David Moyes’ Man United day one ‘to do’ list

July 1st is officially David Moyes’ first day in charge at Manchester United and he has plenty to do. Of course, most of these are going to be tasks that managers of most other clubs could only dream of having. But at Manchester United, he has the pressure and expectation to contend with. The microscopic attention that will be paid to his every decision around the world intensifies the pressure. They are enviable decisions but decisions with a spotlight focused on him. He has to act with the kind of conviction and belief in his decisions that made him so successful; he can’t afford to shirk from making big decisions out of worry that he will be criticized. These are some of those that he needs to look at on his first day.

Dealing with the Wayne Rooney situation

This is not necessarily the most important thing Moyes needs to do, but it is certainly the most urgent. There is real confusion as to whether Rooney actually asked for a transfer in the last weeks of Sir Alex Ferguson’s reign. Rooney said he hadn’t, the club said he had. We’ve been down this road before with Rooney and it resulted in him getting a pay rise. This time it seems a little different. He lost his place as the main man at United to Robin van Persie last season and he isn’t happy about it. He wants to play as a central striker, a number 9. Barring a fairly dramatic change of tactics, that’s unlikely to happen.

Moyes needs to get to the crux of the issue, find out what Rooney actually wants, and if he wants to leave, decide whether to sanction it. Even with questions about where he could actually go, there will be bidders. If Rooney makes it absolutely clear that he wants to leave, they need to move him as quickly as possible. One way or another, this needs to be decided upon quickly or it will be hanging over David Moyes creating needless pressure.

Starting to sign players

This will also help him ease in to the job. United are in contract negotiations with Thiago Alcantara, but it’s dragging on. They’ve had an opening bid for Leighton Baines turned down by Everton who are insistent they won’t sell. There are rumours about Man United trying to make moves for Cristiano Ronaldo or Gareth Bale to make a big impact. They are supposedly fairly deep in to negotiation with Benfica for Ezequiel Garay to be Rio Ferdinand’s long term successor. United need to sign one of these soon. Even though the official window has just opened and the season doesn’t start for 6 weeks, it’s still important to do something soon. Again, it lessens the pressure and if he can persuade one of these big names to come to the club, it will help to prove that he has the pull to get the top players. This is particularly the case with Thiago Alcantara. Having been so close to him, to miss out would not be a convincing start.

Deciding the future of fringe players

Players like Anderson and Nani haven’t failed under Moyes, so he is going to want to look at them and make his own decision based on what he sees from them in training and in pre-season games. He may well see himself as able to get these types of players to the next level. It’s never a good idea for new managers to completely purge their new club before getting a chance to work closely with them.

Analysing his young English players

This will be a task particularly close to the national media’s hearts and something that United fans are proud of. He needs to see how to get the best out of Phil Jones. Is he a central defender? Is he a roaming midfielder? Can Tom Cleverley find another level to his performances to secure a long term United future? Is Chris Smalling able to stay injury free and show he’s worth £10m? What is Danny Welbeck’s best position? Can Moyes use him in his Thomas Muller-like defensive forward role? United fans won’t want to see them given up on but they need to show him they have enough quality.

Which older players does he want to keep?

Giggs, Ferdinand, Vidic and Evra are all the wrong side of 30 and have had some injury issues, aside from Evra. At Everton, Moyes used Distin and Phil Neville who were 35, so he doesn’t have a history of avoiding older players at all costs. However, these have been key parts of the United squad for so long now that moving on without them would be a big call. It’s probably worth his while to keep them for this season and ease himself in to the club without changing everything dramatically.

All in all, some big decisions for David Moyes but Manchester United have appointed him because they have every faith that he can make the big calls and make them correctly. It’ll be a busy, but no doubt, enjoyable start to life at Old Trafford.