(David Moyes has found it tough since replacing Sir Alex)He was given one of the toughest tasks in world football, replace Sir Alex Ferguson one of the most successful managers of all time and in world football.
Sir Alex’s successor David Moyes has found it very hard in his first season, in this article we discuss some issues which has not helped David Moyes and may explain just what the exact reasons are for a disappointing first season at Old Trafford and if he should get sacked.
So where has it gone wrong for Moyes this season? There has been several factors, and in this article we will discuss them.
BACK ROOM STAFF
One of the keys to success is having good back room staff, the bedrock to Manchester United’s success over the years has been excellent coaches, Brian Kidd , Rene Mulensteen and Steve McLaren to name some.
Thats not to say there is anything wrong with David Moyes wanting to bring his own staff, it’s actually understandable wanting to bring the coaches he had at Everton since he would have worked with the coaches for so long,
so possibly the Scot may have thought they would bring that sense of stability to him. Such thinking is rational , but the problem is none of David Moyes’s coaches he had at Everton would have had the experience of being at a club such as Manchester United , although getting Ryan Giggs and Phil Neville as coaches.
The problem with the decision of getting rid of experience coaches is that it adds to the rebuilding, a different set of coaches different ideas could take a while to be implemented, a club like Manchester United prides itself on being a step ahead of the other clubs.
What would have been ideal is to have kept some of the experienced coaches and integrated them into the set up that he wants to lay out (David Moyes) .
To much change is potentially destabilising, especially for a club the size of Manchester United.
SUMMER SIGININGS AND SIGNINGS IN GENERAL
That fact that I have to raise this point, is a big point in itself. United would usually be one step ahead of everyone else in this department, but under Moyes they have been left wanting in this department.
Players ‘not wanting to come’ to the reigning champions was some thing we very rarely heard of in Fergie’s time in charge.
Fabregras, Hererra and Coentrao are some players you can name who Manchester United missed out on, and more worryingly it seemed the Red Devils lacked a plan almost in regards to their transfer policy.
The clearest example of that was the signing of Marouane Fellaini, the Belgian hasn’t set the world a light its fair to say since his £27.5 million transfer, but the biggest gaff out of this signing is that they could have got their man a little earlier in the summer when he had a buy out clause of £24 million. Many believe, myself included is that Fellaini was a ‘panic buy’ due to the fact if Manchester United did want him they could have signed him for a few million less.
Overall United lacked direction when it came to signings and the clearest example of that was there was only one signing in the summer and even that was last minute on deadline day .
What came across is that Manchester United didn’t know what players to sign, as a consequence they have lost ground on their rivals who had clear strategies in the transfer market.
TACTICS OR TEAM SELECTION
Again this is another area where United have been lacking. Manchester United have lacked ideas on the football pitch, painful defeats to Manchester City and Liverpool were a prime example of Manchester United’s tactical deficiencies.
In both games they were out thought and fought as City and Liverpool went to Old Trafford and came out on top against the Red Devils. At times this season the reigning champions have been lethargic, lacklustre.
Its been hard to see how they won the tittle last year under Sir Alex which such ease, essentially United have the same team as last year. So why are United so flat footed and being outplayed? there are a few reasons for this, the team struggling to adapt to David Moyes’s methods could be one reason.
Personally I have been puzzled why Javier Hernandez and Sinji Kagawa have not been involved in first team action, both have made positive contributions when they have played.
Other decisions include Wilfred Zaha being loaned to Cardiff , strange considering Ashley Young has not been in so good form this season.
Juan Mata a £37.1 million signing from Chelsea who was signed as a ‘number 10’ has been put out of position on the wing, seems bit odd you pay so much for a guy to do one job and assign him for another.
SO SHOULD MOYES BE SACKED?
In short no he shouldn’t, as they say Rome was not built in a day. The problem David Moyes has is that he has a inexperienced chief executive who needs time to prove himself, just like Moyes does. Many don’t consider it as a factor , but Sir Alex left his countryman to do the dirty work.
Fergie would pride himself on out smarting his rivals and always thinking ahead, but the great Scot changed his transfer policy towards the end of his reign and only bought established players, where in certain cases were overpriced.
Players like Rooney and Ronaldo were great investments, the fact that Ferguson didn’t adopt the ‘investment method’ has made it harder for his successor.
David Moyes deserves time, but he has made errors as highlighted. To truly judge Moyes we will have to see the signings he makes.
The Bearded Captain 