David Moyes: Did the means justify the end?

David Moyes was sacked by Manchester United

It surfaced long ago when Manchester United lost their first pre-season friendly that David Moyes was not competent enough to manage Manchester United. And every allegation since then has proved to be true as David Moyes has turned the defending Champions into a mid-table side that only has lost pride and shallow prejudice to defend its credibility.

While some have placed arguments stating that the players are to blame and not the manager, it would do well to remind them that this same squad without Juan Mata, Maraoune Fellaini and Adnan Januzaj won the Premier League with four games to go and a huge 11-point lead.

So, clearly the onus is on David Moyes for the team’s rather dismal showing this season. While replacing Sir Alex is probably the toughest job in the world, a man who does so must render himself fit to match the legacy of the man he is replacing.

With the current situation, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.

The legacy left by Sir Alex Ferguson is nothing short of a wonder for the man did not depend on others for his performance. He inherited a rather dispirited team and built them brick by brick. He slowly brought back the memories that had left Manchester United ever since the dynamic Matt Busby retired.

For during his early years, Liverpool were at the helm of their footballing powers and no one could have guessed about their decline in the following years. The amount of faith placed in Sir Alex by the Manchester United board was immense.

While David Moyes did not receive that amount of faith, it would justify to say that he did not deserve it given the way he handled the squad.

What everyone knows is the fact that United finished 11^th in Sir Alex’s first season at Old Trafford, an argument which is impetuously stated by every supporter to support Moyes’ supposed retention at Old Trafford.

The hidden reality behind this piece of truth is that United were at the 21^st position when Sir Alex took over. It was November when the change occurred and Sir Alex drove the team to finish in the top half of the table.

Considering the predicament of the current situation, Sir Alex’s achievement was indeed admirable. The situation Moyes inherited was a gift in itself which he failed to acknowledge.

But then, Moyes being the man he was stuck to the same old senses. When all of them believed Moyes to be at his most vulnerable, a quick change of policy coupled with some new tactics could have caught everyone off guard but then a change could occur only when Moyes decided to act. The sad part is he never really did and the board decided the wait was too much to see some change in the results.

The whole season, Moyes had proved to be a law unto himself, but not one who could positively influence the squad. While Sir Alex was equally assertive, his dominance over the squad had influenced the squad for good. Sir Alex’s early interactions in the dressing room showed that he was a man of character and he was an embodiment of the true manager.

David Moyes’ early negotiations in the Rooney issue were troubling and were a clear sign that Moyes had difficulty in exerting control. When Sir Alex took over, he did not clear out the entire backroom staff. He knew that he needed a couple of people who knew the club in and out to get used to the way things were run.

David Moyes, to his credit felt that he was better off with his own people and so the entire administration of the club was completely run by new guys. While Sir Alex joined the board of directors, David Gill and Mike Phelan left. Both of them were instrumental figures in the welfare of the club and the squad for the past few years.

Moyes should have let good sense prevail and made an effort to retain either Mike Phelan or Rene Meulensteen. The two of them had seen every player at the club grow to their current status. Retaining one of them could probably have made Moyes’ job easier but then life isn’t always so predetermining, is it?

The predisposition of Sir Alex’s players in his first season was one detrimental source – Alcohol. Bryan Robson, in particular was addicted to alcohol. Although his performances showed no signs of a decline, Alcohol was always a bad influence in the dressing room. Sir Alex was the person who put a full stop to this and then Robson changed. Whatever happened after is history and Bryan Robson went on to lead Manchester United successfully as they went on their trophy winning spree, cementing himself in the history books as one of the greatest English midfielders ever.

Paul Mcgrath and Norman Whiteside were dealt with pretty seriously, with Sir Alex leaving no doubt that however good a player one was, discipline was essential. The power that Sir Alex had exerted over them showed his character and zero-tolerance to anything other than football at that stage.

On the contrary, David Moyes entered the fray with a near perfect squad and a seemingly easier role of man-management. But the start of his tenure was marked by contentions of Rooney’s departure and his dealing with the situation was impressive, one of the few positives of the tenure of David Moyes. It was imminent that Rooney stayed at the club given the changes that were occurring.

The exact place where Moyes fell prey to the bait was the transfer window. While Sir Alex, in his early days was managing a Manchester United that did not have the reputation it currently has, Moyes had been gifted the world’s most popular club. He should have the used the highly compliant circumstances to prise away some of the top names in Europe, whereas he spent the entire summer transfer window buying just Fellaini and Guillermo Varela.

Sir Alex had repeatedly emphasized that Moyes needed to be trusted and believed he would restore the club to its former glory. While to the faithful, it seemed as a call of unswerving loyalty, the so-called plastics had chosen to stray away. This has been reportedly revealed in the fact that Manchester United lost around 450,000 after their defeat to Liverpool.

The plain fact behind Manchester United’s disastrous campaign has been the highly ineffective team-selection and cack-handed tactics of Moyes. The Manchester United board has to accept an equal share of responsibility for United’s failure this season. Appointing a man who has experienced Champions League football just once to manage the defending Champions was a rather strange choice.

David Moyes’ lousy tactics and a penchant for defensive security has been his undoing at Old Trafford. Early in the season, Manchester United were made to defend deep inside their own half once they took the lead. This is not exactly the calling for what was one of Europe’s top teams.

David Moyes’ tactics never really reflected any positivity, and that was probably his biggest undoing

Sir Alex’s entire legacy was built upon one thing – bravery. The countless number of times Manchester United left their opposition for nought in the final minutes is an embodiment of the courage that Sir Alex instilled into the team. David Moyes, had driven the team to such a low caliber that they were playing long balls into the path of Van Persie, something even Stoke City have stopped nowadays.

The reasons for David Moyes’ uncalculated approach throughout the season had been baffling to the board and fans alike. The lack of a clear game plan coupled with various team selections proved to be disastrous, to say the least. If one is given to understand anything from football’s rich history, it’s the fact that change overnight does not work. Stability is what proves to be important in the end.

Until his sacking yesterday, Moyes had chosen fifty one different teams in fifty one different games. Although injury might be used to shield this mistake, it was a mistake and cannot be justified. Injuries have been taking their toll on the team but not to such an extent as to whip up a new team week in week out.

Taking a more statistical approach to the season would tell you that Manchester United have been very poor with the ball and have arguably the weakest midfield in the top 8.

Although he has not been assisted by a slow and ageing squad, his transfer dealings haven’t exactly reflected the qualities of a Manchester United manager. This is undoubtedly seen in the fact that both his signings had been done without any second thoughts.

The signing of Fellaini seemed to be a good one but he should have completed it within the expiry of his buy-out. Moyes waited till two hours of the deadline to make Fellaini’s transfer official by which time they had shelled out an extra 4 mn for him.

The deal for Mata left many speechless. By buying Mata, Moyes proved that his enigmatic mind was taking Manchester United nowhere. Six months at Old Trafford and Moyes must have surely realized that a player by the name of Shinji Kagawa existed in the squad.

Yet, he chose to overlook Kagawa and go for Mata, a world-class player who plays in exactly the same position as Kagawa. What has been troubling is the fact that Mata is yet to fire on all cylinders since his arrival. Moyes had chosen to ignore the fact that Mata is an attacking midfielder by trade and that any other position is not going to bring out his best.

Mata was signed for a record fee and made to play out of position on the right wing by Moyes. While you may argue that Mata played on the right at Chelsea, Chelsea’s game was typically built on a counter-attacking system where the positional interplay of the front three was vital.

While currently he is proving to be useful with impressive performances, consistency has been eluding Mata’s performances.

United, are dependent on their supply from wide areas to supplement the striker. This left Moyes in what was essentially called the ‘no-win’ situation with Mata and Kagawa. The halo effect has had a rather endearing effect on David Moyes and seems to be doing the same to Robin van Persie.

Robin Van Persie’s reputation as one of the world’s best strikers hasn’t left him and that proved to be deleterious for David Moyes. The situation was such that he played every match when he was fit. But for long, he has just been playing without justifying his addition.

Robin Van Persie, was an excellent player with Manchester United in his first season at Old Trafford. But now, age is catching up with him and he is waning as every player does. David Moyes, for his part should have accepted the truth on the face of it and been bold enough to omit him from the team.

His continuous insistence on playing Robin Van Persie yielded literally no returns as Van Persie has had just a couple of good games throughout the season. I do hope he is judicially used by the new manager.

Sir Alex, throughout his tenure never considered the reputation or eminence of any player. He was not afraid to show the stick, no matter be it David Beckham or Ruud Van Nistelrooy or Roy Keane. To be precise, he exercised the control that he had as a manager. David Moyes failed to do that on all fronts.

Regrettably indeed, the Manchester United board saw it fit to leave Moyes to himself just nine months after hiring him. His disastrous campaign could prove to be his downfall in the near future. A job in the Premier League is going to be a tough task for him.

As a Manchester United fan, I dearly hope that irrespective of the mess that Moyes has placed the club in, the club survives this dark patch just like it did any other and comes out better than ever.

In the last twenty years, Manchester United have always been at the top and let us hope that a collapse does not occur within the turn of a season.

As for the end of David Moyes’ tenure at Old Trafford, the human part of me weeps for his unfortunate termination and the bad reputation that has befallen him.

On the contrary, the part of me that lives and breathes United is slightly happy that a person who has been unsuccessful in replacing Sir Alex is leaving.

From a neutral standpoint, I would say David Moyes, irrespective of whether he deserved the job or not, failed to justify his placement as the hand-picked successor of Sir Alex Ferguson. Although he could have been given time, the regrettable fact that he has been denied time does him no good.

Although I have despised him during his stay at United, I wish him best of luck for the future and hope he can come out of the hapless situation he has placed himself in.

With Moyes gone, Ryan Giggs has been called upon to take up the mantle for the time being. While the arrangement may prove to be fruitful or another thorn in the transition, it does excite me to watch Ryan Giggs stand on the side line managing the team. After all, who better to succeed Sir Alex than the man who has lived the dream along with him? At least, from the perspective of a United fan.