Moyes Out? Not yet, but it sure is getting close

David Moyes under increasing pressure

When Manchester United fans were warned about the rocky road that lay ahead once Sir Alex Ferguson was to retire, none would’ve imagined such a massive fall from grace. Personally I imagined us going on a cup run or two, not winning trophies for around 3 seasons but yet managing to qualify for the Champions League regularly.

When David Moyes was signed, it was done looking at the future. In the months since his arrival at the club, United have fallen from the top spot all the way down to seventh, knocked out by Sunderland in the semi finals, Swansea in the FA Cup third round and look on the verge of losing to Olympiacos in the Round of 16 in the Champions League.

It would be cruel on Moyes to sack him now and he should not be. But at the end of the season, the board needs to sit down and evaluate if they made the right choice. Choosing to go for longevity just for the sake of it doesn’t make sense. That doesn’t bring you success. The board needs to look at the targets that were set for Moyes and how he fared. I have always believed that in the current environment every manager needs to be evaluated after one whole season and their performances unless of course your club is flirting with relegation. Note how its performance and not results.

It is also about a system, a plan on how and where Moyes sees the club playing its football. That is what will eventually allow Moyes time to stay and build a team. That is what will help Moyes convince his prospective targets that they should sign for Manchester United. That is what will convince the current set of players(the few that deserve to still be there) that he is the right man for the job. Sadly and some would say unfortunately, Moyes has yet to show any signs of this.

Last season when Liverpool signed Brendan Rodgers, in his very first interview he spoke about the style of football that he wanted to implement at the club and compared it to how he had done things at Swansea. He stuck to that and has this season tinkered it a bit and improved the club. That is what got him time from the fans.

They could see the changes that Rodgers were trying to implement and the board had given him a three year contract and I believe he is on his way of achieving the targets that were set to him when he signed on. The important thing here is that Rodgers had a clear picture of where he wanted to go and the fans understood that as well.

Even with Arsene Wenger for that matter, he may have failed to win any trophies and has faced calls from certain section of the club support to step down or be sacked, but he has always had a plan. Wenger always knew how he wanted his team to play football. He saw a future of beautiful football, something which has been recently labelled as Wengerball by the club faithful. The supporters who decided to remain by his side understood the advantages if his plan succeeded.

David Moyes though, currently does not seem to inspire such confidence. The United fans unlike at Arsenal and Liverpool are confused. They don’t know what to expect, except one dimensional football of the fullback putting the ball into the box and hope a United player gets his head to it. Is that what United is about? It is hard and maybe even impossible to give one possible footballing reason for Moyes to remain as manager.

Claims have been made in his defense that he needs time to bring in his own players and all of that is good, but has there been any proof that Moyes is the right man to trust with what could turn out to be the club’s biggest ever outlay on players in a single window?

The heat is certainly on Moyes right now, more than it ever has been. The season has long been over, what Moyes needs to focus on now is to show the fans and the board something more important. The frustration is more about how United are losing games compared to the fact that the club is actually losing.

To end this rant as some would call it: It may not yet be time to call for Moyes to be sacked, but if the manager can’t show the fans and the board his plans for the future, he needs to be asked to leave. It’s all good to talk about the future and thinking long term but you need to first make sure you’ve got the right man for the job. Moyes right now hasn’t shown anything for anyone to believe he is the right man for this job.