Just how good is Angel Di Maria? Zlatan Ibrahimovic, rarely a player to hide behind a veil of diplomacy, has no doubt. “The guy has won everything. He is a fantastic player who plays for the team,” the Paris St-Germain striker said. “He brings pace to a team. He brings quality, big quality and for sure he will make our team even better than it is today.”
Or at least he will if he is the player who left Real Madrid last summer rather than the player who moped his way through the second half of last season for Manchester United. He had been the key man for Madrid in both the semi-final and the final of the Champions League, showing a fine sense of timing as he led breakaway after breakaway, and it’s easy to forget how well he started the season for United.
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In seven of his first 10 matches, ending with the 2-1 win away at Arsenal on November 22, his WhoScored.com rating was above seven. He was injured 14 minutes into the 3-0 win over Hull the following week and never rediscovered his form, not helped by a an attack on his home in January in which burglars reportedly smashed windows with scaffolding poles.
He was left unsettled and moved his family into a hotel. In the 16 games he played for United after the injury against Hull, he registered a WhoScored.com rating of over seven just twice.
When he got to Chile for the Copa America, one of Argentina’s backroom staff said Di Maria had been “ruined” by Louis van Gaal, but refused to give any further details as to whether he was talking about his physical or his mental state. Either way, he quickly recovered his form, scoring over seven in every game up to the final, when he was injured after 29 minutes.
Fitness, clearly, is a major issue for him: in the year after being injured at the World Cup, there were 75 days in which Di Maria was unavailable. But if PSG can get him fit and happy, then Ibrahimovic’s excitement is easy to understand.
Even in what was widely regarded as a poor season for United, Di Maria contributed 10 assists in the Premier League, more than anybody other than Eden Hazard and Cesc Fabregas – and that despite playing only 1645 minutes, fewer than anybody else in the top 20 assist-makers. He also contributed 1.6 accurate crosses per game, the 14th highest figure.
What was notable at the Copa America, as well as the fact that he looked far happier than he had for some time at United, was how hard he worked defensively, making 2.2 tackles per game. At United, in part perhaps because of the position in which he was used, he made only 0.5 – the lowest figure he has ever recorded over a full season. At Madrid, he regularly averaged more than one per game.
For PSG, the signing makes sense on every level. Not only are they getting a high-profile star, but one who fits naturally into the left side of their team. That’s probably bad news for Ezequiel Lavezzi, but Di Maria has a working relationship with Javier Pastore: with Argentina, Di Maria would regularly drop back, allowing Pastore to push on from his position on the left of three central midfielders. That said, he’s also played with success for his national team behind Lavezzi, in that left-sided midfield role he occupied in his final season at Madrid.
“It shows how much PSG are willing to get what they want,” said Ibrahimovic. “Every year they invest to get big players but also players that fit in the team. So there is no limits. The people behind this, they want to become big. They are dreaming bigger and they will get bigger. It’s all about small details. Real Madrid are a fantastic team. They have fantastic players. Of course, when Real Madrid got Gareth Bale they became better and we will become better with Di Maria."
