David Moyes and Manchester United - What went wrong?

David Moyes

It’s already been 14 games into the league and Manchester United are nowhere near the top. Instead, they are languishing in the 9th spot, amassing 22 points and 12 points behind league leaders, Arsenal. Fans have turned upon David Moyes, with the ‘Moyes Out’ banter popular among the disappointed United faithful.

So, what went wrong with David Moyes?

The biggest mistake, according to me, was that he let go of Rene Meulensteen, Mike Phelan and Eric Steele and brought his own backroom staff in (namely Steve Round, Jimmy Lumsden and Phil Neville). It was never going to be easy, the transition from the Fergie era to the Moyes era. And with David Gill, the executive vice president, also retiring it was going to be one hell of a job to undergo a stable transition. Don’t get me wrong. All three coaches are excellent (no doubt), but the former coaches knew the team inside out. They knew each player’s strengths, weaknesses, playing positions from where they could make a difference. Moyes, along with Round, Lumsden and Neville is still getting to know every player (not miserably though, I might add).

The second thing, to which you all will agree, was the transfer window (though Moyes is not much to be blamed for this). United didn’t act fast in the transfer window, stalling deals so that the other club could lower the price of the player (like Herrera or Alacantara), while other teams like City, Chelsea, even Tottenham (though miserably), spent huge amounts of money to strengthen and refresh their squad. Moyes was given the chance to sign Ozil, but he let the chance pass, which ultimately backfired on him (we can all look at the difference he made to Arsenal since joining them).

Third was his public revelation that the current United squad is not good enough to win the Champions League. This might be a little different from the other two, but it certainly is a factor. Moyes, during the starting weeks of his Manchester United tenure, publicly admitted that United cannot win the Champions League with the current squad. This might be true, but Moyes did wrong broadcasting this fact in public.

Ask yourselves, if Sir Alex were still the manager, would he say something like this? No. Instead he would praise his players, to the limit that it would reach a point of exaggeration. But it would instill confidence into the player and his belief in the manager. (de Gea, a good example). Moyes’ public outcry seems to have had a negative impact on the players and the club. They play without any desire to win, to reach the top.

Will Moyes’ Manchester United be the top 4 at the end of the season? We will only know that come May. The fans need to get behind the manager, the players.

In Sir Alex’s words : “I’d also like to remind you that when I had bad times here the club stood by me. All my staff stood by me, the players stood by me, you stood by me, and your job now is to stand by our new manager. That is important.”