Manchester United winger Angel di Maria (right) walks along the pitch at Old Trafford with Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal. (EPA)
Louis van Gaal admits not even his record-breaking swoop for Angel Di Maria will be enough to revive Manchester United immediately as the Argentina star prepares for his debut at Burnley today.
Van Gaal shattered the British transfer record with his £59.7 million ($98 million) signing of Di Maria from Real Madrid as he continued a major overhaul of United’s underachieving squad which has exceeded £130 million since he took charge.
Di Maria should get his first taste of the Premier League at some stage during United’s trip to Turf Moor, but Van Gaal isn’t expecting miracles from the midfielder despite his impressive pedigree.
United are still waiting for their first victory under Van Gaal after losing to Swansea, drawing with Sunderland and then suffering an abject 4-0 defeat at League One minnows Milton Keynes Dons in midweek.
Although David Moyes’ ill-fated reign left plenty of problems, van Gaal’s poor start is still a surprise and, while the former Netherlands coach didn’t want to criticise his predecessors at Old Trafford, he made it clear the issues at United won’t be solved by Di Maria alone.
“That is looking at the past. That is a question that I don’t want to answer. Why? Because I want to show my respect to David Moyes and Mr (Alex) Ferguson,” Van Gaal said when asked if he had been left with a poor squad.
“I think we have to look to the future and what we are doing now which is restoring and rebuilding a new team.
“That takes time and I am sorry to say that for the fans.
“We cannot expect after two days’ training that Di Maria is the miracle what I already read about.
“You have to work for the miracle. He has to adapt to the qualities of the team but also the team has to adapt to his qualities.”
CONTROVERSIAL ITALIAN
Di Maria won’t be the only high-profile debutant this weekend as controversial bad-boy Mario Balotelli makes his return to the Premier League when his new club Liverpool travel to leaders Tottenham.
Balotelli joined Brendan Rodgers’ side from AC Milan for £16 million after agreeing to a contract that will reward the Italian for good behaviour.
The former Manchester City forward left England after three turbulent years marred by training ground fights, car crashes and a bizarre incident when he set fire to his bathroom while letting off fireworks.
But Reds boss Rodgers is confident he can get the best out of Balotelli, who watched from the stands when Liverpool lost 3-1 defeat at City on Monday, but is expected to be involved at White Hart Lane.
“I am excited to work with him, he’s a player of massive quality,” Liverpool midfielder Joe Allen said.
“He has that spontaneous edge to him and it is a massive threat he’s going to give us.
“We are disappointed with Monday’s result but all of us are excited for the chance to put things right.”
Neil Warnock begins his second spell in charge of Crystal Palace with a trip to Newcastle.
Fixtures
Today
1400GMT unless stated
Burnley v Manchester Utd (1145GMT), Everton v Chelsea (1630GMT), Manchester City v Stoke, Newcastle v Crystal Palace, QPR v Sunderland, Swansea v West Brom, West Ham v Southampton
Sunday:
Aston Villa v Hull (1230GMT), Leicester v Arsenal (1500GMT), Tottenham v Liverpool (1230GMT)