Di Maria: I left because I clashed with Van Gaal

Posted Tuesday, September 01, 2015 by Goal.com

The Paris Saint-Germain midfielder claims he had numerous problems with the Dutch coach and it forced him to leave Old Trafford

Angel Di Maria has revealed that problems fitting into Louis van Gaal's philosophy were behind him leaving Manchester United this summer.

The Argentine, 27, was signed with much fanfare last August, arriving at Old Trafford for a club record €75 million following a Champions League-winning season with Real Madrid.

However, Di Maria struggled to adapt to life in the Premier League and ended up joining French champions Paris Saint-Germain for €63m earlier this month.

Following his impressive debut off the bench against Monaco – in which he assisted the third goal in the 3-0 with a fantastic through ball for Ezequiel Lavezzi from his own half – the versatile midfielder opened up about why he left United.

"Van Gaal has his philosophy and one of the reasons I wanted to go to Manchester United is because of that factor," he told ESPN Radio.

"However, it was difficult to adapt to Van Gaal's workings. I had a couple of run-ins with him.

Di Maria: I left because I clashed with Van Gaal

"It started well for me but then I got injured. When I came back, Van Gaal changed my position. When I spoke to PSG coach Laurent Blanc he said he'd play me in the position I had for Real Madrid."

Di Maria also discussed the importance of Lionel Messi to the Argentina set-up.

The Barcelona forward has been publicly vilified in his home country, but his international team-mate thinks reaching a third consecutive major tournament final will be tough without Messi.

"The next Copa America is our main goal now,” he added. “People didn't see the state of our dressing room after losing this summer's final – we were destroyed.

"We do not want to lose another final. Messi is the most important player to our team, by a long way. Without him, it would be much more difficult.

"When things don't work out in football, of course you hurt. It's even more painful when a comrade is slaughtered by the press.”

The Copa America Centenario in 2016 is a special edition to celebrate 100 years since the first South American finals, taking place in USA and featuring a bumper 16 sides.