“There were complications” - Angel Di Maria hits out at former coach for failed Man Utd stint

Former Manchester United winger Angel Di Maria has seemingly blamed former club coach Louis van Gaal for his unimpressive spell at the club.

The pair spent just a year together at Old Trafford before Di Maria left the club for Paris Saint-Germain.

Is Di Maria right to blame Van Gaal? Four things you need to know…

1. Di Maria signed with United in 2014 for a then-British record transfer fee of £59.7 million
2. He made just 32 appearances for the Red Devils – scoring four goals – before leaving the club after one season.
3. Van Gaal – Di Maria’s boss at the time – brought him to the club from Real Madrid but failed to get the best out of the Argentina international.
4. Di Maria has now said that he wasn’t “allowed to spend his best time” at United under Van Gaal’s leadership.

The talented playmaker spoke to reporters about his time at Manchester United in the 2014/15 season. The campaign started reasonably well for Di Maria who scored an expert goal against Leicester City early on in his United tenure.

However, the goals and creativity soon dried up and looking back, he blames “complications” with Van Gaal as a major factor in why he didn’t succeed in his short-lived time in the Premier League.

“I only stayed for one year. It was not the best time of my career, or rather I was not allowed to spend my best time there,” he told France Bleu.

“There were complications with the coach at the time.

“But thank God, I was able to come to PSG and demonstrate again who I was.”

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Di Maria ready to face his old side

The 30-year-old will have a chance to show the Old Trafford crowd that he is better than his year in England suggested when PSG visit Manchester United in the Champions League knockout stages.

Now in the last-16, United host PSG on February 12 before travelling to France’s capital for the second leg in early March.

Di Maria believes that his side have battled their way through to this point and that PSG have a great chance of succeeding as long as they concentrate on the task ahead.

“We still have matches before facing Manchester,” he added. “They have changed with their new coach and they have not lost a match.

“I think we started the year not so well in the Champions League, but we put the situation right and we finished top of the group.

“It was complicated. Ever since the draw it was said that it would be difficult to reach the round of 16 and we were almost eliminated, but we played a big home game against Liverpool and also against Red Star Belgrade – two big, decisive matches to qualify.

“Now, we must think of ourselves and nothing but ourselves. If we do things well, everything will be fine.”

The post Angel Di Maria slams Van Gaal over failed Man Utd spell appeared first on Squawka News.

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