Let's revisit the Di Maria sale/James purchase

Madrid and Florentino in particular were (at the time) heavily criticized for binning Di Maria in favour of Rodriguez. Looking at the respective seasons this year it's easy to claim that in hindsight it was an ingenious decision by Perez but would Madrid have been a better team with Di Maria in it? This time last year he was imperious form leading Madrid to La Decima & carrying Argentina to the WC final a few months later.

See what u did thar.

But seriously the whole move will be defined by trophy success.

It wasn't ingenious.

It was madness. It still is..... especially considering our issues in midfield.

If Di Maria was still here, the Bale problem wouldn't exist.

The Bale problem will always exist. Di Maria and James together instead of Bale would've been so great.

i'd wud still have loved di maria at madrid...he was skillful and his work-rate was insane. he's an example of why you can't let stats or hindsight dictate a player's value. i'm not sure if i've seen an offensive player play with so much energy from a defensive standpoint....regardless of titles or trophy success, selling him was a block head move

with modric injured

dimaria-isco-kroos-james

we will finally have a player carlo willing to rotate/trust/fancy... or watever his reason is...


is he not happy at manutd?

dimaria + 15m swap bale

terrance511 wrote:


is he not happy at manutd?

dimaria + 15m swap bale

That would actually be a genius move for both clubs. Trouble is I can't see Perez tossing away such an expensive toy, and I don't think Di Maria sees Madrid in the best light now after how they treated him.

As Izzy stated, it is still madness every time one thinks of it. Di Maria was (is) inconsistent and equally frustrating (The Doc remembers) but he suited Carlo's tactics ridiculously well and considering he was played as a left sided midfielder and not an inside forward, man, Kroos could have actually gotten a break now and then.

Instead, we sold him, bought James who is having a good season and is currently stuck with Bale. Who, if he doesn't score, is actually pretty useless. Even when he scores, you wonder what's the point of him.

I know it's hindsight but, what a great bit business from RM getting £65m for ADM. On current form(last decent game was in Oct) he's not even worth £25m, and that's me being kind.

To be fair they might sell Bale at a profit anyway. Di Maria is inconsistent and they got a ridiculous fee for him.

Not even PSG were stupid enough to pay 65 million pounds for him. Prime Woodward.

Rich mans Malouda

Fußball wrote:Not even PSG were stupid enough to pay 65 million pounds for him. Prime Woodward.

Yes they were but decided to do the more stupid thing and bought David Loluiz.

Doc wrote:

Fußball wrote:Not even PSG were stupid enough to pay 65 million pounds for him. Prime Woodward.

Yes they were but decided to do the more stupid thing and bought David Loluiz.

Worth every penny just to see Lulz knock out Chelsea out of the CL. He saved football ffs.

El Cujo wrote:To be fair they might sell Bale at a profit anyway. Di Maria is inconsistent and they got a ridiculous fee for him.

As a winger he is, as a CM or AM he isn't and that's shown through out his career.

Madrid fans wanted him out as a winger and they were right, as a CM or AM they didn't want him sold. Quite the difference.

Tbh it's not about whether purchasing James was wrong, it wasn't but selling Di Maria was and because Man Yoo use him incorrectly doesn't change that fact as Madrid wouldn't use him incorrectly and you would see a very different player.

this 'he isn't a winger but a cm' and 'being used incorrectly' stuff is a bit of ridiculous don't you think. The guy has been plain atrocious.

Hapless_Hans wrote:this 'he isn't a winger but a cm' and 'being used incorrectly' stuff is a bit of ridiculous don't you think. The guy has been plain atrocious.

He was atrocious on the wing for Madrid too, he had no impact what so ever.

Playing players out of position tends to lead to atrocious performances, he was fine before they started *bleep* him around.

Also his atrocious performances more often than not have come in bit part roles which is incredibly hard to look good in..... believe me i know

He is not a CM anyway. How can such a hit and miss "dribble and cross aimlessly" type of player ever be a CM? It's different to be an auxiliary CM who tucks inside and helps out alongside Alonso and Modric who are doing 90 % of the midfield work and to be an out and out main CM. He was a LM/LW last season who dropped into midfield but never an out and out CM.

Fußball wrote:He is not a CM anyway. How can such a hit and miss "dribble and cross aimlessly" type of player ever be a CM? It's different to be an auxiliary CM who tucks inside and helps out alongside Alonso and Modric who are doing 90 % of the midfield work and to be an out and out main CM. He was a LM/LW last season who dropped into midfield but never an out and out CM.

Whatever, that's where he plays for Argentina and where he played for Benfica. It's not a coincidence that the only time he struggles is for managers who seem to not have a clue that he can't be a winger.

It's not like it's a one off thing, Mourinho before this season was the only one who thought he was a winger. Hell not even Maradona would do it and he played Jonas *bleep* Gutierrez at RB and left Zanetti at home.

Basically i'm sick and tired of people blaming players for not being able to perform a role they simply cannot do and have proven they much better use to the team elsewhere and not giving the manager any criticism who show an ineptitude of getting the best out of their players.

He played pretty much on the wing for Ancelotti. Watch him take on Alves non-stop:



Slightly different dynamics than Mourinho where he would stay wide all the time (and on the wrong side of the pitch to begin with given how 1-footed he is) while under Carlo alternating between 4-4-2 and 4-3-3 where he would tuck inside. But that doesn't make him a central midfielder. That's absurd, his ball retention is 30/100 and he attempts lots of Hollywood passes and dribbles a lot. Very hit and miss player.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:

Hapless_Hans wrote:this 'he isn't a winger but a cm' and 'being used incorrectly' stuff is a bit of ridiculous don't you think. The guy has been plain atrocious.

He was atrocious on the wing for Madrid too, he had no impact what so ever.

Playing players out of position tends to lead to atrocious performances, he was fine before they started *bleep* him around.

I thought you never watch our games

Di Maria was actually one of the best RWs at some point maybe even the best in 11-12. In the first half of that season he was our best player alongside Ronaldo. Then he had an average 12-13(like all our players except for Ronaldo and Varane) and his average form continued until Carlo put him at LM at the start of 2014, where he played very good. He didn't play in central midfield, he played on the left covering for Ronaldo's lack of defending while on transition he used his pace and dribling to carry the ball from our half. This role actually hides his flaws (off the ball movement and bad decision making) and magnifies his strengths. At AM he is pathetic, he played there a few times under Mourinho(the reasons are stated above). All in all, in the right system (Carlo found him his perfect role) he can be deadly but his lack of intelligence prevents him from 'adapting'.

I used to. Not anymore, don't watch much of La Liga in general now.

Van Gaal and his "use" of South American footballers, particularly the mercurial types is going just as it has always been. Take that as one will...

For the sake of sakeness, Di Maria played a lot better as a left sided midfielder than as an inside forward or an AM. But because of his skill set and his lack of footballing intelligence, he was never as consistent as one would like. Not surprising he isn't doing well this season at Utd. Maybe next season he'll get better adjusted to what that crazy ass man wants.

But I would really love if he came back to Real Madrid though I believe that ship has long sailed off with Frodo and Gandalf.