Angel Di Maria blames Manchester United exit on failure to adapt to Louis van Gaal's philosophy

Conflict: Di Maria struggled to adapt to Van Gaal's demands
Matthew Peters/Man Utd via Getty Images
Sam Long1 September 2015

Angel Di Maria has blamed his Manchester United exit on a failure to adapt to Louis van Gaal's philosophy during his spell at Old Trafford.

The Red Devils paid a British record transfer fee of £59.7m to sign the Argentina midfielder from Real Madrid last August but he struggled to reproduce his best form in the Premier League.

The 27-year-old started just 20 top flight games during a problematic year on these shores and completed a switch to Paris Saint-Germain earlier this summer.

A definitive explanation for Di Maria's lack of form during a solitary season in England has been difficult to find but the midfielder believes that a number of disagreements with Van Gaal contributed to his decision to leave.

"Van Gaal has his philosophy and one of the things that made me want to leave is that. It is difficult to adapt to Van Gaal. I had a couple of rows with him," he told ESPN Radio Argentina.

"I started well [at United] and after that I got injured. Things didn't go well for me and Van Gaal changed my position."

While the Argentine believes he was played out of position by the Dutchman, a conversation with PSG boss Laurent Blanc suggested that he would be able to return to his favoured role at the Parc des Princes.

"I spoke with Blanc and his thinking was that I'd play in a similar position to where I did at Real Madrid."

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Di Maria enjoyed an impressive debut for the Ligue 1 club on Sunday as he provided a delightful assist for Ezequiel Lavezzi in a 3-0 win against Monaco and the midfielder is pleased with the start he has made in France.

"I didn't imagine a reception like this," Di Maria added. "It was the most beautiful presentation I have ever had. The truth is that I'm happy to come to PSG and to have teammates like Lavezzi and [Javier] Pastore."

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