Moyes’s rebuilding project

The announcement that David Moyes will replace the retiring Sir Alex Ferguson as the new Manchester United manager next season has been met with three distinct reactions from the supporters of the Premier League Champions.

There are those that think Moyes is a good appointment, a natural successor to the man who has left the job after 26 years and enough medals to make a tidy retirement fund out of Cash for Gold. They see Moyes as the heir apparent, hand-picked by Fergie and someone who shares his fellow Scotsman’s ethos and values.

Others seem to be trying to fool themselves into thinking that way after hoping for a big name, a man laden with success, Jose Mourinho or Jurgen Klopp being particular favourites.

The final reaction is that of disappointment. They see Moyes not as a failure at Everton, but not successful enough as a manager to take on what is, in their minds, the most prestigious job in world football. After all, the former Preston boss has no trophies and just two Champions League qualifiers to his name after a 10 year stint with Everton.

Moyes has certainly been an accomplished manager at Everton. He has often finished just behind the ‘big clubs’ who the Toffees cannot compete with financially. On a budget he has, bar the odd relegation battle in his decade on Merseyside, punched at the club’s weight and arguably above it.

Unconfirmed reports that Phil Neville, also ending his time with Everton this summer, will join Moyes as an assistant can only be good news as he is a ‘United man’ and will be a great asset at both helping the new man bed in and getting any doubters in the squad onside. Moyes also has an eye for a player at a good price. Leighton Baines, Tim Cahill and Phil Jagielka are evidence of that. In an era where United still pack a financial punch but maybe not a knock-out blow like Manchester City, Chelsea, PSG and the big two from Spain, this quality will certainly come in handy.

He certainly has his work cut out as well. Despite winning the title at a relative canter with the gap over second place City 10 points at the time of writing, United are a team in transition. There is an ageing contingent in the first team. Ryan Giggs, Patrice Evra, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic and even Michael Carrick and Robin van Persie’s (as well as the often forgotten Darren Fletcher) time as top level players must come to an end during Moyes’ planned six year tenure.

Yet, there are also a number of young players with a lot of promise that are at various stages of fulfilment. We are looking at the likes of David De Gea, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Rafael, Tom Cleverly, Nick Powell, Shinji Kagawa and you could probably chuck Javi Hernandez and Danny Welbeck into the mix.

The players that are neither young talent nor ‘veterans’ are the most disappointing group of the lot at the club. These are the players you would want to help the youngsters through a transitional period that sees the older players retire, new players come in and the young guns develop. However, other than Jonny Evans, who has had a good season this time around, Ashley Young, Antonio Valencia, Nani, and Anderson are neither performing as well as the club would like, nor as the fans would expect. Neither do they strike you as the kind of professional role models with the personality and fortitude to help new blood bed in and young players through a phase of transition.

Ferguson was a master at rebuilding his team. Many times he shifted out dead wood, bought in new players, blended them in and kicked on to more success. Rebuilding this current team would have been his biggest reconstruction process and David Moyes has certainly been left with a hard task ahead of him.

Saying that, the team isn’t in terrible shape but with City and Chelsea likely to strengthen, if United aren’t proactive they will lose significant ground on those two. Two key areas that need improving and have done for a couple of years can be solved by doing the traditional new manager ploy and going back to your old club for a player or two.

Patrice Evra, despite weighing in with a surprising amount of goals this season, has been in decline for a couple of seasons now. Meanwhile, Leighton Baines has usurped Ashley Cole as England’s and the Premier League’s best left back. Solid in defence, great from set pieces and with accurate crossing, Baines could certainly take on that role. In midfield, United have lacked a more physical presence to partner Carrick and whoever else plays in the middle for a number of years. Signing someone for that role can be perceived as Ferguson’s blind spot, possibly going back as far as Roy Keane.

While Moyes has used the Belgian Marouane Fellaini as a more attacking player at Everton, partly down to the club’s lack of attacking prowess, he is more than capable of playing a more central, less attacking role while retaining a part of his imposing presence going forward.

There are other problems with the squad as well, and Wayne Rooney could well be this biggest one. ‘Wazza’ has a well-documented history with Moyes which goes back to comments made in an autobiography and a libel case. In addition, it appears Rooney has asked to leave the club, notifying Ferguson in advance of Moyes’ appointment. The England forward looks like he is after a new challenge.

Rooney definitely has looked disinterested at times this year and has often cut a frustrated figure and often left on the bench, most notably in the second leg against Real Madrid and the recent league match with Chelsea. His form has not been great. He often goes through patches of poor performances but this season, possibly due to being played out of position at times to accommodate the prolific van Persie, he has cut a forlorn figure at times.

Given the animosity with Moyes, his fluctuating performances and the fact that he wants to leave, maybe it is time to cash in on Rooney and bring in a replacement. £30m-£40m is a very, very good price for him and can buy a lot in return.

Finally, no matter whether Moyes wants to play a 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1, 4-4-2, 4-4-1-1, 4-5-1 or whatever, his wide players are not up to much at all. As mentioned earlier, Valencia, Young and Nani have been poor for a year or more while Kagawa is not a wide player, nor is Rooney (should he stay) and Welbeck is neither a winger nor a United quality player.

Talk of Ronaldo coming back to the club would improve that position exponentially but may be a harder acquisition than it seems. However, width is a key part of the way Moyes likes to play so do not be surprised if the signs a couple of players to fill these slots. The job is not as straight forward as to just continue what Ferguson started, created and maintained but to repeat what he has done so many times – rebuild for success.