Angel Di Maria reveals PSG manager that impressed him the most during seven-year stay in Ligue 1
Argentina international winger Angel Di Maria (36) has given a wide-ranging interview to France Football in which he reveals which PSG manager had the most impact on him during his seven-year stay with Les Parisiens. The former Real Madrid player left Louis Van Gaal’s Manchester United to join the French capital in 2015. For his debut season in France, Angel Di Maria performed under the tutelage of Laurent Blanc. Of the four PSG managers he worked with – Blanc (2015-2016, Unai Emery (2016-2018), Thomas Tuchel (2018-2020) and Mauricio Pochettino (2020-2022) – the 1998 World Cup winner with France left the most lasting impression on Di Maria.
During the 2015-2016 season, PSG were one of the most impressive teams in Europe. Les Parisiens completed a domestic full sweep, winning the Coupe de France, the Coupe de la Ligue and Ligue 1 with a record tally of 96 points. PSG bowed out of the Champions League at the quarter-finals stage to Manuel Pellegrini’s Manchester City. “This is the season where I had the most fun playing football in Paris”, Angel Di Maria said. “If I have to retain one [PSG manager], Blanc had developed an attractive style of play with us.”
This season, PSG’s Blanc were mostly playing in a 4-3-3 with an exciting attacking trio of Di Maria, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Edinson Cavani upfront. “We played spectacular football, with “Ibra“, Cavani, “Pocho” (Ezequiel Lavezzi) and (Javier) Pastore up front”, remembers Di Maria. “It was impossible to take the ball away from Thiago Motta and Marco Verratti in the middle, with Blaise Matuidi constantly going up and down. It was an incredible first season and it had a big impact on me.”
GFFN | Bastien Cheval
