Is David In Fact, Manchester United’s Goliath?

When I first started watching football, the only league comprehensively covered in my country was the fabled English Premier League – in that era, it wasn’t too difficult to have one look at the Red Devils of Manchester play and fall in love instantaneously with the likes of Ryan Giggs and David Beckham terrorizing opposition full backs on the wings and the Ginger Prince pinging massive 60 yard cross-field balls to an overlapping full-back. It wasn’t really a choice; football loyalties are often a love-at-first-sight affair.

In all honesty, Fergie’s class of ’92 was arguably the most talented set of home-grown players English football has seen in a long time and the success they saw was an inevitability. With the end of the 2013 campaign, the retirement of the wily Scott marked the end of an era of brutal domestic domination at the hands of the north-west club. After much speculation, came the appointment of highly rated fellow Scottsman – David William Moyes. He came with support from all corners and the words of Sir Alex’s farewell speech still resounding loudly in the ears of the United faithful.

What was to ensue in the next 12 months was arguably beyond the imagination of the most cynical United fan. After bowing out of the FA Cup at the hands of Swansea and the League Cup against Sunderland, Manchester United has been freshly embarrassed in the league by bitter rivals Liverpool at home and are on the brink of Champions League elimination at the hands of Greek champions Olymiakos – a team that haven’t come close to competing with United in 4 previous meetings (the record reads 4 wins out of 4 in United’s favor). For most people my generation, this, by the proverbial mile, is the worst we’ve played in our entire lifetime. There’s plenty being discussed and debated, fingers being pointed and blame being allocated, but one person presently seated right in the center of this heat, is David Moyes. A figure of public ridicule, especially amongst rival fans that have long waited to see the back of Sir Alex have unleashed a barrage of jokes & insults that never had the opportunity to surface under the iron-fist reign of SAF. Moyes has looked a clueless and lonely figure in the home tactical area at Old Trafford. Many, including us, believe the outcome of the next 3 games could easily determine Moyes’ immediate future. While we hope for and await his rise from the ashes, we take a look at some of Moyes’ shortcomings and achievements in his short troubled career at the helm of the most decorated club in Premier League football.

The Good Things go First (Also because it’s a short list):

David Moyes’ Track Record:

You can hold Moyes responsible for several things, but not the lack of a proven track record. David Moyes’ work at Everton F.C. is nothing short of commendable. The guy took this club struggling with relegation to the doorstep of European football. Throughout his Everton stint, the man demonstrated an uncanny knack of spotting buzzing young talent and a steely determination that enabled him to see off several stiff challenges none less pressing than Everton’s escalating finances. That being said, Everton was, and has remained a mid-table team and its functionality will always differ massively from a club like Manchester United – known to be perennial winners under SAF. Yet, a manager that has won the League Managers Association ‘Manager of the Year’ thrice in a span of 10 years (SAF won it thrice during the same period too), deserves more respect than he currently garners.

Adnan Januzaj:

In a season marred with brutal calamities and tumbling records (all the wrong ones), if there’s been one thing United faithfuls can rightfully celebrate, it is Adnan Januzaj – the boy from Belgium who can apparently ‘do anything’ (barring winning United the title this season). Towards the fag-end of SAF’s career, the untouchable Scottsman received some criticism for being unable to produce the kind of young talent Carrington had formerly been renowned for. United had been unable to hold on to the few gems that did come out of their academy recently; cases in point – Paul Pogba & Ravel Morrison. Against this background, Moyes’ utilization of the young Belgian has been promising and praise-worthy. Throwing him in the mix of big things right away, while at the same time ensuring that he doesn’t get carried away by the awe-inspiring praise, has been amongst the few bright things DM has managed all season long.

The Rooney saga:

Wayne Rooney looks like a goon and when it suits him, behaves like one too. Do not get me wrong here – I’m a United fan and none of us can ever dislike a player who plays with his heart on his sleeve ever time he appears in the red of Manchester; however, for long, the guy has been renowned for his tantrums surrounding wage and contract negotiations. For all his worldly talents, the Evertonian boy does little to warrant a salary, only a shade lower than Messi’s £12.7M a year. Irrespective of that, in a blasted season where we’re languishing 7^th in the league (behind Everton mind you), Wayne Rooney has easily been our best player. The murkiness around his contract negotiations and amidst rumours that he’d quit at the end of the season, given United’s hopeless progress, Moyes’ handling of the entire situation was top-notch. Pecking away steadily and making progress on tying United’s talisman up to the club for the foreseeable remainder of his career was a very very important step towards maintaining the club’s tottering morale. It came at a steep prize, but was imperative in more ways than one.

 

The Disappointments…errr…

The Transfer Window Fiasco:

Frankly, this is as much Ed Woodward’s fault as David Moyes’ but the way we went about our business in the summer window was embarrassing to say the least. Chasing a player that relinquished a chance to become an Arsenal legend to join his boyhood club even after explicitly stating disinterest? Makes David Moyes & Man Utd look like the girlfriend (don’t jump the feminist gun please) who got dumped and wouldn’t buy it! The Ander Herrera saga was another ridiculously agonizing episode. Technically, we chased all the wrong players all summer long and made a terrible hash out of it! The result? We bought a bumbling Belgian in Maruaone Fellaini to shore up a non-existent Central Midfield and easily overpaid by a good margin. To make matters worse, the guy went and broke his wrist soon, which meant we technically bought nobody in the window.

The Backroom Staff:

I’m not sure what went wrong in that backroom, but letting go of Rene Muelensteen, Mike Phelan & Eric Steele in favor of Phil Neville, Steve Round & Jimmy Lumsden comes across more and more as a blunder with each passing game. The role played by United’s support cast under SAF was seldom spoken of, but always remained a fact widely known. It is understandable that Moyes would feel comfortable working with familiar people, but dispensing with the expertise of men who have been pillars of United’s success and who know the United way in and out, could prove a very costly mistake for Moyes over the coming days.

The Curious Case of the Ghost of Ryan Giggs:

Ryan Giggs still inspires memories of that famous FA Cup goal against erstwhile fierce competitors – Arsenal. It technically plays on loop in the head of every United fan. Ryan Giggs holds a ridiculous record of having scored in every Premier League season so far – a trend that seems to be in severe danger of ending this season. The most decorated player in English football has been reduced to a lonely figure on the sidelines under Moyes. This comes as a major surprise after the Welsh wizard was upgraded to the role of player-coach earlier this season. Giggs has made only 10 appearances in the league so far and although he’s spoken little, there are rumors that Moyes prefers the counsel of his chosen backroom staff, including Phil Neville (LOL) as compared to the experienced counsel of United’s number 11.

The Gameplay & the Agonizing Predictability:

If there’s one thing I feel like slapping Moyes for, it is the way we have set up and played all season long. Barring the odd sparkling display of free-flowing attacking football, United have looked like the Tony Pulis’ Stoke City far too many times. Every time I see Valencia on the right wing, I know exactly what he’s going to do next – and if I can, the opposition full back surely does. The predictability of United’s attack has been our greatest pitfall under Moyes. The final nail in that coffin came in the draw against bottom placed Fulham – a game in which we attempted 82 crosses. Ironically, Fulham is now managed by Rene Muelensteen, who went on to say that United’s gameplan is predictable and easy to organize against. It doesn’t take a skilled eye to see that United’s over-reliance on wing-play in the midst of mediocre wide-players will eventually lead to our downfall. Even the purchase of wily Juan Mata, and the addition of Januzaj’s exuberance (we always had the underutilized guile of Shinji Kagawa), United’s attack has failed to inspire fluidity, quick passing, combination play and that has been amongst Moyes’ greatest failures.

THE CLUELESSNESS!!!! ARRRGHHHH!!!!

If there’s one thing that scares the greatest Moyes supporter ever, it is his body-language and comments after a heavy, embarrassing defeat. Following the 0-3 drubbing at the hands of Liverpool, Moyes read out a familiar script that revolved around how he thought his players were in good shape and looked confident; how he was surprised that they ended up losing this game; how his team didn’t play as well as they could and he will try harder for the next game – the same god-damn thing again and again and again after every embarrassing result. Anybody who can read between lines here can clearly see that Moyes is finding it difficult to pin these results down to a particular cause. Moyes’ greatest failure so far has been his inability to figure out what is wrong with a bunch of players that not 12 months ago were champions of England (though arguably ageing and disinterested).

The Fault in His Stars:

To be fair to Moyes, there have been certain things, that aren’t really his fault and quite frankly, he’s had more than his fair share of bum-luck ever since his appointment. For instance:

1. Robin Van Persie’s scintillating form from the last 2 seasons seems to have disappeared in thin air. It could be a factor of his fitness issues returning to haunt the Dutchman or something else, but while the dude was hitting ridiculous volleys into the top corner from 30 yards last season he’s been heading wide from 5 this season.
2. Everything that CAN go wrong IS going wrong for United this season. United’s only signing of the summer has spent close to 3 months on the treatment table with a wrist injury.  United have conceded so many goals in the last 10 minutes of a game this season, it almost feels like Karma is strutting its stuff for 2 decades of Fergie time. If anybody remembers the loss to Stoke City lately, United conceded two goals to Charlie Adam, either side of a RvP equalizer; the first was a nasty deflection that left De Gea hopeless and the other was a scorching 30 yard screamer from a Charlie Adam who was on the brink of being axed from the Stoke squad. Almost 70% of the goals United have conceded have been comical in nature. The penalty shootout in the Capital One Cup against Sunderland was worse than what you can expect at an under 14 school game.
3. United’s backline and central midfield is a god-damn joke. We’ve got to accept that the squad Moyes inherited was fast running out of steam. Rio Ferdinand can’t run to save his life from a rabid dog. Chris Smalling and Phil Jones can’t keep themselves fit for back-to-back games. Jonny Evans, who was easily our best centre half last season has lost his touch and been in and out of the squad a lot. Patrice Evra at LB is a joke of a defender – the number of goals we have conceded from the left flank is ridiculous and Rafael has failed to inspire the confidence he did last season. At 32, and well past his prime, Nemanja Vidic has been our best defensive player. All it takes to upset Michael Carrick’s overrated silken passing is a haggling opposition midfield player that presses him into passing back to De Gea; oh! and yes, we do not have a second CM to partner him. One may argue that Moyes alone is to blame for failing to bring in reinforcements, but given that he had 2 months to gauge his squad at the start of the season and potential transfer targets didn’t look like a possibility in January, his resistance against making more panic buys post Fellaini could be deemed excusable.

The Verdict:

David Moyes was my personal favourite to gather the reigns from Sir Alex. The raw material is alarmingly evident. He’s a respected, experienced manager and has always given the feeling that he plans ‘long-term’ which is how United have been known to operate. His performance so far however, has been terrible even by the lowered standard of expectations at Old Trafford this season. Every United fan had anticipated a difficult phase – but not one where we’re languishing at 7^th and facing UCL elimination at the hands of Olympiakos in early March. David Moyes has GOT to pull his socks up and rally his troops. We might still finish 7^th and lose to Olympiakos tonight, but the guy has GOT to show some cajones, make some inspired changes, make a goosebump-enticing pre-game speech, get his players to play out of their god-damn skins and put up a show worthy of United colours. You’ve long exhausted the deposit of excuses Mr. Moyes, and tonight may easily be the last nail in your coffin, unless you show real, REAL signs of improvement.

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS? DO YOU THINK DAVID MOYES SHOULD BE SACKED? FEEL FREE TO LEAVE YOUR OPINIONS IN THE COMMENTS BELOW…