Angel Di Maria: Louis van Gaal 'not surprised' at poor form of Manchester United winger
The Argentinian has struggled in his first season at Old Trafford
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Your support makes all the difference.Angel Di Maria's poor form has come as little surprise to Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal.
The Argentinian, who joined for a British record fee of £59.7m in the summer, has failed to make an impact since his switch to Old Trafford.
The former Real Madrid man has not scored since the first week of October and has provided eight assists.
On Saturday Di Maria put in possibly the worst performance of his career against Sunderland and he was substituted at half-time.
Yet Van Gaal is not overly concerned by Di Maria's form, putting it down to adapting to the Premier League from La Liga and also pointing out that other signings made over the summer have also struggled.
"The first season is always difficult," the United boss said.
"You can say it to every player we have bought: (Luke) Shaw, (Daley) Blind, (Ander) Herrera, (Radamel) Falcao and also Di Maria.
"For me it is not a big surprise, it is more a big surprise (if) he (had) adapted as quickly as possible.
"In the Netherlands, Spain and Germany I had the same experience with players.
"We have to give him time, not just for him but to all the other players.
"(The time frame) is dependable on the individual as there are so many different aspects of the game, of the match but also of the culture in the country."
Di Maria's season has been interrupted by pelvic and hamstring injuries.
He also had to move out of his house last month after he and his family were subjected to a terrifying attempted burglary.
The midfielder, his wife Jorgelina Cardoso and their young daughter Mia were inside their Prestbury home last year when intruders tried to enter but they fled after the alarm was raised.
Van Gaal thinks it would be too simplistic to blame Di Maria's dip in form on the incident.
"It is easy to say that, because I cannot prove that, it is not scientifically proven and I don't want to speak about things I cannot say," he said.
Van Gaal has no qualms about selecting the 27-year-old for Wednesday's trip to Newcastle.
"Di Maria is not the only player who has suffered a bad day," Van Gaal added on MUTV.
""He can be the best player in the world in the next match so I think everything is going well. He has trained very well and I don't think there is any problem."
Manchester United are in action away at Newcastle on Wednesday night.
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