David Moyes
Posted in Events dear boy. Events, Football at 19:49 on 22 April 2014
So, the poisoned chalice got him in the end.
It was always going to be a difficult task taking over from Sralex.
It wasn’t made any easier by the fact that the players he was left with were either getting on a bit or not up to it. Sralex has a lot to do with that. (United’s poor season does have the effect of making him look irreplaceable though. The uncharitable might say his choice of Moyes was always designed with that in mind.)
Those same players also seem not to have put the requisite effort in; they let Moyes down badly. It doesn’t matter if they didn’t see eye to eye with him or disagreed with what he was asking them to do. If you’re employed you’re supposed to do what your boss says. Footballers should not be above that commonplace expectation. Lots of people are faced with new bosses coming in and changing things – for better or worse. The employees just have to get on with it.
When Matt Busby “retired” – also leaving behind an ageing team – the exact same thing happened. (Busby took over the reigns again temporarily when his successor was deemed lacking. I can’t see Sralex doing the same.) It took United years, decades, to get back to winning the league. They even fell out of the top division for a season during that time.
In retrospect Moyes should not have taken the job. Someone with experience of winning things at the highest level might perhaps have got more out of the players. Is anyone of that stamp going to want the job right now?
Tags: Alex Ferguson, David Moyes, Manchester United, Matt Busby
GordyBrow
22 April 2014 at 22:56
What struck me as particularly sad about the sacking was the classless way Manchester United briefed the press on it fully 18 hours before letting Moyes know his services were no longer required.
The media and public at large seem to have forgotten that in each of the previous three or four seasons few people thought Manchester United had the team to win the league. Indeed, even as Manchester United won the league by eleven points last season there was a sense that they had done so by default, with all other credible challengers having shot themselves in the feet repeatedly.
Interestingly the statistics seem to back up the view that Manchester United had been in decline for some time before David Moyes took the poisoned chalice: http://www.whoscored.com/Articles/qwfrrkwdn026dejbfyeelw/Show/Team-Focus-Stats-Show-United-Decline-Prior-to-Moyes
For someone of my relative youth it’s also interesting to note that the favourite to replace Moyes is Van Gaal, who will be nothing other than a short term appointment. So much for stability. It’s funny how quickly Manchester United have become just another football club.
jackdeighton
23 April 2014 at 00:10
Good points Gordy,
That article you linked to certainly confirmed my suspicions that Moyes cannot be held entirely to blame.
Is the decline a manifestation of the effects of the Glazers takeover? The lack of proper investment in the team coming home to roost?
GordyBrow
23 April 2014 at 08:34
I think it’s hard to see it in any other way. Though it’s hard to judge if the Glazers really handicapped Sralex, or if Sralex’s judgment had simply deteriorated. I had a quick search for Manchester United transfers after the Glazer takeover and found this article: http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/manchester-united-special-glazers-transfer-692328
What struck me about the transfers is the lack of quality Sralex bought when he has spent money with arguably only De Gea representing anything like value towards the end of his reign. The sums spent on Smalling, Jones, Young and of course Bebe stand out here. You can argue about Kagawa as well, though I’d suggest he’s a talent that just hasn’t settled.
Similarly some spectacularly bad decisions were made when letting talent go, it seems inconceivable Giuseppe Rossi didn’t look a player back in 2006. Additionally that Sralex didn’t keep hold of Paul Pogba – who has become a mainstay of Juve’s midfield for the princely sum of 300K – seems criminal.
It seems incredibly likely that Sralex was working with diminished funds – indeed there definitely seems to have been more money to spend in the early Glazer years than the later years – but what of value can you identify that Sralex has purchased in the past 5 years?