina and Champions League winner with Real Madrid that year, and I thought he would be a perfect fit for United.
But after a promising start, including a glorious ‘scoop’ finish over Kasper Schmeichel at Leicester, his form tailed off. A hamstring injury, his wife’s struggle to settle in England, and an attempted robbery at the family home in Cheshire all unsettled Di Maria, and United cut their losses on him the following summer.
Leave aside whether or not United played him in his best position, and put yourself in Di Maria’s shoes. He was a 26-year-old from South America with undoubted ability, trying to adapt to a new country, a different climate, and a different football culture.
Sometimes I wonder if we make unreasonable demands of players who are expected to flick the switch and turn it on because they carry a huge price tag.
Di Maria’s unfulfilled United career reminded me of another Argentinian star who looked a great signing on paper but never hit full throttle at Old Trafford – Juan Sebastian Veron.
Now Di Maria (above) is in another Champions League final, this time with Paris Saint-Germain, and the best of luck to him. I still think he’s a fantastic player.
DON’T blame Raheem Sterling for Manchester City’s Champions League quarter-final defeat by Lyon.
VAR didn’t do its job properly when Moussa Dembele committed an obvious foul before making it 2-1 to the French side.
And there was barely a minute between Sterling’s glaring miss at one end and Dembele clinching Lyon’s 3-1 win at the other.
In a disappointing season for City, who had only the Carabao Cup to show for their efforts, Sterling was exceptional.
Just imagine how bleak manager Pep Guardiola’s season would have been without Sterling’s contribution of 35 goals in all competitions for club and country.