Louis Van Gaal's Use of Angel Di Maria Slammed by Manchester United Great

Former Manchester United winger Lou Macari has urged Louis van Gaal to play Angel Di Maria in "any other position" than the central forward role he was given during the 1-0 defeat to Southampton.

Di Maria started just behind Robin van Persie during Sunday's defeat, in which United failed to register a single shot on target. Ronald Koeman's Saints were organised brilliantly, but Van Gaal's decision to leave Radamel Falcao out of the squad and place Di Maria in an exclusively attacking position limited United's threat.

Macari believes the latter should be given a free role, or indeed, return to his roots, as reported by David McDonnell of the Mirror:

"

I don’t think playing up front is the position for Di Maria. He’s better roaming all over the place. He likes a bit of freedom. He won’t like big centre-halves in behind him.

So I wouldn’t like to see Di Maria play in any other position than where he has played (roaming) or out wide as an old fashioned left-winger.

"

Jon Super/Associated Press

Di Maria starred in central midfield upon his arrival. He scored three goals and provided four assists in his first six games for United, operating from the halfway line or from the flank, per WhoScored.com. Van Gaal has mixed his positioning up in recent times, however, with Di Maria scoring just one and assisting two in his next eight.

He can be extremely useful in an advanced position. Placing the 26-year-old right on the last defender allowed United to break away and score the winner against Arsenal, but using Di Maria like this rushes his use of the ball. As noted by Squawka, this forced him to make mistakes against Southampton:

Di Maria possesses natural pace and dribbling ability, something which is unique for United's midfielders. Van Gaal neutralises this threat by having him play off Robin van Persie, never allowing the player to drive United forward like he can.

Former Red Devils boss Ron Atkinson suggested the side's lack of punch was a rare occurrence against Koeman's side, per McDonnell:

"

When Van Gaal talks about dominating the game, I think what they did was dominate possession. But it’s been a long time since I’ve been to a home game and never got the feeling there was a goal coming.

Even when they played Chelsea here, even late in the game, you felt they might nick an equaliser, and they did. But there wasn’t that punch, there wasn’t that drive.

"

Falcao's inclusion may have also improved proceedings, highlighted by Squawka:

Van Gaal has now accumulated the same points tally as previous boss David Moyes after 21 games. Even so, United's prospects appear brighter, per Sky Sports:

Supporters need to remember many of the Premier League's sides have improved this year. Teams such as Southampton and West Ham are regularly taking points off the elite, with the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Everton all struggling to grab their usual haul of points.

Clint Hughes/Associated Press

United legend Bryan Robson acknowledged this after the recent defeat, saying, "Despite having the same points tally, I think we have improved from where we were last year," per Stuart Mathieson of the Manchester Evening News.

Performances certainly need to step up quickly. United's defeat was coming. The team showed signs of sloppy play during previous draws with Tottenham and Stoke, so it's little surprise to see Van Gaal's side were beaten so convincingly. The manner of such a loss is the most worrying part, as the boss—who included three centre-backs on his bench—utilised his squad poorly.

Upcoming matches with Queens Park Rangers and Leicester are now must win, particularly because Arsenal face an away trip to Manchester City and journey to Spurs in the next three weeks. United will potentially have the opportunity to extend their one-point lead over the Gunners, a vital achievement in the battle for Champions League places.