Has Man United’s Angel fallen? A focus on Di María’s meteoric rise and recent decline

Signed for a club-record fee, Manchester United’s latest number seven has failed to live up to the prestigious number worn by the likes of George Best, Bryan Robson, Eric Cantona, David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Legend has it El Torito asked Rosario Central for just 26 footballs to transfer a young six-year old Argentinian by the name of Ángel Fabián Di María Hernández. Since, Di María has overcome the numerous hurdles of football that have so many young stars fall, in a speed akin to his playing style.

Di María made his debut for Central aged seventeen, but after just two years in the first team the club decided to cash in on their teenage prodigy to balance the books. Like many modern day South American footballers, Di María’s path to Europe saw him arrive on the shores of Portugal and in this case via the city of Lisbon, where he signed for Benfica in the January transfer window of 2007.

However, Di María’s path to stardom was not an entirely certain one with the instability at the Lisbon club, until the arrival of the highly acclaimed Jorge Jesus as Benfica.

Signed as a playmaker in the no. 10 role, Jesus soon realised Di María’s abundance of pace, remarkable dribbling, accurate delivery and direct style of play was more suited to a role on the wing.

The switch in position and attacking style of play implemented throughout the team by Jesus was met with a string of outstanding performances from the Argentine international as Benfica stormed to the Portuguese league title in 2010. ‘Fideo’, meaning noodle on account of his skinny physique, was at the heart of Benfica’s resurgence following a spell of domination by rivals Porto.

As you might expect, such performances did not go unnoticed and on 7th July 2010 Di María was brought to Real Madrid for a reported €30 million by none other than José Mourinho, the most expensive transfer of the capital club that summer.

During his time at Los Blancos, spanning four seasons, the wizard of Rosario scored 36 goals and provided 92 assists in 190 appearances. Di María’s seemingly limitless energy in attack and defence saw him become a key man for Mourinho and his successor, Carlo Ancelotti.

Despite being forced to switch to a deeper, more central position in midfield in order to accommodate the singing of Gareth Bale, Di María’s positive attitude in the engine room was relentless in Madrid’s bid for the ‘La Décima.’

In the final against Atlético Madrid it was Di María’s run that made the second goal for Gareth Bale, setting Madrid on their way to their tenth European Cup, in a match which saw Di María announce himself on the biggest stage of them all as he was awarded man of the match.

Di María was to fall victim once again to Florentino Pérez’s absurd transfer policy. Following Barcelona’s high-profile capture of Luis Suarez from Liverpool, Pérez needed a glamorous, marque signing, on top of the addition of World Cup Winner Toni Kross.

In came Colombian golden boy James Rodríguez, yet another player to rival Di María for a starting berth, despite the obvious strength in depth already in place. Even with the support of Ancelotti, Di María understandably felt undervalued and underappreciated by the clubs hierarchy, prompting him to decline a contract renewal and switch to Manchester United in a club record transfer totaling £59.7 million, the fifth most expensive player of all time. Madrid based newspaper ‘AS’ later claimed in a headline Di María was moved on “Because he doesn’t sell shirts.”

Louis van Gaal had splashed out £150 million in a bid to overhaul a struggling and underwhelming Manchester United side, with Di María the leading attraction. As expected Di María’s direct approach, coupled with his immaculate close control and dribbling took to the Premier League with ease in the initial stages of the season.

In his opening six Premier League games Di María appeared to have been more than happy with the responsibility of leading van Gaal’s team, a responsibility he was not allowed to assume at Madrid, with three goals and four assists, including a memorable chip away to Leicester City. However since the turn of the New Year his form has dropped considerably, leaving many dumbfounded as to why.

One reason mooted has been the exterior pressure of relocating his family following a break-in in early January. Another potential explanation is a series of niggling injuries and a World Cup hangover. Whatever the case, this is not the fleet footed Di María football fans have loved to watch bamboozle defenders.

His last appearance saw him throw away any chance of silverware this season for Manchester United with a stupendous sending off at home to Arsenal after an accumulation of two yellow cards; one for diving and the other for grabbing the referee, Michael Oliver, by the shirt.

In fairness, at this current point in time van Gaal’s side are anything but the all-conquering sides of Alex Ferguson. There is a clear imbalance with a wealth of attacking options but an obvious lack of quality in defence.

The midfield which Di María finds himself occupied in is also too rigid and lacks natural movement, consequently the ball is moving far too slow for a player of Di María’s quality to express himself properly as United are simply too easy to nullify.

Rumours of Paris Saint Germain persist, but I and many other English football fans would like to see Di María truly given time to settle, fully believing he will regain his form and reach the heights of his Benfica and Real Madrid days.

A man who knows how to succeed at Manchester United, after making a big money move from Leeds to Manchester United for £30 million in 2002 has echoed such a view:

“I thought Di Maria was a great signing for United and I still think he was a good signing because he is a top player. He was arguably Madrid’s best player last year, him and Ronaldo were their standout players.

“I think he is a highly talented player. But it always takes time for a player to adapt to his new surroundings, especially when you go to a foreign league. Not every player can be like Ronaldo and just turn up and instantly become a superstar. Maybe it will take Di Maria a bit longer.

“It might take him a year, you never know. But his style does suit the Premier League. He is quick, runs at people, hungry to create chances and commit people. I think he is a very talented player and I like him.”