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MEDIA AND FANS
14. Trying – a lot!He’s trying, oh so very trying. Moyes’ peripatetic use of the word “try” has become a social media meme and a definitive sign of the manager’s weakness. After all, Ferguson simply did – no trying required.
15. Aspiring to be CityThe Blues are “at the sort of level we are aspiring to,” said Moyes after Manuel Pellegrini’s men ran out 3-0 winners at Old Trafford. It is the first time in the club’s history anybody has aspired to be like City. Just stop it. Now.
16. Not knowing what he has to do“I don’t know what we have to do to win,” Moyes confessed after United’s loss at Stoke City in February. The Scot didn’t understand quite how literal the statement would become. Fortunately, while the team has disintegrated under Moyes, there are enough individuals of quality to ensure United’s record against mediocre opposition impresses.
17 & 18. Laying the blame everywhere but at his own doorstep…Bad luck, injuries, individual mistakes, age profile, Ferguson, a lack of squad depth, a lack of talent – name it and Moyes has blamed it. Just not himself – ever – for the unholy mess that has become United’s season.
… and then point the finger at refereesOn that theme, while all managers lay the blame for poor results at officialdom’s doorstep, Moyes has a habit of pointing the finger at the Premier League’s referees more than most. “We’re actually beginning to laugh at them, that’s the thing. It’s really terrible, it really is,” said the Scot after Fabio Borini’s 64th minute penalty in United’s Capital One Cup defeat to Sunderland. United has certainly been no more wronged than any other this season.
19. Talking down the players“To win the Champions League, you need five or six world-class players,” Moyes said back in September. “That’s the level you have to be at to win it. We’ve not got that.” He was right, of course, but the statement fits a pattern of negativity. “I actually think if Sir Alex was here this year it would be difficult for Sir Alex as well,” he added in March. How supporters laughed. Oh, that’s right – we didn’t.
20. “We enjoyed it…”… said Moyes after United’s defeat to Munich in the Champions League. The fans didn’t. It gave the impression Moyes has still not grown into the job – a manager permanently on a tourist’s high.
21. “They…”… told Moyes a lot, didn’t they? Except how to manage the club, it seems.
22. Lack of ambitionAfter defeat to mid-table Swansea City in the FA Cup Moyes bemoaned the fact that his side was not “hard to play against.” In response he promised that United would “make it difficult” for mid-table Newcastle United. There’s nothing quite like ambition, or lack of it – a philosophy that has defined a season, to the point that the Scot had two plans in the Reds’ pivotal Champions League fixture with Bayern Munich: to not lose, but if defeat was inevitable, to not lose too badly.
23. Never being far away“We’ve not got the Champions League next season, but I believe it is not far away,” said Moyes after United tumbled out of Europe last week. About seven points at last count. There is always the promise of jam tomorrow.
24. Pulling the wool over supporters eyes“It is a work in progress and it will take time to get it exactly how we want it,” said Moyes this season. While a period of transition may be part of the football lexicon, and cyclical changes are frequent at the top, few expected United’s fall to be so hard. After all there are new managers at City, Chelsea, Bayern, Real Madrid and Barcelona this season. None has suffered like United.
INJURIES
25. Over training van PersieBack in July Moyes admitted that he had “overtrained” van Persie “to build up his fitness” with the Dutchman joining the pre-season camp in Australia late. After two injury-free seasons in succession the striker has missed more than half of United’s games this season. “The only way to solve this problem in Jurassic Park,” said rent-a-gob Dutch fitness coach Raymond Verheijen on Twitter, “is to improve education of these dinosaur coaches, fitness clowns and scientific cowboys.” In hindsight, it’s hard to argue with him.
26. Risking Rooney’s healthThere was never a doubt; not a single moment when United’s manager considered not playing Rooney against Bayern in Germany. Less than 30 minutes into the fixture and it was obvious the Scouser was much the worse for his “bruised” – probably broken – toe. By then Rooney was simply hobbling around the centre circle, an inhibitor to United’s performance let alone an aid to an unlikely comeback. “I thought at times he was having a struggle striking the ball.” Well DUH.
27. Risking van Persie’s health“I think if I’d brought him off (against Newcastle) some people would say ‘What are you doing? You are 1-0 down and you’re taking off your top goalscorer,’” said Moyes back in January. The Dutchman, fresh from a month out, played the full 90 as United lost to the Geordies at Old Trafford. The striker would sit out yet more time in the aftermath, and Moyes would continue to moan about injuries.
