Carlo Ancelotti has echoed Louis van Gaal’s criticism of Angel di María, with the Real Madrid coach stating the forward can “lose control sometimes”.

Ancelotti managed Di María at Real last season and the 26-year-old was the man of the match in their La Decima Champions League triumph in May, when Atlético Madrid were beaten 4-1 in extra-time.

Di María was sold to Manchester United for a British record £59.7m ,with James Rodríguez replacing him at Real. Ancelotti said: “People should think twice before saying that James can fill Di María’s boots because they’re very different players. Di María could take matches by storm with his energy, but he also used to lose control sometimes, misplacing important passes.”

After Manchester United’s 1-0 win over Crystal Palace on Saturday Van Gaal replaced Di María after 71 minutes, saying of the Argentinian: “He has played in a very small space and he is a dribbler. But sometimes you cannot dribble, you have to make it a pass game and Di María is not a player who wants to give a pass every time he gets the ball Therefore he lost the ball a lot of times and that was not good for the balance of the team.”

The former United midfielder Paul Scholes has claimed that Di María is not in “the same happy mood” that he showed at Real, prompting his wife to post a rebuttal on Instagram.

Jorgelina Cardoso put up pictures of her husband celebrating in a United shirt and wrote: “You are free to think whatever you want, but in fact, Angel is absolutely happy of being in Manchester United.”