Di Maria: 'Van Gaal is the worst coach of my life'

* Netherlands - Argentina: 2pm Saturday 10/12, on MetaSports.

Di Maria was the record signing of Man Utd 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 strong personalities, so he does not use him. By the summer of 2015, Di Maria had to leave Man Utd despite playing 32 matches, scoring four and assisting 11 goals.

The animosity between the two has been simmering since then, and was blown up yesterday, December 8, when Di Maria was asked by the channel TyC Sport (Argentina) about his former teacher before the quarter-finals of the World Cup 2022. "He is the worst coach in the world. my career," said Di Maria. "I can score goals, assist, but after the game Van Gaal showed me a video summarizing my errors."

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. analysis.

Van Gaal later affirmed that he still considers Di Maria a good player, but that the student's 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 1/8 round. According to coach Lionel Scaloni, the striker's chance to play today is 50-50. Meanwhile, Lionel Messi is ready to fight in the best condition.

On the Dutch side, Van Gaal said he planned to stop Messi. He also revealed that he received advice on dealing with Argentina from former Germany midfielder who won the 2014 World Cup Bastian Schweinsteiger, who is also a former student at Man Utd 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."

This will be the sixth time the Netherlands and Argentina have faced off at the World Cup. On the previous five occasions, each team won two matches, and drew once. The last two times they faced each other in the World Cup had drawn results, in the group stage of 2006 and the semi-finals in 2014 - where Argentina progressed by winning the penalty shootout.