Report Card: David Moyes' United

David Moyes against West Brom

On 8th May, 2013, Sir Alex Ferguson decided to hang his coaching badges for a club which he managed for 26 long years, thus creating the biggest void for a managerial post in the history of football. Big shoes for anyone to fill. The news of David Moyes being the front runner to the Old Trafford hot seat started doing the rounds right after. And a week later David Moyes who was the manager of Everton then, had the job.

Surprisingly, whenever Ferguson’s to-be- successor was being discussed in the past Moyes wasn’t a name that featured too high on anyone’s list. People talked about the Mourinho’s and the Guardiola’s. Mourinho is a brilliant manager, a tactical genius. But he always needs a strong budget and focuses and works on short term targets, thus unsettles the squad at times. But he has the swagger and the attitude to manage any top club in the world. Everyone remembers how he stepped into the scenario at Chelsea and called himself the ‘Special One’ right in his first press conference in charge of the club and he did prove himself.

Guardiola on the other hand has achieved so much in 4 years in charge of Barcelona that he was touted as the automatic heir to Fergie’s throne. What went against him was his lack of knowledge of the English game and the brand of football he preached. Barcelona play Total Football where the team keeps maximum possession and relies a lot on creativity and Messi.

At Barca every player can and has to perform at various positions and most importantly he needed all his players to have ball carrying skills. Where as United play counter attacking football with skilful wingers cutting in, overlapping full backs, long balls flying over your heads. Guardiola would have found it tough to adjust to the physical nature of English Football. Taking a dose of reality, he already had signed for Bayern Munich when Sir Alex decided to retire.

On the other hand we have Moyes. He was rewarded for what he did to Everton in 11 years. He brought stability and constantly delivered results and always found a way to finish in the Top 10 despite increasing competition, the shoe string budget with which he worked has been well highlighted. That’s the quality he possessed that his competitors did not.

He knew the English game very well. He believed in the advantages of grass root football. He preferred developing his academy players and integrating them into the team more than buying whenever a void of any kind was created in the squad. And he was stable. After all he survived 11 years at a club in an age when every club is focused on short term goals and managers are brought in and out ever month.

Moyes’ first trophy in charge of Man Utd

Moyes started his career at United on a disappointing note, a bad summer where United were up and running to make a marquee signing from Day 1 and ended up with a certain Marouane Fellaini after paying more than what they had to, had they acted a little earlier. United recorded 2 wins, 2 draws and 2 loses in the pre-season Tour 2013. Though Moyes managed to hand good enough playing time to the likes of Jesse Lingard and Adnan Januzaj, players who are considered a big part of the future of United.

Moyes officially kicked off his career at United with a 2-0 win over last year’s F.A. Cup champions and thus won his first title in his first match in charge of United. Followed by a brilliant 4-1 thumping against Swansea. United somehow lost the plot after that match as they won just 3 of their next 8 matches. United shared the spoils with Chelsea, lost 1-0 to arch rivals Liverpool, and were beaten comprehensively by neighbours Man City 4-1 followed by Steve Clark’s West Bromwich Albion.

So the question that needs to be asked is, Is the Man Utd job too big for David Moyes ? Those are big shoes for anyone to fill. But if Moyes has to succeed at United he will have to employ a different attitude. Against Chelsea and Liverpool, Moyes played 4-2-3-1 but went for hard working wingers, wingers who would attack and, help defensively, instead of going for a creative one. United were solid defensively, where United lacked was penetration in the final third. United faced the same problem with Liverpool as well.

They gave away a silly goal that was well taken by Liverpool. But failed to carve out a single chance in the whole match. Most importantly, United need to unearth the gem called Kagawa that they have in their arsenal. In Kagawa, United have a potentially deadly creative player who can create as well as score a butt-load of goals, but he is either played out of position or isn’t given enough run of games to prove his worth. That needs to change.

Against their neighbours Manchester City, United just didn’t turn up. They looked dispirited and lacked inspiration and gave away goals at crucial junctures. It was only after they were 4-0 down, that they started responding. Tackles flying all over the place, everybody wanting the ball more, that’s when the desire was visible for the first time after Moyes took charge of United. United created a lot of chances, Rooney scored a brilliant free kick and United defended solidly, but the damage was already done, it was far too late by then.

Adnan Januzaj celebrating his goal with club stalwarts Van Persie and Michael Carrick

United had been pushed to the back and were hurt badly. The United that everyone knows always responds whenever they face such situations. But things had changed. United in the next league match against a West Brom side who haven’t started well particularly, lost 1-2 at home. The problems were the same lack of creativity in the final third and silly defending. It is important to notice that United have always been a side who teams fear, especially in the last 10-15 minutes because of their ability to turn games around and grind out a result.

It was the desire with which they played under Sir Alex, the will to win even when things did not work on their favour, and add to that his shrewd substitutions. That’s how Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Javier Hernandez earned their reputations of being called super subs.

Ferguson was a true psychic. He knew how to influence people and he did it to United’s advantage. Whether it be influencing the match officials, or affecting the opposition or protecting his players. He did it well. Moyes has to learn from his mistakes. And he is learning well. Against Sunderland he trusted his guts and gave Adnan Januzaj a full debut and he didn’t disappoint. Capping off a brilliant debut with 2 goals, the second of which was a gem of a goal.

United, under Moyes, lack the killer instinct. He has to take a page of Sir Alex’s book when it comes to using substitutions and Moyes has to realize its Manchester United that he is managing, not Everton. With all due to respect to Everton, managing Everton and United are two different ball games.

Against big teams at United, you don’t look to settle for a draw or play defensive by going for defensively solid wingers. You go for the kill. You play your natural game. The Sunderland game has done a world of good for Moyes, as he has shown glimpses of what he can do at United. All he needs is time to understand the system and support from his team and the fans all over the world.

All the fans need to get behind the team no matter what the result is. Things will eventually fall into place. After all for a change, being an underdog doesn’t hurt. And being undermined or being called second favourites has its own perks.