This Man United star simply does not suit Van Gaal’s 3-5-2 formation

It’s an easy assertion to make on the back of Angel Di Maria’s blunt performance against Southampton this week, but the Argentine simply does not suit being played in a 3-5-2 formation.

The stats from that game tell a pretty crude picture of his performance. He managed 0% shot accuracy, completed 0% of his take-ons, completed 0% of his crosses and 0% of his key passes, and to top it all off, he only managed a mediocre 60% pass completion rate.

As damning as those figures are, it would still be harsh to read into them too much. That performance could alternatively be accredited to the near perfect execution of Southampton’s game plan – Morgan Schnierderlin and Victor Wanyama formed a defensive shield that was impenetrable, and Southampton boasting the best defensive record in the league shows you just what United found themselves up against.

Still, those who take the economic side of things seriously would hone in on gargantuan £60m deal that brought Di Maria to the club. A player of that pedigree should influence important top league games.

The Argentine has been injured for a while and certainly looked rusty, but there’s absolutely no escaping the fact that he did not appear compatible in Louis Van Gaal’s preferred formation.

Where does he belong? You can play him as left wingback and his attacking qualities are rendered redundant as he plays too much of the game away from the attaching third. Play him in the centre and you have to either take out Michael Carrick, who is a much better suited holder, Wayne Rooney, club captain and driving midfield force, or Juan Mata, arguably United’s best attacking player in recent months.

Van Gaal chose to partner him (probably correctly) with Robin van Persie, but that partnership failed to produce anything of note. Both looked out of sync with one another and there only appeared to signs of breakthrough when Juan Mata made late dashes into the box after RvP had departed.

While you can’t argue with the success that the 3-5-2 has brought Van Gaal in recent times, it hasn’t had to accommodate Di Maria while it’s been working.

But, in truth, now that Di Maria’s back, it would seem that a return to a diamond formation would cater for his needs much more.

Di Maria’s in the Ballon d’Or team of the year for good reason. He was absolutely exceptional for Real Madrid in their Champions League and Copa Del Ray winning campaign, and Carlo Ancelotti’s willingness to let him leave at first appeared questionable.

Look at his role in that Madrid side and you’ll see that he’s actually the best in the world at a very particular role. With the ball, Madrid lined up in a fairly conventional 4-4-2- Ronaldo and Karim Benzema were up front, while Di Maria and Gareth Bale flanked Xabi Alonso and Luka Modric.

But without the ball, Ronaldo shuffled back into the left wing role, and Di Maria joined Alonso and Modric in the centre of midfield.

Di Maria essentially played a dynamic, hybrid role for Real – a scintillating winger role in attack and an intelligent assured midfield role in defence – roles he could switch between with an assumed ease. It sounds fairly straightforward written down, but it’s difficult to think of any player in the world who does something like that so well right at the top. Di Maria and Ronaldo could overload that flank with intelligent movement and devastating bursts – it was the subtle tactical feature that made them so successful last season.

So anyway, despite that apparent versatility, Di Maria still appears uncomfortable. He’s much better off on the left side of a midfield diamond where he can ‘shuttle’ laterally between central midfield and a flank. He’s generally looked at his best when played in midfield for United so far – watch his performances where he started as an outright winger (Chelsea at home, for example) and he’s been ineffective.

Van Gaal probably has fresh memories of Arjen Robben’s outstanding transformation at this year’s World Cup in a forward role. It’s good for playing on the break, but against a defence that sits deep, it’s fruitless.

Playing him in a diamond allows him to influence two parts of the pitch in one role, which is basically where his strengths lie. Whether van Gaal will succumb to calls for changes to be made is unlikely – the ruthless Dutchman is not one to fall for certain pressures.

They say that the best managers are blind to the transfer fees of the players they select – so if LvG is to pursue with his 3-5-2 with an out of form Di Maria, is it time he dropped the club’s record signing?