The Many Myths of Moyes (well…. four)

Yes, my first entry is a football one, and it isn’t to do with the Mighty Spurs. I’m sure the Tottenham-related posts will outnumber the others as we go on, but after watching the League Cup semi-final first legs over the last two nights, when I turned on my thought percolator, this is what bubbled up.

Here are my thoughts on all the nonsense being spouted about David Moyes at the moment, from a neutral’s point of view. He’s in the papers a lot at present, having just lost three games on the bounce, to my beloved Tottenham in the Premier League, Swansea in the FA Cup, and Sunderland in the League Cup. Many things are being stated, including some naked facts without any context, to either criticize or support the Manchester United manager, and I fancy debunking a few of these myths as well as stating my own opinion. Remember – Spurs fan here, with neither affinity nor hatred towards the club, even though I freely admit liking them as a football club in terms of business model, footballing ethos and so forth. Clearly, I would prefer them to win the Premier League than any of the teams currently looking like having a chance of doing so. Having said that, I feel suitably unbiased in my assessment.

So here are some myths I’ve heard from both sides of the coin.

Myth #1 : (Prior to Sunderland) David Moyes lost fewer of his first 31 games in charge than some other lauded United managers (Moyes-7 Busby-8 Ferguson-9 Atkinson-9 Docherty-12 Sexton-13) so that proves he’s not actually doing that bad a job.
Reality : None of those managers inherited a league title winning squad filled with internationals and European cup winners, so the bare facts actually prove nothing.

Myth #2 : Moyes let United down by not doing better business in the transfer window, in particular signing Marouane Fellaini and nobody else of note.
Reality : Ed Woodward took charge of United’s transfer business (of lack thereof) in the summer, including the Cesc Fabregas debacle. Moyes had little say in it. People state that Moyes “took Fellaini with him from Everton” as though he were first choice, but that only happened when the deals that Woodward tried to broker for Fabregas, Mesut Özil and Luka Modric failed to bare fruit.

Myth #3 : Alex Ferguson only got the team to 11th in his first season in charge, so Moyes shouldn’t be judged yet.
Reality : Alex Ferguson took over the team well into the 86-87 season (November) with the team stuttering and threatened with relegation. Moyes started with a clean slate. While I agree that Moyes needs time to really make an impression on what is still near enough somebody else’s squad, that particular comparison is meaningless.

Myth #4 : Moyes should be doing better with the team he inherited.
Reality : (deep breath)

Winning the league with that squad papered over some cracks that Ferguson might have addressed before leaving. He’s basically inherited a team of players that :

(A) have never lived up to expectations – Nani, Anderson, Young, Valencia, Kagawa, Jones, Smalling ;

(B) are nearing the end of their usefulness – Vidic, Giggs, Evra, Ferdinand ;

(C) have had a lot of injury/illness problems – RvP, Fletcher ;

(D) are dramatically overrated due to their consistent appearances for a poor England side – Welbeck, Cleverley ;

(E) and Wayne Rooney, who is none of the above. Unsurprisingly, he has been Moyes’ best player this term.

To my mind, only van Persie’s goals, Joe Hart’s loss of form and Roberto Mancini’s ridiculous decision to split up the TITLE WINNING centre-back partnership of Vincent Kompany & Joleon Lescott prevented Manchester City from retaining the title, much as people might want to say it was Fergie being great. That side SHOULDN’T have won the title. It should have done marginally better than it is now, and it did, because van Persie for once stayed fit for most of the season. This season, obviously, he hasn’t. My point is, the team he inherited isn’t as good as a lot of people want to believe, and a lot of the blame has to fall at the feet of Woodward for being so utterly inept in the summer transfer market, especially concerning the Fabregas debacle.

The main problem that Moyes’ United have had (aside from one or two games – Southampton springs to mind – where his substitutions have been too negative on a one-goal lead) is that simply, the fear factor is gone. Technically you can point to giving the ball away cheaply on the edge of their own box, but that’s a confidence issue. United don’t have it, their opponents increasingly do. Teams that play Manchester United – even at Old Trafford – know before the game they have a chance of winning, and at 1-0 down in 2014 they know they still have a chance of salvaging something, whereas in years gone by conceding the first goal at the Theatre of Dreams was usually tantamount to conceding defeat itself. The message has been put out there – United away is a game you can win. West Brom have done it. Newcastle have done it. Everton have done it. Spurs have done it. Swansea have done it.

How you arrest that is simple, in theory. You win football games, the team grows in confidence, that confidence begets more victories. For that to happen, the team needs improvement. Most will suggest that the kind of quality of player that Manchester United would hope to attract in January is almost-exclusively not available in January, that most of the true quality out there comprises of players happy at their clubs, and at clubs unwilling to sell. I’d suggest there is one exception : Juan Mata.

While record-setting Frank Lampard and the exciting Eden Hazard may have garnered most of the attention and plaudits last season (well, when the latter wasn’t kicking ball boys), it is my conjecture that Mata was Chelsea’s best player, and yet he seems resigned to play a bit part in Jose Mourinho’s second spell in charge at Kings Road. With the strength in depth of attacking or creative players at his disposal – Lampard, Hazard, Oscar, Schürrle, De Bruyne, van Ginkel – Jose may be persuaded to let Mata leave. While the Spaniard has been a model pro in his comments regarding his status at Stamford Bridge, there was no hiding his contempt at being substituted during the Southampton game, and no player with World Cup aspirations wants to spend the next five months on the bench. For anyone suggesting Mourinho is too proud/arrogant to sell a player he officially insists IS a part of his plans, I put it to you that for the right price, Mourinho might be tempted to part with the influential midfielder, to get rid of a want-away player and give himself chance to come out in the press afterwards and declare “I will not sell to title rivals, but Manchester United are not a rival right now.” Come on ; that’s exactly the sort of thing he’d do, isn’t it?

Back to David Moyes – yes, it is too early to judge him. The club has already made it clear he will still be at the helm in the summer no matter what, and in the summer is when he will be judged, as it is expected that he will have far more influence in the players that United approach. 14-15 will be a truer indication of what “David Moyes’ Manchester United” will actually look like going forward, and personally speaking, I’m fascinated at the thought of what calibre player the club will be able to attract, especially if they have neither the cache of “come play for Sir Alex Ferguson” OR Champions League football to offer.

Sorry for that last bit, Stretford Enders, but it’s a possibility that shouldn’t be ignored.