Basic mistakes from Manchester United's new (or not so new) manager

Having been a Manchester United fan for 11 years, I have been used to Manchester United winning time and again. Even when things don’t go United’s way, they still pull it out of the bag and come away with dramatic wins. Late goals, entertaining action -these were characteristics synonymous with Manchester United under the guidance of Sir Alex Ferguson.

Now, many things have changed. United are currently 12th in the Premier League standings, with a meagre seven points collected from a possible 18. Whilst I have no doubt David Moyes will be able to turn things around and lead United to a decent position in the Premier League (I don’t think United can win the PL this season, but they will be there or there about come May 2014), there have been many mistakes committed by the new gaffer this summer. Let’s break them up for analysis.

1. David Moyes did not retain the Manchester United staff

If there was anybody who knew the club better than Sir Alex Ferguson, it was his backroom staff. The likes of Eric Steele, Rene Meulensteen and Mike Phelan were the cogs in the Manchester United wheel. Their inputs, ideologies and training strategies were crucial to ensure that one of the best clubs in Europe remained just that. And Moyes’s first official act was relieving the the duties of Sir Alex’s backroom staff.

What was considered at that time as something routine has become a very crucial piece of decision making, something which is already seeming to backfire on Moyes. It is always nice to be surrounded by familiar faces, but United are a massive club (with no disrespect to Everton, but it’s the truth!).

Apart from Moyes himself, the likes of Steve Round and Jimmy Lumsden seemed over-awed by their surroundings and by the players they were coaching. Phil Neville and Ryan Giggs might make great coaches in the future (even managers, if things go right for them), but right now they are not. Giggs must always be half unsure how to go about training, seeing that he’s got to carry out coaching duty along with his responsibilities as a Manchester United player.

Manchester United and Sir Alex ferguson’s Right Hand Men were crucial to the way the club operated

The ideal scenario would have been for Moyes to inherit Sir Alex’s backroom staff, learning all that he could and as soon as he could about the club and the players. His preferred staff might have also been part of the club, but in a minimal capacity (more like interns at an office), helping them get used to the club and training methods. Had that been the case, maybe Moyes would not have said, “I am still getting to know the players” as many times as he did (had such quotes been converted into EPL points, United would have topped the table!).

2. A fiasco of a transfer window

This section has already been well-publicized, and the most widely talked about issue post the SAF era. Though Marouane Fellaini is not a bad footballer (but considering the money United paid for him, not the best out there either), it’s simply not enough. Many fans and pundits had suggested that United buy in midfield, but I don’t completely agree.

Agreed, United need cover in centre midfield as Tom Cleverley still needs to develop his overall game and Anderson’s inconsistency and injuries are always a source of worry. What did not make sense was United’s public pursuit (in all the time during Sir Alex Ferguson’s era, how many times did you see the boss declaring interest in any player?) of players.

Fabregas and Baines were targets which did not make sense. Though Evra can be susceptible when defending, he’s still top quality. Alexander Büttner’s few outings last season and this season suggest that he has enough quality. Not to forget Fabio, who despite not progressing as well as his brother, can still fill in comfortably when required.

Also knowing how well Moyes can bring out the best in his players (I mean he did nurture talents like Rooney, Rodwell and most recently Ross Barkley), I was hoping he would be able to bring out the best in someone like Anderson. There is no doubt that the Brazillian has got potential, but due to some poor decision making and injury woes, his growth has been stop-start. Also,why Fabregas and Tiago?

Rooney and Kagawa can play brilliantly behind the main striker; there was no need of another of another Trequartista. What United needed to invest in was wingers. United have always been known for their wing play, but the performance of the wingers has been below quality for a while now. Valencia has not been confident enough in his play and his performance has been well below average.

Ashley Young (if ever fit) had a fantastic debut season (actually fantastic debut half season as he was injured for most of the second half) two years ago, but since then, there has been nothing great in his performances. In big games he always goes missing. His tendency to be an easy diver is also well known. Even though, among all the wingers, Young can deliver the best crosses, he has not been consistent enough the times he is fit. Nani is, well, Nani! Had he been blessed with the decision making skills of the likes of his Portuguese compatriot Cristiano Ronaldo, he would have become one of the most feared wingers in the Premier League for sure.

The other two wingers amongst the squad – Wilfried Zaha and Adnan Januzaj – are young and exciting talents and surely merit more playing time than they are getting. After all, how else will they become better footballers. For this sake, I felt United needed to either buy a ready-made first team winger or invest time (intensive time, mind you) in the young wingers at Man Utd.

The future of Manchester United…but ONLY if they are given the chance

3. Tactics and squad selection

At Everton, David Moyes generally preferred the 4-4-1-1 formation with the fullbacks providing the width to the team’s attacking chances and the wingers coming inside to give additional support to the No. 10. This is not largely dissimilar to the way United operate (although United wingers generally do not come into the central areas as much).

However, last season, after purchasing Shinji Kagawa and Robin van Persie, Sir Alex had often experimented with his formations, sometimes choosing a 4-3-3, and at other times opting for a 4-1-4-1 diamond which often suffocated the centre of midfield, with both formations leading to moderate success (most of the times, Sir Alex had to make changes to the tactics midway during games last season). Though they were not a complete success, the variations showed Sir Alex’s willingness to change the way United play.

His ability to adapt his team and his coaching style with modern times was one of the biggest reasons for his longevity as Manchester United manager. David Moyes also needs to learn to adapt his style. The 4-4-1-1 is probably not a bad formation, but not ideal against big teams which deploy three men in the centre of midfield (Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City).

Moyes needs to find what formation suits the team best and ensure that the best players are in the best position. I would have suggested a 4-3-2-1 for United as well, but seeing how United’s wingers are struggling at the moment and how the team’s play is lacking in creative bite, employing two holding midfielders would only make the task of creating chances all the more daunting.

Another major complaint against United has been squad selection. David Moyes’s selection of players more often than not has been very poor. Moyes has continually said that ‘he’s getting to know the players’, but what does seem baffling is that he still has no proper clue on what his best XI is.

Another problem has been his squad rotation. Moyes has made poor use of his squad, there is no doubt about that. He continually chooses to stick to the same set of players despite some of them not performing so well in previous matches (Ashley Young, Ryan Giggs are prime examples of this). This is something he did at Everton too, rarely tinkering with the squad, often choosing the same set of players in every game and only making exceptions for injuries or suspensions.

But at United, he faces a problem. United are not Everton; they have many games every week, considering they participate in the Champions League, Carling Cup, FA Cup and Premier league of course. Although it is understandable that he wants some stability in his squad, he should under no circumstances keep choosing to start players who performed poorly in the previous games. Another concern is overplaying some of the players. Rooney played four games on the trot in two weeks. Though his performances were nothing short of brilliant, at some point, players will start to fatigue. So it would be more sensible to give the players a break as well, before they completely break down.

Conclusion

I have no doubt that David Moyes will eventually lead Manchester United to a respectable position in the Premier League and considering the long term, he was the right choice. It will be interesting to see in what shape United will be come the January transfer window. No matter what, I am sure all true Reds will be behind their manager.