Manchester United record signing disappointing by comparison to former La Liga rival, now of Arsenal.
Former Liverpool pundit Jamie Redknapp believes the performances of Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez only serve to highlight the poor displays of Angel di Maria.
The Manchester United winger has been particularly poor since the turn of the year, ineffective at the weekend against West Ham.
Redknapp told The Mail that he believes Louis van Gaal’s tactical tinkering has had a negative effect on the Argentine international.
He said: “I thought Di Maria would rip the league apart but he’s faded. He’s been really poor, especially compared to Alexis Sanchez at Arsenal.
“He’s been played in too many different positions though and it hasn’t paid off.”
| Team | Goals per | Assists per game | Dribbles per game | Accurate crosses per game | Appearances | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alexis Sánchez | Arsenal | 0.57 | 0.33 | 3.48 | 0.81 | 21 |
| Ángel Di María | Man Utd | 0.19 | 0.38 | 1.88 | 1.56 | 16 |
Sanchez has been by far the more prolific of the two, netting 12 league goals compared to Di Maria’s three, scoring in more than half of his matches.
He also is far more prolific dribbling with the ball, despite this being considered a strength of the former Real Madrid star.
Di Maria does however have a crossing success rate which per game is almost twice as high as Sanchez, and betters the Arsenal ace in terms of assists per game, although overall the Arsenal man has seven compared to his six.
The two were rivals in Spain for Madrid and Barcelona, and are competing for similar positions in the Premier League. United currently have the edge in the table, with a two point advantage, but need to get their record signing back up to pace quickly.
And that’s where the big difference between the two comes in, Di Maria cost United almost twice as much, and that only serves to highlight any dip in form.
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