MANCHESTER -- Louis van Gaal criticised Angel Di Maria for not being "smart" and said his actions were inexcusable after he got himself sent off in Manchester United's FA Cup quarterfinal defeat to Arsenal.
The most expensive player in the history of British football was booked for diving and shown a red card seconds later for tugging referee Michael Oliver's shirt.
And while Van Gaal was unsure if the initial caution was correct, he admitted the 59.7 million-pound Argentine should not have reacted in such a manner -- especially as he had warned his players before the game to make sure they did not end up with 10 men.
"Angel Di Maria knows that he doesn't have to touch the referee," the United manager said in a news conference.
"So that is not so smart of him but to control emotion is not so easy in such a match. I have mentioned it also before the match because I know that these kind of matches a red card is easy.
"He knows that he doesn't have to touch the referee. He knows that. Every player knows that."
Di Maria joined United from Real Madrid last summer but Van Gaal reasoned: "In Spain he knows that he doesn't touch the referee, but that is also in his emotion. I've already spoken with him, he knows my opinion but also I have to see on the video.
"I think he's touched the referee and that's forbidden in every country, so he has no excuses."
Van Gaal will review Di Maria's first yellow card, which came when he went to ground as Arsenal substitute Aaron Ramsey challenged.
"To see every decision of the referee in the circumstance, he whistles and so I want to see that on videotape how he has decided and in what way," he added.
Van Gaal accepted defeat was a major setback but insisted his team will produce the appropriate response as they look to seal a top-four finish.
"This is a big blow for us," he said. "We have to recover of course and we are sportsmen so you have to recover but I cannot say that the motivation of my team was bad. No, it is always good. We have showed today a fantastic fighting spirit."