Angel Di Maria and Co strike it rich for Manchester United

Manchester United’s new recruits provide an embarrassment of riches to choose from. Richard Jolly reports from Old Trafford.

Manchester United’s Angel Di Maria was at the heart of almost everything against Queens Park Rangers yesterday. Andrew Yates / Reuters

An era began in earnest at Old Trafford yesterday.

The “Gaalacticos”, as Manchester United’s collection of stars have been branded, were unveiled and unleashed. An emphatic win came amid a celebratory air.

After all the ignominies of the past 13 months, United had a day to enjoy.

They now possess a team to savour.

The down-to-earth response to the arrival of United’s stellar recruits is to mention their victims were only an insipid QPR team.

When a club embarks on the second-most costly spending spree in football history, they ought to have something to show for it.

There were no revelations, simply because excellence ought to be expected at the prices United paid.

But the salutary fact is that Louis van Gaal has his first win as manager and United’s expensive approach has brought its first dividends.

Five of the six summer signings, men acquired for a total of £124 million (Dh741m), featured and the costliest of all captured the imagination.

Angel Di Maria was exiled from the original Galacticos. Perhaps he was not famous or marketable enough for Real Madrid, though his profile was raised when United paid £59.7m for him.

In any event, his previous man-of-the-match display in club football came in a Madrid derby which doubled up as a Uefa Champions League final.

If a thrashing of opponents as tame as QPR scarcely compares, it was a timely display nonetheless.

After their enormous outlay, United required a result.

They got one, and it owed much to Di Maria’s pace and persistence.

His radar was a little awry – indeed, the cynical interpretation was that he scored a goal when he was trying to create one and vice versa – but his productivity was welcome.

It was a startling statistic that, between them, the nine wingers United used last season contributed fewer league assists than Di Maria mustered on his own for Real.

He added a first in the colours of his new club, along with a goal on his home debut, and was involved all four times United struck.

More pertinently, he brought characteristics United lacked. The Argentine’s blend of speed and skill was welcome.

His attacking ideals stand in contrast to the safety-first instincts of some of his predecessors. When passes were misplaced, they were at least signs of intent.

Even a miscued shot can bring a goal, as his misplaced effort did when Juan Mata scored United’s fourth.

He had a transformative effect, on United’s confidence as much as anything else.

The less-flashy Old Trafford bow came from the quietly assured Daley Blind, who appeared immediately at home in his new surroundings.

Ander Herrera lined up on the right of a lopsided midfield diamond, his second appearance occurring a month after his first because of injury, and he, too, opened his United account.

Marcos Rojo’s belated debut was not revealing, simply because the Argentine was not tested enough by Queens Park Rangers.

His appearance was notable largely because he operated at left-back, where Luke Shaw was expected to become the first choice.

The most-celebrated newcomer was held in reserve. Van Gaal argued that Radamel Falcao was suffering from jet lag. The Colombian has also been short of competitive football since recovering from a serious knee injury. Nevertheless, his deployment as a substitute in a crowd-pleasing cameo delayed a decision.

Mata, Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney all started.

The Spaniard took his tally to eight goals in 10 league games, which suggests that, despite the widespread theory that he will be sacrificed to accommodate the others, he merits a place.

Rooney struck, too, and a new-found sense of competition could be beneficial.

Once the battle for places at Old Trafford was between Tom Cleverley and Marouane Fellaini or Ashley Young, Antonio Valencia and Nani.

Now those days are gone. United have entered an age when the elite are in a private squabble simply to start.

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