Above: Manager David Moyes of Manchester United speaks during a press conference at Rajmalanga Stadium as pre-season tour of Bangkok on July12, 2013 in Bangkok,Thailand. Image by mooinblack / Shutterstock.com

Eight months into his tenure as Manchester United manager it seems as though their once patient fans have finally turned against David Moyes in one swift wave of social media vitriol, and barring a Champions League miracle it looks as though he may be the first managerial casualty of the summer.

It seems strange that Moyes should find himself in such a position given that the expectations for what most fans had already written off as a transition season were so low, yet with Champions League qualification nearing mathematical impossibility and this weekend’s harrowing defeat by bitter rivals, Liverpool F.C, it looks as though he’s somehow blown it.

David Moyes
David Moyes of Manchester United speaks during a press conference at Rajmalanga Stadium as pre-season tour of Bangkok on July12, 2013 in Bangkok,Thailand. Image by mooinblack / Shutterstock.com

The social media backlash is fairly categorical in its indictment of Moyes’ credibility as the successor of the great Sir Alex Ferguson, but the most resounding criticisms are of his tactical nous and his transfer market activities, which have seen him pay a combined total of GBP64m for both Juan Mata and Marouane Fellani.

Now from the outset, it seems harsh that he is receiving so much criticism for signing arguably two of the stand-out players from last year’s campaign. The two of them are hardly unproven YouTube sensations either, so it seems to be a mystery why the two of them are under performing, or is it?

Many fans feel as if the problem lies with his lack of tactical knowledge. He has all these fantastic players at his disposal, but doesn’t really know what to do with them.

I think with Everton, Moyes had an Audi of a team in the sense that all the components were capable of working together to produce something reliable yet unremarkable, whereas he has inherited a Ferrari team in the sense that most of the components are finely tuned to serve a specific purpose, i.e. Ashley Young, Robin Van Persie, Kagawa and Juan Mata.

One of the perpetual frustrations for anyone who had ever played fantasy football while Fergusson was manager was that you could never really predict which team he would pick as he would tailor his finely tuned selection according to the demands of the opponent. David Moyes on the other hand seems to be clueless, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that he should be shown the door so early into his Manchester United career, no, no.

For as long as I can remember Manchester United has been a dark presence looming over the Premier League. They’ve produced some fantastic sides during all those years, but generally they would grind out entire campaigns from start to finish, and come May everyone would be scratching their heads trying to fathom how John O’Shea and Wes Brown were collecting yet another winner’s medal.

At least when Chelsea, Arsenal, Blackburn and Man City won the title they produced football of such a high standard that not even Man U could win it. Man U has had its glory, so Moyes should stay to give other teams a chance of winning the title.

One Comment

  1. Tonight is the big match, if they get knocked out of the champions league then he has no chance. They are 7th in the English league, so probably won’t make it in the champions league next year so this is a crunch game for him IMO.