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2014-15 Performances


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5.7 Season Average Rating
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Dylan94

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Unfortunately for us he was the worst player on the pitch today by a mile. And if he's have produced even half of the quality today that he has since he's got here we would have still won the game despite being down to 10 men. Shame. Still think the world of him though.
 

The Man Himself

asked for a tagline change and all I got was this.
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Has been touch disappointing in last 2 big games. The left midfield position in diamond suits him best but that system is not very ideal defensively against big teams imo. Oh and he needs to stop taking corners and even free-kicks unless he has a very suitable angle. Rooney is very good at taking corners and FKs and delivering good balls into the area.
 

FromTheBench

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Been real dissapointing last 2 games.

Left sided in a diamond suits him more but he cheats defensively more there.
 

charlenefan

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Needs to be taken off corners and direct free kicks
 

ItsEssexRob

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There is a significant difference between LCM (the position where he excelled at RM) and the wing. It's not just a matter of moving a 'few yards'. Di Maria needs space to move and drive into. Any decent fullback can cut off the space for him to do that from the wing - and in the last few weeks he's played Ivanovic and Zabaleta.
Im not just refering to ADM though, the same excuse has been played out to excuse Mata, Kagawa, Rooney, Januzaj, Rojo, and several other players lately.

If it was RVP being placed in goal I could understand it, but do players really lose the basics of what makes them world class or great players( like free kick and corner taking) when they are in a slightly different spot?
 

Rooney in Paris

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His free kicks and corners are really poor, and he doesn't offer half as much on the wing as he does in CM, where he's been a real revelation. Hope we can go back to a Di Maria/Blind/Herrera midfield soon.
 

OnlyTwoDaSilvas

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His free kicks, when delivering the ball into the box and not shooting, are very good. I have no idea why his corners are so terrible in contrast. They are just too low. The near post defender just heads it away with ease. Put RVP back on them.
 

Señor

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Absolute shite the last two games when we needed him most. He played fairly well in the last 10 minutes but still not nearly good enough. Much prefer playing him centrally as he improves tenfold there as opposed to when he's put on the wing.
 

Deleted member 78215

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Im not just refering to ADM though, the same excuse has been played out to excuse Mata, Kagawa, Rooney, Januzaj, Rojo, and several other players lately.

If it was RVP being placed in goal I could understand it, but do players really lose the basics of what makes them world class or great players( like free kick and corner taking) when they are in a slightly different spot?
Well they shouldn't, but it certainly seems that way. The trouble it seems at United is we constantly shoehorn players into unfamiliar positions. Okay, playing on the wing isn't exactly alien to Di Maria, we don't play with wingers like Chelsea or Madrid do. We actually play with wingers in the traditional sense - hug the touchline style. Mata, Kagawa and Di Maria are just really unsuited to those roles. The former two are too slow for it and, as I said before, Di Maria needs to be able to drive into space. The wing position - which is the common denominator doesn't bring out the best in our players. And the actual wingers we do have are just shit.

Rooney looks out of place as a #10, but his numbers stack up. As for Januzaj and Rojo, I've not seen many people excuse them.
 

KM

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Apart from his corner kicks, he was actually pretty good in the second half. Were people even watching the match?

Worst player on the pitch by an absolute mile. Jesus christ.
 

marlowe78

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Jul 8, 2011
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I wouldn't say he was the worst but for the amount of cash he gets, that was very disappointing to see from him in an important match. He was knocked off the ball far too often and I don't know why we keep persisting with him taking corners. Rooney and even RVP are better than he is.
 
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BW.k

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Unfortunately for us he was the worst player on the pitch today by a mile. And if he's have produced even half of the quality today that he has since he's got here we would have still won the game despite being down to 10 men. Shame. Still think the world of him though.
Smalling was obviously on vacations.....
 

Sandikan

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not even going to read through criticism of him today.

he's pretty much our main threat even when he's not on top form!
 

Stookie

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Well, he has been pretty well marked in the last two games but I was disappointed with his corners today. One of pet hates is a corner taker not getting it past the first defender. Shocking from a professional footballer. Even I can do that and I'm fat, forty and fecked.
 

Walrus

Oppressed White Male
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His initial form seems to have gone. Very poor set piece delivery, not effective on the wings. Unfortunately we now seem to be very overstocked in central areas with Fellaini's resurgence and Rooney/Herrera/Carrick coming back.
 

Globule

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We're within our right to expect better from the most expensive player in British football history when it comes to the big matches and his corners were abysmal, but he still threatened so I'm not overly worried. I think it's mostly just a case of him being stifled by the better teams rather than a worrying drop in form.
 

Cassidy

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That's nonsense.
So I take it you didn't see him last season playing cm or earlier in the season playing cm. Stuck out wide, not at his best as his influence on the game is limited.
 

Cassidy

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Unfortunately for us he was the worst player on the pitch today by a mile. And if he's have produced even half of the quality today that he has since he's got here we would have still won the game despite being down to 10 men. Shame. Still think the world of him though.
Wow slow down mate, he wasn't the worst and almost scored
 

FlawlessThaw

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"Worst player on the pitch" - Jesus did no one watch Valencia?

We're within our right to expect better from the most expensive player in British football history when it comes to the big matches and his corners were abysmal, but he still threatened so I'm not overly worried. I think it's mostly just a case of him being stifled by the better teams rather than a worrying drop in form.
Overall that's how I view it as well.
 

sullydnl

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He's a world class midfielder but far less impressive when he's pushed onto the wing. Hopefully this was just a temporary shift for games against better teams and we'll see him moved back into his best position for most games.

If he is played consistently out wide he'll never justify the fee we paid for him.
 

Cassidy

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He's a world class midfielder but far less impressive when he's pushed onto the wing. Hopefully this was just a temporary shift for games against better teams and we'll see him moved back into his best position for most games.

If he is played consistently out wide he'll never justify the fee we paid for him.
I would argue he should be in his best position especially for the games against the better teams.
 

Dr. Funkenstein

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I would argue he should be in his best position especially for the games against the better teams.
If he has the form to be the best player. Today and last week he just was quite poor and hitting the ball like that, making wrong decisions like that has nothing to do with his position. It's not like the wing is a totally unfamiliar position for him. He can do much better from there, actually, I think it might be his best position.
 

legball

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He's been poor in both of the big games we have played, we'll be slating Ozil or other top players of our rivals if they played the way he has in both games.
 

legball

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If he has the form to be the best player. Today and last week he just was quite poor and hitting the ball like that, making wrong decisions like that has nothing to do with his position. It's not like the wing is a totally unfamiliar position for him. He can do much better from there, actually, I think it might be his best position.
Exactly, he was just poor, his passes were off, made the wrong runs, his crosses and corner kicks were bad, it has nothing to do with his position.
 

starman

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He seems to have lost some pace, he was rapid for Real. I would only had placed Bale, Messi, Ronaldo & Robben faster than him with ball at feet, does not seem as lighting as last season.

Hes been poor from set pieces as well, his in play crosses have been great but station set peice he struggles to beat the first man. Its not like they are rarity we get so many, never really replaced since Beckham...Rooney Mata or Van Persie should be taking them IMO
 
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FlawlessThaw

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Valencia was one of our best players considering that he's not a right back.
Nah he spent most of the time getting ripped apart by Milner and he left Smalling vulnerable a lot as well. Saying he's not a right back is just conceding in the same way Di Maria wasn't playing in his best position either.
 

Red Devil 26

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I wonder if he's carrying an injury? Because he seems to have lost a bit of pace and energy compared to his performances at Madrid. His dribbling has looked really clumsy too.
 

LR7

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His best moments for us have come when he's running (with the ball) from deep in midfield. The opposition struggle to deal with that. On the wing he's a bit more predictable and a bit easier to double up on and deal with. I prefer a midfield three of Blind, Di Maria and Herrera. I think for us, and for Madrid last season, he's a lot more dangerous in that position.

I think people are overreacting a bit regarding his performance today.

He stepped up in the second half and looked better. His corners are atrocious though and rarely beat the first man. Id rather Rooney and RvP back taking them. They whip them in perfectly.
 

Red Hand Devil

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I wonder if he's carrying an injury? Because he seems to have lost a bit of pace and energy compared to his performances at Madrid. His dribbling has looked really clumsy too.
Spot on man!

Could just be the shit restaurants in Manchester though? ;)

80% of his set pieces were atrocious & thats another sickening thing from this game, as set pieces looked like our only way to get points from this game. I genuinely believe we could have won today if his sat nav was switched on. We'd plenty of great opportunity's in the last 20mins from set pieces & the ball never even got past the 1st defender most of the time..

2 biggest games of the season (so far) in a row & Di Maria went missing. Never expected that..
 

Red Hand Devil

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His best moments for us have come when he's running (with the ball) from deep in midfield. The opposition struggle to deal with that. On the wing he's a bit more predictable and a bit easier to double up on and deal with. I prefer a midfield three of Blind, Di Maria and Herrera. I think for us, and for Madrid last season, he's a lot more dangerous in that position.

I think people are overreacting a bit regarding his performance today.

He stepped up in the second half and looked better. His corners are atrocious though and rarely beat the first man. Id rather Rooney and RvP back taking them. They whip them in perfectly.
I dont agree that Herrera should start. He's a walkover in this league atm & gives the ball away far too much..

Bout time LvG got rid of this bromance shite & toughened up the lightweights..
 

Golden Nugget

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Could have done better for the goal, and his corners were horrible, but that's about it, attacking wise he was overcrowded... I remember one moment where he had three if city's players around him, but still kept the ball. I would keep him on corner duty, but they really should be better. No idea why he was taking the direct free kick and not RVP. Greatly annoyed me.
 

Raul Madrid

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Spot on man!

Could just be the shit restaurants in Manchester though? ;)

80% of his set pieces were atrocious & thats another sickening thing from this game, as set pieces looked like our only way to get points from this game. I genuinely believe we could have won today if his sat nav was switched on. We'd plenty of great opportunity's in the last 20mins from set pieces & the ball never even got past the 1st defender most of the time..

2 biggest games of the season (so far) in a row & Di Maria went missing. Never expected that..
He did that regularly in his first three years at Madrid when used on the wing as well as Higuain, Benzema and Ozil. Those four regularly were poor in the big games under Mourinho apart from the odd match or moment. Him and Ozil had good stats and were quite productive but they regularly went through patches of bad form and inconsistency. It was last year when Ancelotti put him in midfield that he became world class and a big game player and was absolutely brilliant. He became more consistent and influenced matches (especially the big ones) much more. He is entering his peak now as a player so I am sure he will be better on the wing for United than he was for us as he was still quite young at Madrid. But like I said before, the best football in his career by far has come when playing in midfield. Whether United want to use him that way or have the personnel to fit him into such a formation is a different story. But it is a bit crazy to sign a player for the big money that they spent and not use him in the position where he played his best football by far. The player in his first three seasons on the wing for Madrid was worth nowhere near that amount.
 

Natener

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He seems to have lost some pace, he was rapid for Real. I would only had placed Bale, Messi, Ronaldo & Robben faster than him with ball at feet, does not seem as lighting as last season.
I think it is more to do with the speed of our general attacking play. We're dwelling on the ball, especially when RVP or Januzaj is in possession. It showed in our play today in the first half today, and was quite apparent during the Chelsea game. Roll back a few games, and Di Maria was on fire when we had more dynamic movement up front when Falcao and Herrera were among the attack.
 
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