David Moyes has been accused of many things this season but, until recently, time travel hasnt been one of them. However, this league campaign has the flavour of the pre-Premier League days about it; with Liverpool making a goal-fuelled charge towards the championship, while Manchester United languish in mid-table mediocrity. As their traditional rivals thunder on in the title race, the Old Trafford club is slumped against a bus stop, its sweatband salty and sodden, quaffing a bottle of Lucozade in lonely melancholy. Of course, there were always going to be difficult moments this year, but what has happened thus far has been a thing of almost unmitigated discomfort. And so one question presents itself with increasing intensity: what is Sir Alex Ferguson thinking? Years ago, he announced his desire to “knock Liverpool off their f---ing perch”; yet, with each passing week, all he can do is watch as the old enemy claw their way towards the summit. What must be especially galling is that the man he recommended to replace him has helped to wave them on past. While Moyes struggles in his first year at Old Trafford, the spotlight begins to shift uncomfortably towards Ferguson and his legacy. His trophy cabinet will forever be the stuff of envy for any football manager: at the same time, supporters may increasingly ask themselves why he and the club accepted the patronage of the Glazers? Manchester United’s net spend since their arrivalhas been engulfed by that of their rivals, Manchester City, who have just claimed the Capital One Cup and who look set for several seasons at or near the top of British football. Meanwhile, the Glazers, who for years have essentially used the club as a revolving credit facility, have begun to make large sums of money available, for the acquisitions of Marouane Fellaini and Juan Mata. Watching the falling value of their club, they have realised that their asset needs fresh investment before they continue to strip it. Here’s the interesting thing, though. Moyes was presumably given the job because the Glazers were seeking to spend as little as possible in pursuit of success, and because they were attracted by his ability to perform well with small budgets. But with each protest by a former Manchester United player -- most recently, Peter Schmeichel and Roy Carroll -- that the current squad are letting Moyes down, the business case for Moyes’ hire looks less robust. In theory, even with a group with several players in decline, Moyes should have come in the door and inspired them to greater heights than they thought capable. That is what the very best managers do. Arsene Wenger has been credited with prolonging the careers of his back four when he arrived at Highbury, several of whom thought that their days were numbered under the Frenchman. The whole point of Moyes coming to Old Trafford was that he was supposed to represent a continuation of the club’s success. Robin van Persie’s assessment of things after the Olympiakos defeat is not what he or his paymasters had in mind. What has happened, it seems, is that Ferguson may have underestimated Moyes’ ability to inspire players of the very highest calibre. Tim Cahill, the former Everton midfielder, spoke rousingly in January of Moyes’ excellent man-management skills, but the more damning verdict was offered recently by ESPN’s own Raphael Honigstein, who stated that a source at the club had told him that Moyes “has completely lost the dressing room.” From one perspective, this is no bad thing for the club: they can merely argue that this squad was long overdue an overhaul, and that the players privately voicing their disaffection are those who would be sold off anyway. The problem with this analysis, however, is that plenty of the younger players, particularly right-back Rafael, have cause for grievance as to how they have been deployed. Even if the Glazers dismiss this apparent act of dressing-room insubordination as mere petulance, they will still have to reflect that their choice of Moyes as manager is not nearly so safe or conservative as they had initially thought. The comparison with Manchester City is damning: their local rivals bought four players this summer, three of which have been either spectacular successes (Alvaro Negredo and Ferdinandinho) or at least very good (Jesus Navas); and the team’s improvement under a new manager, Manuel Pellegrini, has been marked. The question again arises as to what Ferguson is thinking. He was probably the most enthusiastic sponsor of Moyes’ appointment on the Manchester United board; yet one wonders if, somewhere amid that legendary, championship-winning stubbornness, there are the small beginnings of regret.
Posted on: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 14:40:41 +0000
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