David Moyes: Scotland re-United

The best man for the job

“Your job now is to stand by our new manager!” – these were the words Sir Alex Ferguson had for the Old Trafford faithful in his last home game vs Swansea.

Introduction

Attempting to fill Sir Alex Ferguson’s quite astronomically large boots was always going to be an almost impossible task but there is little doubting David Moyes’ managerial credentials. At Manchester United,the board will no doubt be patient with him and the players, resources and budget will be far superior to what he was accustomed to at Everton. After 26 memorable years at the helm, Sir Alex was sure to have a huge say on his successor and he was very clear about his choice. One thing hasn’t changed – United still have a Scottish manager and United hope he does the ‘Hairdryer’ & Scotland proud.

Moyes at Everton

At Everton, he had a shaky and bizarre start finishing 15th, 7th, 17th, 4th and 11th in his first five seasons. The 2007/08 season was the year that marked his consistency and stability with the Toffees. In his sixth full season in charge, Moyes secured fifth place in the league and reached the semi-final of the League Cup as well as the last 16 of the UEFA Cup, eventually being beaten on penalties by Fiorentina.

Moyes also signed four very important players for Everton: Yakubu for a record fee of £11.25m, Steven Pienaar for £2.05m after an initial loan, Phil Jagielka for £4m, and Leighton Baines for £6m. Moyes recruited Steve Round as his assistant manager for the 2008–09 season to replace Alan Irvine, who had taken over as Preston North End manager the previous winter. He then brought in the likes of Lars Jacobsen, Louis Saha and Marouane Fellaini for a club record £15 million.

In January 2009, Moyes brought in Brazilian international striker Jô on loan from City. In October 2008, Moyes agreed to extend his Goodison Park stay by a further five years then leading his team to an FA Cup semi-final victory over Manchester United, after a penalty shootout, to reach the final for the first time since 1995 where they were beaten 2–1 by Chelsea. In 2009, Lescott was sold to City for a huge £22m, with which he brought in Heitinga, Distin & Bilyaletdinov. Everton finished 8th that term failing to qualify for Europe for the 1st time in 4 years. Everton finished 7th, 7th and 6th in the final three seasons under Moyes.

Why Moyes?

Last season, with a small Everton squad in the matches against the traditional ‘Big Six’ of Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool, his record stands at three wins, six draws and only two defeats. If he could do that with the resources he had at Everton, imagine what he could do with the likes of RVP, Wayne Rooney and some of his own signings. He has done an excellent job at Everton, and with Manchester United seeking a level of consistency and longevity amidst the seismic changes that Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement will have on the club, he was the only realistic candidate for the job.

Challenges

If Manchester United have a poor start to the season and are well off the title pace come the new year, the United fans will start to get restless, and the #MoyesOut campaigns will begin. With Sir Alex Ferguson on the board of directors and likely to attend every home game for the foreseeable future, David Moyes could easily find himself undermined from a relatively early stage. Moyes’ big challenge will be to reinvent himself from a manager whose team tends to play direct football and often relies on others’ mistakes to one which can force the pace, dominate the opposition and control a game.

The biggest of all perhaps is to put the Wayne Rooney saga to bed once and for all. United’s once talisman has been in the spotlight for the wrong reasons lately and Moyes would look to sort this out quickly. Rooney is perhaps not happy with his involvement after the arrival of Robin van Persie from Arsenal who has become a huge revelation in a season. With Moyes having already worked with Rooney when he was 16, the chances of him staying look better now. The Boss has also been adamant that ‘he is NOT for sale.’ That must be clear enough to say that Rooney is surely in his plans.

United have lacked the firepower in midfield they earlier used to possess with the likes of Roy Keane, Paul Scholes and others. That is one area he also needs to sort out.

What could Moyes add?

With the transfer season almost at its end, Moyes has failed to lure any noticeable signing so far. The arrival of Thiago from Barcelona was rumoured until Pep Guardiola stepped up and snatched him away. Fellaini is another man tipped to follow the Scot from Merseyside but is he worth it? The Belgian has proved to be a handful against various top sides including United, when he almost single-handedly got Everton a 1-0 win. But the issue is that he has mostly been playing behind the striker in a much more advanced role than earlier and with the likes of Kagawa, Welbeck and Rooney for that role, Fellaini might just create more questions than answers. With Fabregas in his sights, midfield is where he is looking to add more quality to give that extra gear to United’s gameplay and also the much needed support to Carrick.

Conclusion

United have been handed a tough start to the season in the Premier League and that could be very crucial for the new man who would be looking to get onto winning ways right from the word go. The fans need to be patient and Moyes has to keep them that way with a good start. He cannot afford any mistakes now and I imagine that both he and all the Mancunians will already be hoping and praying that, one day, United fans will be chanting his name with the same amount of affection and adoration with which they sing the name of the great Sir Alex Ferguson.