It seems as though David Moyes hasn’t been able to fully carry on from Sir Alex’s momentum from last season, so is it a case of Manchester United have finally been brought crashing back down to earth with the rest of us?
I’m not saying Moyes won’t be a successful manager for Manchester United in the long run, nor that he’s unable to build a legacy that emulates his predecessor, maybe not the same illustrious heights at SAF, but maybe something that replicates it slightly.
It seems a fair few pundits and football writers expected Moyes to have an instant impact at Old Trafford, but in my eyes, he is a relatively unproven manager. Obviously he built something credible at Everton, but Manchester couldn’t be further away from the Liverpool club when it comes to the sheer magnitude of the club. Not just the name of the team bears weight, but the infrastructure that hosts the team, the expectation that is demanded by fans due to their incredible history.
I have seen a lot of people saying they’re disappointed in Moyes’ attitude in recent interviews where they seem to think he is already writing Manchester United off for the league, but it’s clearly not the fact he is saying they won’t win the league. It’s more of a self-preservation tactic because he isn’t Sir Alex Ferguson. If Moyes says in an interview that Manchester United will definitely win the league and they don’t, his name doesn’t exactly mean as much to the United board and fans as Ferguson’s did. When good ‘ole Alex did his usual of mind tactics with Roberto Mancini when City won the league, there was absolutely no calls for him to be sacked because they knew of the trust they had in him.
On the flip side with Moyes, if they do call for him to be sacked at the end of the season (or maybe earlier, you never know) it then resets the entire process of finding someone to replace Alex Ferguson. It’s not going to exactly instill a sense of security in the next new manager when he has witnessed his predecessor be called to be sacked after six games in charge.
Admittedly, there have been some questionable tactical choices made by Mr. Moyes, but that’s a whole other issue.
Welcome to reality Manchester United fans, it looks like you could be here for a while.