Manchester United manager Louis Van Gaal has hit back at criticism from Angel Di Maria over claims he did not help the Argentina international settle at the club. Di Maria was bought from Real Madrid last summer for a British transfer record of £60million but was sold to Paris Saint-Germain just 12 months later after a series of poor performances. Scoring only four goals in 32 appearances, Di Maria appeared largely unsettled during his time in England and earlier this week criticised Louis Van Gaal for his terrible season at Manchester United.
Speaking to the BBC, Di Maria said he was not at fault for his inability to get settled at Old Trafford and claimed it was largely down to the manager for playing him in different positions.
But Van Gaal has since hit back at claims he was at fault for the 28-year-olds disastrous spell at the club, saying Di Maria was just another player who fails to take responsibility for his own poor performances.
“I have never seen players who look at themselves, who look to the way they have performed here, and that is always the fault of the manager,” Van Gaal said.
“So he is one of the players who are in the row of players who have no self-criticism. Unfortunately, it is also my life as a manager. It is always like that.”
The signing of Di Maria was initially an exciting one for United fans, with the former Real Madrid player believed to be the answer to the sides lack of creativity. While Di Maria enjoyed a short spell of success early on in the season, which included an audacious lob against Leicester City, he later failed to show the same tenacity and often became anonymous during matches.
Sold to PSG for £44 million shortly after, Di Maria enjoyed a much more successful spell this season and helped guide his team to their fourth consecutive Ligue 1 title. But Di Maria did not hold back when speaking about his time at Manchester United, saying “I don’t think it was my fault or the fault of my team-mates.”
“Every time I was given the opportunity, I did all I could but it didn’t work out as I hoped,” he said.
“So I decided to leave, not only to be happy but to win things. I started a game in one position then the next game in another. I scored goals playing in one position, then suddenly the next game I was picked to play in a different position. I think this also didn’t help me settle. It’s up to the manager to decide where and how every player should play, but I think that the player should be comfortable in that position and adapt to it.
“It’s not nice to say certain things, but it’s more that they didn’t let me settle properly than I couldn’t settle. I left and that team are still playing the same way. Out of the European competitions, far from being champions of the Premier League.”
Di Maria will head back to Manchester on April 12 as PSG take on Manchester City in the Champions League quarter-finals.
