Didn't Jurgen Klopp say that Kagawa was one of the World's best players and it makes him sad that Utd don't play him properly? You don't think he'd be a better option than Naismith or Pienaar in our squad?
I think you're giving Moyes too much credit there to be honest. United weren't a side in freefall when he took over, they'd just won the league by 11 points. You could say it was a poor side that won it and other sides threw it away but they still won it by 11 points. That's quite a margin.
Add to that Utd aren't the only side to change their manager this season and Moyes has been given over £70m to add to the squad, which he spent on 2 'marquee' players, do you not think people should expect them to be doing better than they are?
United's main problem is actually appointing Moyes. I used to laugh at people when they said he'd be the new Utd manager, he doesn't tick any of the right boxes, but I was almost celebrating like winning a derby when he left us, after the initial shock of course. When he took Round, Woods and co with him that was the icing on the cake. Moyes had been holding us back for years with his knives to gunfights and glass ceilings.
Ferguson advised him to stick with the coaching set up he already had in place at Old Trafford and Moyes ignored him. That was his first big mistake. There are some big ego's at United and players like Van Persie had a personal relationship with certain coaches as well. You could argue the coaching set up they had, helped the players to over-achieve (if you believe like you said their squad was rubbish), so for Moyes to bin all of the coaches and then bring in the Everton ones, you have to admit as a player you'd be scratching your head thinking how this new management team without a trophy between them was going to work, and feeling bad that people you enjoyed a close working relationship with had been let go. Ferguson commanded instant respect for his achievements alone, never mind his personality. Moyes has neither of those things, no matter how much he tries to emulate Sir Alex.
Sir Alex had built a squad that was made to attack. He knew it had limitations and the centre of his midfield was poor, so he bombarded teams and forced them on the back foot. He used pace out wide to get behind sides and they had a never say die attitude. He always said about this recent side, that while some sides might win more of the bigger games, Utd were better at beating everyone else. That's because of the way he set them up. Sides would go to Old Trafford and 'just be happy to get out of there alive'.
Fast forward to this season and sides have been turning up at Old Trafford and realising that Utd no longer played on the front foot, instead they were more cautious, lacked pace in wide areas and sat back. So teams opened up to attack them and suddenly sides were coming away with results. Momentum builds and Utd suddenly lose confidence, in not just themselves but also the management team (who admitted to over training key players, who then ended up injured).
The job was far too big for Moyes, he'd used the media to create a positive image of himself while at Everton and because no one is really that arsed about us in the media, no one really looked any deeper. Perhaps in his last season a few voices outside of Everton fans started to question what a lot of fans had been saying for a while. But by this point he was already best mates with Fergie waiting on the day his new job would be announced.
While he has always had a way he likes his teams to set up, he has never really deviated from that style and has never been a tactical manager. His Everton side basically picked itself, work hard and hopefully a bit of magic from someone will change a tight game. He was so scared of change that he gave out long lucrative contracts to players so that his squad didn't change too much. There were no egos just a group of hard working professionals, as anyone who didn't fit the mould was quickly despatched.
At United he started talking about how they are known to play with width etc. but in truth Moyes has never played with width at Everton. Always central midfield players in wide positions to tuck in and pack the midfield, making the side difficult to beat. His style of football doesn’t create good chances to win games, it's almost a war of attrition. How many times did he bemoan 'missed chances' as the reason for not winning games, if only he could break that glass ceiling and have money to spend on better players. If you can't compete with someone then find another way to win. He couldn't.
So now at United he's forced to play with width which is almost alien to him. He begins with the pacey wide players but he asks them to pull inside and have the full backs overlap, which is his Everton instructions. But neither the wide players or the full backs are suited to this, and the centre of the midfield is physically too slow to pick up the pieces. So he changes it and tries more technical players out wide, who don't have the pace. But because of that lack of pace, they aren't able to tuck in quick enough when they don't have the ball. The side now has no identity and no confidence. People are no longer afraid to play Utd because they know how vulnerable they are. All of those records that have been broken at Old Trafford this season would not have been broken had Fergie still been there. No chance.
His failure in the transfer market in the Summer forced his hand with Fellaini. Moyes always thought that more money would mean he could attract better players, but in truth players have options these days. Like when Bryan Robson was at Boro, some players tend to choose the managers they want to work with rather than just the clubs. So Utd failed to get any of their top targets and were made to look foolish in paying over the odds for Fellaini. Fellaini was doomed from the start for that very reason. In January, Mourinho played Moyes perfectly. Moyes knew he had to bring in a big 'marquee player' to show that he was able to attract them. Mourinho made it be known publicly that Mata was surplus to requirements. The media put 2+2 together and suddenly Moyes has his big chance. He pays over the odds for Mata. And just like in his time at Everton when he signed players with no real idea of how they would fit in to his system (mostly with strikers granted) he was left with a small, slow technically very gifted no. 10 player to compete for a starting place with Wayne Rooney, arguably the one player who was still trying to perform at United. So Moyes tries to turn Mata in to Steven Pienaar. Just like Martinez said about Barkley, we focus on what he can do rather than the things he isn't as good at, Moyes does exactly the opposite. Square pegs - round holes.
Given Utd aren't in the Man City league of riches and every penny needs to count. Would you give Moyes big money to spend this Summer, given that he's already paid £70m+ for players who don't really fit in to the system or are what they need, and who gave Nani a 5 year contract extension and then barely played him, then let Vidic, Evra and Ferdinand leave for nothing? No chance, he'll be lucky to last the season. United will be looking to recruit Jurgen Klopp in the Summer in the hope that he can bring with him some of his best Dortmund players, before Bayern snap them all up. Klopp must be after a new challenge and United just might suit him, as obviously they have massive potential.
Some United fans have already turned their attention to Fergie for his part in this, it won’t be long before that turns to the board as well, and that will only highlight the financial model of their ownership and everything that entails. The Glazer’s won’t want that, easier to just bring in a new charismatic manager and give him some money to rebuild the squad.
