Angel di Maria is unhappy at Manchester United: Paul Scholes

Has the joy gone away from Angel di Maria’s football?

In his short career as a television pundit, Paul Scholes has not held back any opinions or feelings he has had, and he pulled no punches again while writing about the mood at Old Trafford in his column for The Independent, published earlier this week.

The Manchester legend said that Angel di Maria has seemed specially subdued, and that the joy in his game appears to have dried up.

“Preparing for the broadcast of the game [Real Madrid vs Liverpool, for which Scholes was a television pundit] in Madrid this week, I watched reruns of last season and Angel Di Maria smiling broadly as he celebrated goal after goal with Cristiano Ronaldo. He doesn't seem to be in the same happy mood at United. It feels downbeat among the team."

Di Maria joined the Red Devils for a British-record €75 million deal in August and has scored three and assisted a further four goals in his eight Premier League appearances to date, but the impact he had in his first few games is a thing of the past.

ESPN commentator Ian Darke has remarked that Louis van Gaal needs to carefully re-examine how he wishes to deploy the Argentine winger.

Angel di Maria was in great form til Van Gaal pushed him wider last two games. He'll probably reassess that one.

— Ian Darke (@IanDarke) November 6, 2014

Van Gaal’s performance not good enough: Scholes

Scholes also questioned what coach Louis van Gaal was doing to alleviate the mood at the club, saying his sideline demeanour is so expressionless that it is de-motivating.

“It is difficult to figure out what Van Gaal is thinking during games. He looks a bit subdued. Certainly, he appears very different to the man you saw on the touchline at the World Cup.”

Scholes claimed that Van Gaal’s talk of long-term “progress” was just not good enough for a club with the stature of Manchester United, and said, ”It is a shame that expectation levels have fallen so far that there was relief after a draw with Chelsea.”

Scholes also claimed that the problems in defence should have been dealt with before the season, and that the club have only themselves to blame for the defensive disaster in the team roster, which has forced Michael Carrick to play as the team’s centre back alongside 19-year-old Paddy McNair.

“Under David Moyes last season United had 17 points from their first 10 games. This time, having spent £150m in the summer, they have 13 points from 10 games.” – A hard reminder of how bad the situation really is at the same club which once produced the Class of ‘92.