Angel Di Maria reveals why he struggled in his first season at Manchester United

British record signing endured a tough first year at Old Trafford

Tom Sheen
Friday 19 June 2015 16:55 BST
Comments

British record signing Angel Di Maria has revealed that his exploits with Argentina at the 2014 World Cup was the reason for his struggles at Manchester United.

Di Maria was bought for £59.7million last summer and despite getting off to a decent start under Louis van Gaal, soon lost form and struggled to get into the starting team in the second half of the season.

He didn't start a game after being sent off in the FA Cup against Arsenal on 9 March and struggled to settle in Manchester after he was burgled around Christmas.

But Di Maria has pointed to the World Cup in Brazil as the real reason behind his poor form.

"The Angel Di Maria from before the World Cup and after the World Cup changed so much because we gave everything we had on the pitch," he told Goal.

Di Maria helped Argentina reach the final of the tournament although he missed the semi-final and could only make the bench for the final after picking up an injury in the quarter-final win over Belgium.

"It was my happiest moment. That was the most special thing that has happened to me. We weren’t able to win, but we gave everything on the pitch and we made history.

"Argentina were back in a World Cup final. We always said we wanted to become legends and we couldn’t do it. But that stays with us."

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in