Di Maria: 'Van Gaal is my worst coach'
* Hà Lan - Argentina: 2am on 10/12, MetaSports train.
Di Maria was Man Utd's record signing in the summer of 2014, when Van Gaal took office at Old Trafford. But according to the Argentine midfielder, the Dutch coach does not like players with stronger personalities, so he does not respect him. By the summer of 2015, Di Maria had to leave Man Utd even though he played 32 matches, scored 4 and assisted 11 goals.
The animosity between the two has been simmering since then, and was blown up on December 8, when Di Maria was asked by the channel TyC Sport (Argentina) about his old teacher before the quarter-finals of the World Cup 2022. "He is the worst coach in the match. my career," said Di Maria. "I could score goals, give assists, but then Van Gaal showed me a video of my mistakes after the game."
Not long after, in the press conference of the Dutch team, Van Gaal admitted that he did not like being called by Di Maria the worst coach of his career. "He's in the minority, and it's a pity that Di Maria hasn't played much at Man Utd. But sometimes the coaches have to make decisions that are not always good," said the Netherlands coach. said more.
Van Gaal still considers Di Maria a good player, but his failure to stay at Man Utd is a personal matter, not his concern. "His house was broken into and that affected his performance," Van Gaal recalls.
Attending the press conference of the Netherlands was Memphis Depay - a striker who also played for Man Utd in the period 2015-2017, including the first season under Van Gaal, and was also unsuccessful. The 71-year-old coach therefore took this striker to compare and joked: "Depay also had the same problem, but now we can kiss on the lips, though that won't happen here."
Di Maria was injured before the match against Australia in the round of 16. Coach Lionel Scaloni still hides the status of his students carefully, considering the chance of Di Maria playing against the Netherlands is 50/50. Meanwhile, superstar Lionel Messi is ready to fight in the best condition.
On the Dutch side, Van Gaal said there are plans to stop Messi. He also revealed that he received advice on dealing with Argentina from former Germany midfielder who won the 2014 World Cup in 2014 Bastian Schweinsteiger, who is also a former student at Man United and Bayern.
"I can't say anything but I really like the way he does it," Van Gaal said. "He's a smart player and football plays with his mind. I got some useful information."
Today's match at Lusail will be the sixth time the Netherlands and Argentina have faced each other at the World Cup. In the previous 5 times, each team won two matches, and once drew. The last two times they faced off in the World Cup were draws, in the 2006 group stage and the 2014 semi-final, where Argentina progressed by winning the penalty shootout.
