Louis van Gaal feels that patience must be shown with Angel di Maria, who he believes still needs time to adapt to English football.
The Manchester United manager chose to bring Di Maria off at half-time of his side's 2-0 win over Sunderland earlier today.
The match was poised at 0-0 when Van Gaal made the change, switching Di Maria for Adnan Januzaj. Manchester United then went on to score two goals to claim all three points.
Van Gaal felt Di Maria's performance was not up to par in the opening 45 minutes, but thinks the Argentina international just needs more time to adapt to English football.
"We have to give Angel more time to adapt to the Premier League; it's not so easy with the high tempo", he explained to MUTV.
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The Dutchman also admits that it was a tough call to bring off Di Maria, given his undoubted quality.
"I want to give him time, it's also not easy to change a player of his quality, but I have to make these decisions."
Di Maria will be hoping to be involved on Wednesday evening when Manchester United make the trip to St. James' Park to take on Newcastle United in another Premier League clash.
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