Yes they can. Ask Steven Gerrard.
Di Maria Has Earned Start Against City
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Yes they can. Ask Steven Gerrard.
I understand that point of view. It's not an easy decision either way, but personally I'd gamble on the fact Di Maria would be more likely to win us the game.
I think it would be a bad idea to start him. Di Maria doesnt do a great deal of defensive work out wide and is sloppy in possession. We cant afford to give the ball away against City, and we cant afford to let them have a free reign down both flanks (because we know Mata wont track back on the other side either).
Furthermore, I am not yet convinced that Di Maria really has a "big game attitude" for us yet. He doesnt seem the most mentally strong character - if we go a goal down then he is exactly the type I would think might go missing.
Mata has earnt his place in the team due to form, so whilst some of the same arguments can be applied to him, he deserves to continue as he has been doing well, but this is one of the pretty few games I would rather see Young than Di Maria. Young is pretty consistent, he helps out defensively, and this season he has been showing some good leadership qualities - which we will need against City. Additionally he is in decent form and has been linking up well with Blind and Fellaini.
Furthermore, I am not yet convinced that Di Maria really has a "big game attitude" for us yet. He doesnt seem the most mentally strong character - if we go a goal down then he is exactly the type I would think might go missing.
Mata has earnt his place in the team due to form, so whilst some of the same arguments can be applied to him, he deserves to continue as he has been doing well, but this is one of the pretty few games I would rather see Young than Di Maria. Young is pretty consistent, he helps out defensively, and this season he has been showing some good leadership qualities - which we will need against City. Additionally he is in decent form and has been linking up well with Blind and Fellaini.
Who cares about pass completion when I was talking possession and most of those passes was from Young trying to cross. Most of the game requires the team to have possession, keep possession and being able to pressure the opponent. This Ashley does much better than Di Maria. The past three games has shown this again and again.
Yes Di Maria is the better player but currently Young is the better team player.
The best argument for keeping Young in the team, for me, is defense. If we're going to try to sit back and frustrate City, or if Young is going to be picked especially to do a defensive job on someone like Silva, then it makes perfect sense. SAF used to do that very thing with Park, though a more potent offensive option was available.
However, we're the in form team, not City. Not just over the last two games, or four games, but for months now we've had better form than City. We're at home. I think we have a chance to come out and impose our will, and for that di Maria is the better choice.
I bet I know which player City fans hope is on the bench.
Why would you have to gamble unless the game is drifting away from us? All indications lately are that we are the better side playing better football than City with Young on the left.
People are missing the point.
There's little doubt that Di Maria is the better player and more likely to create something or score goals.
But we've stumbled onto something that's lead us to playing our best football in years. If Di Maria was playing well then fair play but he's not. Meanwhile, while not being spectacular Young has played well and combined well with Blind and Fellaini down the left. I don't see an argument for changing the team.
There's little doubt that Di Maria is the better player and more likely to create something or score goals.
But we've stumbled onto something that's lead us to playing our best football in years. If Di Maria was playing well then fair play but he's not. Meanwhile, while not being spectacular Young has played well and combined well with Blind and Fellaini down the left. I don't see an argument for changing the team.
Of course, I didn't really mean literally that he'd earned the start, just that his form was good enough for it to make sense to reinstate him to the starting line up.
Gamble as in I think our odds of winning are slightly higher with Di Maria starting than with him on the bench.
Ok, fair enough, one persons stupidity could do. But, in terms of di Maria's risk play style, which I assumed you were talking about, it's not going to cost us a game.
I think you're not giving credit where its due. And to be clear my average rating to Young this season according to his performance thread is 7.0 while Di Maria I've given 6.2 overall, and I've praised Young plenty of times and think he deserves to have been starting. It's just that pass from Di Maria to Mata was a good one, and his little bit of movement to accept the pass from Mata in the first place. Whether its by luck or skill Di Maria seems to find his man quite often.
We are the in form team so why change the team and setup that has created that form?
Fair enough. Personally don't think he's done nearly enough in a United shirt to suggest he would be more likely to win us the game. I'd keep it as is other than bringing Smalling back in if he's fit.
Though I do think sooner or later he'll be in there in place of Young, or maybe Fellaini.
Except he doesn't, as shown by the stats. He failed to complete 30% of 50 odd passes, whereas di Maria completed nearly 90% of 21 passes. di Maria is also a winger who's most frequent type of pass is going to be a cross.
Well of course, when was the last time ashley young hurt a team?
? Did you miss the part about having the game winning assist in the last two games? I don't get why people are so sure Young has contributed more, we've been excellent with di Maria on the pitch since his return from suspension and he's been productive and efficient. I can see starting Young for tactics but not based on the idea di Maria hasn't been good enough.
I think the one-two combination of Young and Di Maria has worked well on the left and we should continue to use it. Young to start, AdM to provide a spark in the 60th. Neither are capable of providing that sort of energy for 90 minutes, but collectively both of them are able to if they sub eachother out.
Yep, didn't cost us the FA Cup game against Arsenal.
The funny thing is I'm a big fan of what Young has done this season, started threads about it, and here I am looking like a critic! I'm not downplaying Young's contribution, it's just that there are limited spot available!
His decision making can easily cost us a game. He does some ridiculously stupid things which cost us chances to score goals. Against Chelsea he had a really good chance to bring the ball down and score in the first half, and instead he tried a near impossible volley which he spooned away from the goal. Against Liverpool we should have gone three up but he screwed up an easy pass. Against Arsenal he got himself sent off.
He also provided an assist in all three of those games so yeah I can see the counter argument. I just don't think there's enough justification for putting him back in the team quite yet. He has a habbit of making difficult things look easy, but also of making easy things look difficult.
Didn't Tony Valencia cost us that game?
He has been really frustrating at times, but he's been excellent these last two games and I think we should run with it.
Because he didn't track Monreal back for their first goal and then got sent off for being stupid?
Valencia's idiotic mistake is another thing.
It was barely an assist and not match winning at that against Villa. Against Liverpool he played a decent pass to Mata and then proceeded to play like a drunk for the rest of the game. The game before that he had a ridiculous dive followed by an attempt push the referee. Sorry, the arguments for Di Maria starting or earning the position is nowhere near strong enough.
I'd rather he showed some discipline and tactical intelligence against a lesser team before throwing him in against City.
Our team isn't good enough to carry him right now, he offers a lot but just like Giggs in recent years it was always a question of whether the creativity will make up for the amount of times he exposes us via losing possession.
Its a fecked up situation really.
Our team isn't good enough to carry him right now, he offers a lot but just like Giggs in recent years it was always a question of whether the creativity will make up for the amount of times he exposes us via losing possession.
Its a fecked up situation really.
According to whoscored Di Maria gets dispossessed 1.4 times per game, while David Silva gets dispossessed 2.5 times per game.
I wonder if City fans are asking for Silva to be dropped?
It's simple, if you want flair players in your team, then you have to take them with all their skill, excitement, unpredictability and yes, risks. But English football somehow values defensive work and tackles higher than skill and unpredictability. That's why fun is still made of Özil, that's why Mata was called a passenger here last season and that's why the likes of Nani and Di Maria weren't/aren't appreciated much.
Hell our own Giggs was a very risky player in his prime who could either lose the ball, misplace a pass or do something magical.
Anyway with more and more skill players in the prem the attitude is thankfully changing, albeit very slowly.
I wonder if City fans are asking for Silva to be dropped?
It's simple, if you want flair players in your team, then you have to take them with all their skill, excitement, unpredictability and yes, risks. But English football somehow values defensive work and tackles higher than skill and unpredictability. That's why fun is still made of Özil, that's why Mata was called a passenger here last season and that's why the likes of Nani and Di Maria weren't/aren't appreciated much.
Hell our own Giggs was a very risky player in his prime who could either lose the ball, misplace a pass or do something magical.
Anyway with more and more skill players in the prem the attitude is thankfully changing, albeit very slowly.
yep
These situations happen in football, all time. Heck, this stuff happens in every day life. You evaluate your options in any given situation, and take the punt; it's either right or wrong. If it's right, well done, if wrong, move on. The same applies to di Maria, his failed pass to Rooney (vs Liverpool) should have made it three, but he fecked up, so what. Rooney should have made it 3-1, he missed the penalty, shit happens. There's enough time in a football game for a team of eleven to make up for the mistakes of one man.
Remember Ronaldo vs Porto in 2009, his decision to shoot from 40 yards would have been ridiculously stupid had he not scored, but he took the risk, and it worked out. One of the reasons we paid so much for di Maria was his ability to produce moments of magic from nothing, such as the goal vs Leicester. It's something Young has failed do even when he's been "in form".
Let's just ease him into the side this season. And then let him loose with a good pre season behind him.
Ah yes! The "English football doesn't appreciate him" crap
Di Maria is a fantastic player who's been in crap form. That's the long and short of it. It's got nothing to do with his style of play. In the period he has been out/on the bench we've had 2 of our best games.
My argument is that di Maria has been a more crucial part of that form than Young in the last two games, and thus a switch is warranted.
And one of them (the more important one) we wouldn't have won without him. You are obviously welcome to believe my examples have nothing to do with the English mentality if you wish!Ah yes! The "English football doesn't appreciate him" crap
Di Maria is a fantastic player who's been in crap form. That's the long and short of it. It's got nothing to do with his style of play. In the period he has been out/on the bench we've had 2 of our best games.
How so ? His two assists, while yes technically assists, were beneficiaries of sublime finishes by Mata and Rooney. That aside, how has he outperformed Young, who himself was quite effective when he was playing ?
Was that goal Rooney scored, assisted by di Maria, not the 2nd goal against a team that scored 1?
Do you think Young has been better than di Maria over the last two games?
If so fair enough, different strokes.
Goals win games?
He also gave the ball away less than Young. He augmented the offense when he came on, imho.
He did make a few terrible passes against Liverpool, but his pass % was actually just fine, similar to others who didn't get that sort of criticism in that game.
Those two passes which 98 out of 100 times would never have both been goals if not for the magic of Mata and Rooney aside, AdM was decent but not better than Young.
Why do you say that? What do you feel Young did so well, and what did di Maria not do well enough?
Young was quite effective with his stumbling runs into the left end of the box which caused them a lot of problems. Not saying Young is a better player, just that he has at a minimum, been as effective as AdM in terms of unlocking the left wing for us.
I don't see how he has earned a start any more than the players he would replace. Don't care too much whether it's him or Young but if it was up to me, Young would start.
I definitely don't want him replacing Mata as I think that triangle with Valencia, Herrera and Mata is functioning extremely well. Then again, the Blind-Young partnership is showing a lot of promise as well.
Di Maria needs to buckle down and start acting like a team player.
I definitely don't want him replacing Mata as I think that triangle with Valencia, Herrera and Mata is functioning extremely well. Then again, the Blind-Young partnership is showing a lot of promise as well.
Di Maria needs to buckle down and start acting like a team player.