Di Maria makes his debut against Burnley. Let's see some of your magic Angel
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
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I am so fecking excited.
Starting in a midfield 2 alongside Fletcher, Mata further up.
Lets not expect magic from the get go. Hope he has a great game though, we need to start picking up points.
A Di Maria hat trick is just what we need.
He's starting in a 2 man midfield with Fletcher, Good luck Angel, you're gonna need it!
Whats the XI? Hoping he hits the ground running!
I hoped I will never see him in midfield two for us(especially not alongside Fletcher) and it will happen in the first game.
Going from Modric/Alonso to Fletcher, Young and Valencia... poor guy. You need to be a bit good, Angel.
He's better in midfield than on the wings, seeing as we broke the British transfer record to get him it makes sense to play him in his best position and not on the wing.
The biggest question was whether he could play that central role in a 3-5-2 which we will get an indication of today.
The biggest question was whether he could play that central role in a 3-5-2 which we will get an indication of today.
Midfield two alongside Fletcher is obviously far from position he played for Madrid in midfield. I actually think that he would be more comfortable as a wingback than in this position. Let's wait and see but I think he won't be playing this position anymore apart from today(or if he does it will be very rarely) considering we are thin in the midfield at the moment.
He's playing in central midfield which is his best position. The question is how that position suits a 3-5-2 which is what we'll see now. It's also not something we have seen before, so I wouldn't be too hasty making predictions.
There's certainly nothing indicating that he'll play some sort of double pivot holding role with Fletcher and he could well play with the same freedom he had centrally for Madrid.
With three centre backs in a 3-5-2 the two midfielders can play the position differently. He won't be as restricted as you think.
We'll switch to 4-3-3 later in the game, I'd like to think.
Playing him in the middle is going to expose him to a lot of tackles today, it is not the best match to have your debut in but bloody hell it is exciting to see him play.
Is there a chance it's Rooney in midfield and Di Maria up top? Would make more sense IMO.
This isn't the type of midfield job he had in Madrid. I can see him struggling today, but I'm hopeful he'll have a great start to his career here, always important.
So exciting to see him play. He's not a midfielder who can be part of a midfield 2 I think but he'll be a huge improvement on cleverley or whoever else we planned on putting there so it's not a big deal. The game against qpr will look completely different with everyone back and the signings in the team.
How would it make more sense when Rooney's best position is up top and Di Maria's is in midfield?
I never thought of that. That's actually quite a good idea. Worth a try.
Because he trained for 2 days with the team, so IMO shouldn't be given so important role in midfield (with Fletcher, remember), and RVP-Di Maria makes more sense than Rooney-RVP.
This is NOT his natural position, trust me, I have seen a lot of him last season.
Very excited to see him play.
It's hard to say because we haven't seen it yet. How the 3-5-2 works with him is new territory.
For example if we pushed Jones up into midfield to make a trio of Jones/Fletcher/Di Maria then I'm sure you would say that gives him a similarly attacking role he had at Madrid and that he could play freely in that line up.
In the 3-5-2 Jones is just playing 10 yards further back as a CB as opposed to a DM. There's still three defensive players there. It's a minor difference. If we can get to grips with it and the defenders can play the roles properly - big question right now - then it could work fine for him IMO.
Its certainly not a sure thing but I'm not surprised it's being tried. If it doesn't work then I think Van Gaal will buy another midfielder and move to a diamond, as in the example above where Jones is moved to midfield except with a bigger name. Either way I think the intention will be to play him centrally.
What odds can I get that he'll limp off injured after half an hour?
That interview on BT Sport just now was great.
People expecting to see him with his magic feet and flying pace, I think the general consensus after the game will be surprise at the fact he can play such a hard working central midfield role.
But that's not his best position in midfield. I agree that his best position is in midfield but with two more defensive player than him alongside him, and I am quite sure we won't see that with Mata there.
If it's 352 he'll be playing double pivot pairing Fletcher IMO, or you are expecting Fletcher to play that holding role with pair of Mata and di Maria ahead of him?
That's too much pessimism, even for me.
I was rewatching the champions league final earlier, this time specifically watching Di Maria. When Madrid didnt have the ball he looked like any other winger playing in a midfield 3, he switched off with his marking of opponents and walked back into position when moves broke down. We could be in big trouble today if he does the same
On the other side of the coin, he looked to get the ball into the box every second touch he took, with the occasional dribble past 2 players from deep
On the other side of the coin, he looked to get the ball into the box every second touch he took, with the occasional dribble past 2 players from deep
That's not cool.
Well I partially address that here in the post below.
The point is that we don't know how it will work in a 3-5-2. I agree that he plays better with two behind him, which is effectively four as it consists of two midfielders and two centre backs. Here he has three centre backs and one midfielder behind him which is still four players. If the system is played properly then it won't be a huge difference.
The biggest danger is that we start to see huge holes in front of the defence behind Di Maria - but you can get around that by 1. Pushing up and squeezing the space, 2. Having defenders who step out of the back line and make a challenge.
It won't definitely work and no body knows because it's not been tried before. It has a chance of working though so I'm not surprised it's being tried.
I didn't expect him to be great defensively. But I expect him to chase and harry fantastically. Hopefully we get away with playing him in a two today, I doubt it will happen again.
Burnley 0:0 Man Utd
Just surreal seeing him in that shirt 
Doesn't seem like a position well suited for ADM in a midfield two, but if it works it will be absolutely genius. I think most great sides are created thanks to some original ideas which went the right way. ADM in the central midfield last season for Real for example which I think was a big reason to their CL success.
Will have to wait and see, it will either be a stupid or brilliant move from LVG.
Will have to wait and see, it will either be a stupid or brilliant move from LVG.
Yea but he was part of a midfield 3 sometimes, and he did have the likes of alonzo khedira ronaldo bale and benzema to play with, which fletcher mata rooney and RVP are not exactly flexible in their mobility, so di maria was still only has good as the players around him
Excellent start so far.
Pace and quality
Has started well.
Has started well.
Having a player stretch his legs and go through the gears
ADM already showing some of his magic
Too bad the rest of the lot aren't following him
Too bad the rest of the lot aren't following him
On a different level from the other 21 players on the pitch and it shows.
I mean, that move that Mata just cocked up… He nods it behind him to Young, then takes Young's return pass and flicks it behind him. Then takes the other return pass, accelerates then puts it on a plate for Mata. So smooth
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