Manchester United lose first game under Moyes

Manchester United‘s post-Ferguson era began with a loss against Singha all-stars in Bangkok today. David Moyes lost his first game with the red devils as the match ended with a scoreline of 1-0 in favour of the Singha all-stars XI after Teeratep Winothai put them ahead just after the start of the second half beating goalkeeper Ben Amos.

One reason that can be said is that United were missing key players and only Ryan Giggs, Michael Carrick and Rio Ferdinand were the over 25 players in the line-up. However David Moyes’ strategy was unclear as the team didn’t stick to any particular style of play and left huge gaps in the defence on the counter. Rio Ferdinand and Johnny Evans were caught napping almost thrice in the first half as they let the forward get one-on-one with the goalkeeper only for Amos to make some excellent saves.

There were some positives in this otherwise boring game though as Adnan Janujaz and Fabio Da Silva performed well. Janujaz looked completely at ease with the ball on his feet and looked like a mini Ryan Giggs doing the feints and taking on players and beating them. Fabio seems to have improved from his loan stint at QPR as he has developed his defensive game and was an attacking outlet throughout the match. He seems to be the perfect replacement for Evra and Fabio could do well occupying the left back position in upcoming seasons. The advantages in his game are his pace, his attacking flair which is common among Brazilians and to complement this his ability to play on either side of the defence and use both his feet to good extent.

Sir Alex’s last signing seems to have been an excellent one as Wilfried Zaha showed that he is the player to watch out in this Premier League season. After he came on for Ryan Giggs in the second half, he played very well and missed out on a debut goal for United as he hit the post while trying to curl one from inside the box. He seems to be most comfortable on the right wing and he got past defenders with consummate ease and would surely be a pain in the neck for Premier League left backs this year.

So the David Moyes era has begun with with a 1-0 defeat to the Singha All Stars XI. It’s an inauspicious way to start but at least he’s astutely lowered expectations right from the get-go.