How long can United afford to stand by the besieged Moyes?
Amid rumors and reports that Manchester United manager David Moyes is facing a potential coup by his players, can United and the Glazer family seriously hope to remain loyal to the Scotsman past this summer should this season end as poorly as it has been played?
Full credit to United firstly, as they have stuck by the under-fire manager all season long. United pride themselves on not being a sacking club and the Glazers, with full support of the board, have continued to show faith and be adamant in their stance that Moyes will continue to be on the books at Old Trafford despite United’s worse season in the memory of quite a large portion of their supporters. Showing faith in the man that Sir Alex Ferguson deemed his successor and hoping to keep stability rather than going through multiple managers in the same campaign is admirable, but is it truly the right decision? – For me, no.
It must be said, that while Moyes surely has not done enough to reverse the course of the woeful season in his first at the helm of the United battlewagon, it cannot be ignored that the players too must shoulder a large portion of the blame for the season – it is ironic that he is facing a player revolt, rather than pressure from the Glazers. Players may not agree with much of what Moyes has tried to do, but they have shown little effort to stick behind their manager in the time of crisis and no doubt threatening an uprising in the dressing room is surely a ploy to convince those in power that Moyes must go. Like it or not, players these days hold entirely too much power when it comes to the ongoings of a football club internally.
There is no sense in going into the numbers of United’s season, anyone that has been paying attention even the slightest bit to the Premiership has been made known of the magnitude of its failure. Where other clubs of United’s stature would have pulled the trigger and dismissed the headmaster long ago, United remain steadfast. It is presumed that they will at least give him the first half of next season to prove his doubters incorrect and given the reported transfer war chest that United will give him charge over, that would certainly be the first test he would have to past if he is to remain in charge. The question that leads to, is that if Moyes can step out of his comfort zone and use that money wisely and bring in the quality reinforcements in multiple areas that United crave. Moyes was used to penny-pinching at Everton and dealing with a big spending club, with big expectations who expect high profile signings could well be out of his ability as a manager.
Beyond questions of his ability to handle the high-profile transfer dealings people expect in the summer, is Moyes even the right manager when it comes to tactics? Yes the players have not been behind their manager, but they do have a legitimate stance when it comes to questioning the Scots tactics. Moyes is used to playing 7th place football with Everton, and when he came to United, he played his same tactics, so is it really a surprise that United, for all their talent on the pitch, are in 7th place? This is the same side that Ferguson won the league with, and to be honest it contains even more quality as United now have Juan Mata, yet United still struggle and Moyes’ tactics and selections should rightfully be blamed.
At the end of the day, as stated before, it shows the character and commitment of a club like United in regards to how they have stuck by Moyes this entire season, their commitment to the Scot has been unwavering and in todays game, that is an incredibly rare thing. And while the sentiments of keeping stability and not overseeing a rotating door policy at Old Trafford is incredibly sound, this is an instance where it is not the best option. Once a manager loses the dressing room, it is often mission impossible to get it back. Would Moyes have seriously received this posting if it was not for the blessing from Sir Alex himself? There are far too many questions surrounding Moyes himself and if he can change his ways, never mind if he will even be successful in the summer during the transfer window.
To be honest, David Moyes is not a bad manager, but he is not a top-class manager. He cannot get the best out of players who have the weight of expectations of being at arguably the worlds biggest football club, his gift as a manager is bringing stability and top seven survivability to a club where that is what is deemed acceptable. On the evidence of this entire season, Moyes is just not the man for United concerns of stability aside, the Scot surely must go.
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