Ex-Man Utd manager Van Gaal gives WEIRD response to Di Maria criticism

James Shearman

• Updated: 23 May 2023 09:00 CDT
• 3 min read

Louis van Gaal gave a remarkable response to a question on Angel di Maria's criticism of his coaching at Manchester United.

Van Gaal compared Di Maria to Memphis Depay, who he also coached at United and now with the Dutch national team, in an unusual way.

''Di Maria calling me the worst manager he has ever had? He's one of the few players with this opinion,''' Van Gaal told the media on Thursday.

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''I'm really sorry about this and I find it sad he said this. Memphis had to deal with it too in Manchester, and now we kiss each other on the mouth.''

Both Depay and Di Maria struggled under Van Gaal in a difficult time at Old Trafford, but the Dutch pair have clearly reconciled.

Whereas Di Maria is still bitter over his treatment at United, adding another narrative to the World Cup quarter-final clash between Holland and Argentina on Friday.

Di Maria at Man Utd

On the face of it, the signing of Angel Di Maria in the summer of 2014 made perfect sense.

The £59 million transfer was a club record at the time, but it seemed fair as he had just helped Real Madrid to the Champions League with a man of the match performance in the final.

But the Argentine experienced similar issues to Juan Sebastian Veron in that he struggled to adapt to his surroundings, and his house being burgled certainly didn’t help matters.

But if Louis van Gaal expected Di Maria to lead the team into a new era, he signed the wrong player anyway.

Having played alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, Di Maria always impressed as a second or third star, and struggled with the pressure of being Man Utd's main man.