Moyes So Far!
- Thread starter RedTillI'mDead
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Totally agree with this part. Not sure about the first part though. Liverpool still hasn't got back most of the £35m they paid for Carroll.
Replies to self - someone sent it to me - it is an interesting article so I'm reposting!
Much of this week has been spent revisiting A Strange Kind of Glory, Eamon Dunphy’s incomparable book about Sir Matt Busby. It is an extraordinary work — part biography, part fly-on-the-dressing-room-wall as Dunphy was a reserve-team player at Manchester United in the early 1960s — and laced throughout with detail so rich as to leave the reader sensing the whiff of old leather boots, dubbin, cheap Scotch and Woodbines.
The highlights are numerous, from pay disputes to allegations of a match-fixing culture to the strained relationship between Bobby Charlton and George Best and the vulgar way some players lampooned Busby while he was struggling to rebuild the team in the years after the Munich tragedy. It is, all of it, a reminder of what merciless places dressing rooms can be, riven by self-interest and politics, even at those clubs where legends of collectivism persist.
Pertinently, given the present situation at United, Dunphy is fascinating on what happened after Busby stepped down as manager. He is in no doubt, like others he spoke to, that Busby’s overbearing influence hindered Wilf McGuinness and Frank O’Farrell, his immediate successors. That, though, is a well-established part of the Old Trafford story, trotted out frequently and casually with regard to what is happening now, with Sir Alex Ferguson in the background while David Moyes, his hand-picked replacement, founders on the touchline.
Of all the intriguing observations about life post-Busby, and how they might relate to life post-Ferguson, the one that runs deepest relates to dressing room, not boardroom. Dunphy quotes Best talking about “the back-stabbing going on” and how “most of the younger lads” tried for McGuinness, “but the older ones didn’t”.
Dunphy tells how, when Busby announced in the gym at the training ground that he would be taking charge once more, with McGuinness stepping aside, a young Brian Kidd turned to the older players and said: “You lousy bastards. You’ve let him down.”
It is not immediately obvious whether there would be any United player willing to stand up for Moyes in the way that Kidd did for McGuinness, but it is fair to suggest that an air of apathy among senior players is common to both regimes — and indeed to Liverpool’s sharp decline in the early 1990s after Graeme Souness replaced Kenny Dalglish.
One figure at United observed as early as September, after back-to-back defeats by Manchester City and West Bromwich Albion, that certain players were “hiding” behind the change of manager. They were feeling sorry for themselves, he said, too busy bemoaning the new regime to give it a chance. Too many, including the previously redoubtable captain, Nemanja Vidic, seemed to be losing the fire from their bellies.
Vidic became disgruntled when tentative talks over an extension to his contract, which was to expire in June, became a lower priority than securing a huge new deal for Wayne Rooney. The hesitation over Vidic, though, was based in part on uncertainty over whether either side had the appetite for a new deal. His long-term commitment had been questioned even before he announced at training one morning last month — not the mutual parting of the ways painted by Moyes — that he will be joining Inter Milan in the summer, which makes it look a little disingenuous to retain him as captain in the meantime.
It looks like awful planning for United to have gone into this season with their three senior defenders (Vidic, Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra) in the final year of their contracts and seemingly on their way out while the youngish pretenders (Rafael Da Silva, Jonny Evans, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling) continue to pick up injuries at a rate rivalled only by Arsenal’s midfield. Ferdinand has struggled to adjust physically, and one would assume psychologically, to being used sparingly while being phased out. Evra has looked committed, but weary.
Michael Carrick, not for the first time, has gone into his shell. United’s fans like to serenade him with a chant of how “it’s hard to believe it’s not Scholes”. It was flattering even last season, when his usual composure was accompanied by renewed intensity. This term, as authority disappeared from Carrick’s game, Scholes would be forgiven for seeking out a defamation lawyer. Robin van Persie’s shoulders have slumped, perhaps under the weight of a Rooney-sized chip, though injuries have been a factor. As for Ryan Giggs, an excellent performance against Olympiacos has not quelled whispers of his frustrations, as player-coach, with life under Moyes.
It is, of course, a manager’s job to connect with and energise his players. Any loss of motivation not only reflects badly on a manager but undermines him, particularly when his predecessor was so strong in that regard. How many United players, though, can reflect with any degree of self-satisfaction on their efforts this season? Nani? Ashley Young? Hardly. They, along with the departed Anderson, took unhappy residence in a comfort zone under Ferguson, but can hardly claim to have embraced the new regime.
Ferguson, it is said, feels saddened by the lamentable efforts of some of the players he left behind. Even when there was barely concealed unhappiness with Luiz Felipe Scolari and André Villas-Boas at Chelsea, they rarely performed as limply as United have at Old Trafford of late; if anything, the malcontents at Chelsea appeared at times to perform with greater intensity, almost in defiance of an unpopular manager and of distrusted team-mates, rather than less.
Again, it is instructive to turn to the pages of A Strange Kind of Glory. “It’s wrong to say we didn’t try [for McGuinness],” Denis Law is quoted as saying. “There was a vacuum. All of a sudden we’ve got blackboards, the team-talks become very complicated. We’re worried about the opposition, their free kicks, their throw-ins, their corner kicks. People started to worry before games. We didn’t flow any more. Fear crept in.”
That sounds very familiar — and you will not find me expressing any admiration for United’s playing style under Moyes, not least because it is almost impossible to discern — but it keeps coming back to what Kidd said about his older team-mates’ efforts for McGuinness. Similarly, the late Bill Foulkes, in his autobiography, wrote that “quite simply the players were ready to bust a gut for [Busby]”, but “they never did that as a unit” for McGuinness, who “was a long, long way from rejoicing in the universal support of his entire staff”.
Privately, Moyes might recognise that. It is why, when a low-flying aircraft flies over Old Trafford during this afternoon’s match against Aston Villa, bearing a banner suggesting that he is sacked, the former Everton manager would be forgiven for feeling resentment towards his players.
This week, the Manchester Evening News asked its readers who is to blame for the “United crisis” (at which point you have to remind yourself that, despite their truly abject Premier League form, they will contest a Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday). More than half said Moyes, while 21.8 per cent, strikingly, said Ferguson. Of the remainder, 15.8 per cent pointed the finger at the players and just 6.9 per cent blamed the Glazer family, who own the club.
It was just a shame you could not tick more than one box; if the word out of United is that the board sympathises with Moyes because he was left with a squad short on class, then have the Glazers forgotten that, while spending more than £550 million of the club’s money since 2005 on propping up their parasitic regime, they severely reduced Ferguson’s ability to leave his successor with a squad full of top-grade players?
Moyes is struggling severely enough to believe that he may never recover the authority that has been lost over the course of this dreadful Barclays Premier League campaign. Indeed, it is legitimate to ask whether he had that authority in the first place. If the obvious answer is that it was his job to earn the players’ respect, then, yes, this is true, but perhaps that says as much about them — and about footballers in general, both in the Busby days and now — as it does him.
The highlights are numerous, from pay disputes to allegations of a match-fixing culture to the strained relationship between Bobby Charlton and George Best and the vulgar way some players lampooned Busby while he was struggling to rebuild the team in the years after the Munich tragedy. It is, all of it, a reminder of what merciless places dressing rooms can be, riven by self-interest and politics, even at those clubs where legends of collectivism persist.
Pertinently, given the present situation at United, Dunphy is fascinating on what happened after Busby stepped down as manager. He is in no doubt, like others he spoke to, that Busby’s overbearing influence hindered Wilf McGuinness and Frank O’Farrell, his immediate successors. That, though, is a well-established part of the Old Trafford story, trotted out frequently and casually with regard to what is happening now, with Sir Alex Ferguson in the background while David Moyes, his hand-picked replacement, founders on the touchline.
Of all the intriguing observations about life post-Busby, and how they might relate to life post-Ferguson, the one that runs deepest relates to dressing room, not boardroom. Dunphy quotes Best talking about “the back-stabbing going on” and how “most of the younger lads” tried for McGuinness, “but the older ones didn’t”.
Dunphy tells how, when Busby announced in the gym at the training ground that he would be taking charge once more, with McGuinness stepping aside, a young Brian Kidd turned to the older players and said: “You lousy bastards. You’ve let him down.”
It is not immediately obvious whether there would be any United player willing to stand up for Moyes in the way that Kidd did for McGuinness, but it is fair to suggest that an air of apathy among senior players is common to both regimes — and indeed to Liverpool’s sharp decline in the early 1990s after Graeme Souness replaced Kenny Dalglish.
One figure at United observed as early as September, after back-to-back defeats by Manchester City and West Bromwich Albion, that certain players were “hiding” behind the change of manager. They were feeling sorry for themselves, he said, too busy bemoaning the new regime to give it a chance. Too many, including the previously redoubtable captain, Nemanja Vidic, seemed to be losing the fire from their bellies.
Vidic became disgruntled when tentative talks over an extension to his contract, which was to expire in June, became a lower priority than securing a huge new deal for Wayne Rooney. The hesitation over Vidic, though, was based in part on uncertainty over whether either side had the appetite for a new deal. His long-term commitment had been questioned even before he announced at training one morning last month — not the mutual parting of the ways painted by Moyes — that he will be joining Inter Milan in the summer, which makes it look a little disingenuous to retain him as captain in the meantime.
It looks like awful planning for United to have gone into this season with their three senior defenders (Vidic, Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra) in the final year of their contracts and seemingly on their way out while the youngish pretenders (Rafael Da Silva, Jonny Evans, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling) continue to pick up injuries at a rate rivalled only by Arsenal’s midfield. Ferdinand has struggled to adjust physically, and one would assume psychologically, to being used sparingly while being phased out. Evra has looked committed, but weary.
Michael Carrick, not for the first time, has gone into his shell. United’s fans like to serenade him with a chant of how “it’s hard to believe it’s not Scholes”. It was flattering even last season, when his usual composure was accompanied by renewed intensity. This term, as authority disappeared from Carrick’s game, Scholes would be forgiven for seeking out a defamation lawyer. Robin van Persie’s shoulders have slumped, perhaps under the weight of a Rooney-sized chip, though injuries have been a factor. As for Ryan Giggs, an excellent performance against Olympiacos has not quelled whispers of his frustrations, as player-coach, with life under Moyes.
It is, of course, a manager’s job to connect with and energise his players. Any loss of motivation not only reflects badly on a manager but undermines him, particularly when his predecessor was so strong in that regard. How many United players, though, can reflect with any degree of self-satisfaction on their efforts this season? Nani? Ashley Young? Hardly. They, along with the departed Anderson, took unhappy residence in a comfort zone under Ferguson, but can hardly claim to have embraced the new regime.
Ferguson, it is said, feels saddened by the lamentable efforts of some of the players he left behind. Even when there was barely concealed unhappiness with Luiz Felipe Scolari and André Villas-Boas at Chelsea, they rarely performed as limply as United have at Old Trafford of late; if anything, the malcontents at Chelsea appeared at times to perform with greater intensity, almost in defiance of an unpopular manager and of distrusted team-mates, rather than less.
Again, it is instructive to turn to the pages of A Strange Kind of Glory. “It’s wrong to say we didn’t try [for McGuinness],” Denis Law is quoted as saying. “There was a vacuum. All of a sudden we’ve got blackboards, the team-talks become very complicated. We’re worried about the opposition, their free kicks, their throw-ins, their corner kicks. People started to worry before games. We didn’t flow any more. Fear crept in.”
That sounds very familiar — and you will not find me expressing any admiration for United’s playing style under Moyes, not least because it is almost impossible to discern — but it keeps coming back to what Kidd said about his older team-mates’ efforts for McGuinness. Similarly, the late Bill Foulkes, in his autobiography, wrote that “quite simply the players were ready to bust a gut for [Busby]”, but “they never did that as a unit” for McGuinness, who “was a long, long way from rejoicing in the universal support of his entire staff”.
Privately, Moyes might recognise that. It is why, when a low-flying aircraft flies over Old Trafford during this afternoon’s match against Aston Villa, bearing a banner suggesting that he is sacked, the former Everton manager would be forgiven for feeling resentment towards his players.
This week, the Manchester Evening News asked its readers who is to blame for the “United crisis” (at which point you have to remind yourself that, despite their truly abject Premier League form, they will contest a Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday). More than half said Moyes, while 21.8 per cent, strikingly, said Ferguson. Of the remainder, 15.8 per cent pointed the finger at the players and just 6.9 per cent blamed the Glazer family, who own the club.
It was just a shame you could not tick more than one box; if the word out of United is that the board sympathises with Moyes because he was left with a squad short on class, then have the Glazers forgotten that, while spending more than £550 million of the club’s money since 2005 on propping up their parasitic regime, they severely reduced Ferguson’s ability to leave his successor with a squad full of top-grade players?
Moyes is struggling severely enough to believe that he may never recover the authority that has been lost over the course of this dreadful Barclays Premier League campaign. Indeed, it is legitimate to ask whether he had that authority in the first place. If the obvious answer is that it was his job to earn the players’ respect, then, yes, this is true, but perhaps that says as much about them — and about footballers in general, both in the Busby days and now — as it does him.
Can't believe we're giving this clown £200 million quid to spend and allowing him, if the rumours are true, to sack off whatever is left of the class of 92 at the club...
So far we have chased top quality players and a Fellaini. I am sure there will be more of the former and less of the latter.
But we ended up buying only Fellaini.
(Mata was a special case because he pretty much asked for a transfer. We didn't even pursue him that much because of the fear that they ask for Rooney.)
interesting...it gives an insight of what might be going on behind the scenes.
But we ended up buying only Fellaini.
(Mata was a special case because he pretty much asked for a transfer. We didn't even pursue him that much because of the fear that they ask for Rooney.)
We did, didn't we..
I can understand the catastrophe that was the transfer window last time around. There are no excuses this time though. Moyes has had time to pick targets and Woody has more experience. Don't believe there will be any feck-ups.
still Mata could have done a hazard or Lucas and joined someone else. I assume that there were other clubs interestedBut we ended up buying only Fellaini.
(Mata was a special case because he pretty much asked for a transfer. We didn't even pursue him that much because of the fear that they ask for Rooney.)
Fear, that is what I recognise most from this piece about the Moyes regime.
From day one Moyes has been encouraging a sense of fear and uncertainty. His moans about our so-called tough start, the need for 5-6 world class players to win in Europe, the need to make it hard for Newcastle, willingness to accept Liverpool were favourites to beat us at home. There has been an emphasis on what other teams might do to us rather than what we might do to them, and the players are playing like it.
Look at that Law quote about how fear crept in and suddenly things didn't flow. Our players are not playing with the confidence, belief and freedom Ferguson gave them. They all look petrified to give away the ball, petrified to take risks, they'd rather take 10 touches and roll it back to the keeper than take 2 and try and set off an attack. A new mentality has crept it where everything is about not losing, and that comes from the manager: Pienaar's comments about Martinez putting them emphasis on how to hurt the opposition instead of Moyes' how they might hurt us shows that.
Kay tries to blame the players but all the players are doing is reacting to Moyes' negativity. Instead of building up their confidence Moyes fear has eaten away at it. His excuse making and defensiveness has crushed the fighting spirit of our side. The older players aren't failing him. The older players are sticking up for what they believe, rightly, to be the attacking and fearless tradition of Man Utd.
Say what you want about McGuiness and O'Farrell but in the end their approach was proven wrong. It was only when flair returned with Docherty, Atkinson and ultimately Fergie that trophies returned to Old Trafford. For all their talk of solidity did McGuiness, O'Farrell or Sexton give the people of Manchester joy? Did they bring trophies to Man Utd? Moyes is just another one of those defensive managers at a club that believes attack is the best form of defence. Unless he somehow changes he's destined to fail like they did.
so true. anyway we ll know the names of these players come next summer...
Any journalist claiming to know the glazers thoughts is lying. Simple....and they are the only ones who will make the decision. Not saf, bobby, Woodward or anyone else for that matter.
They will consider it come season end. Was it sexton who won 7 in a row but still got shown the door at end of the season? I expect we will see the sane again here....the sacking, obviously not winning 7 in a row, Davey couldn't win 7 in a row on FM in his underground sex bunker.
They will consider it come season end. Was it sexton who won 7 in a row but still got shown the door at end of the season? I expect we will see the sane again here....the sacking, obviously not winning 7 in a row, Davey couldn't win 7 in a row on FM in his underground sex bunker.
Aye - but Keys isn't suggesting that it was some sort of oppressive negativity which filled 'em with this fear. It was a new regime - what made 'em fearful was a loss of familiarity. And they didn't respond well to it, that's what Keys is saying.
This may be true - and it certainly rings true to me - regardless of what one feels about Moyes. There have been rumours about "senior" players not dealing particularly well with the new management for a long time now. And it's not surprising, is it? It's happened before at many clubs. Perhaps Moyes has dealt with it less impressively than A, B or C would have - but the phenomenon itself isn't Moyes' creation.
Don't think it's a huge coincidence that over the last few days where it's been suggested that there were problems with the inherited scouting set up bequeathed by Ferguson that he made sure he had his brother, the man basically in charge of the scouting network, sitting next to him for the entirety of the match
@ #07 it s understandable that change is accompanied by fear. People don't know where they will feature in the new order of things. Some managers like fergie or clough were experts at using fear to their advantage - creating a fear of failure in their players. (to be fair,lately fergie was reported to have mellowed a bit..no more fights with schmikes or hitting becks head).
another hypothesis could be that people like evra,vidic,Río and others could not be motivated by fear anymore because they know that their time will soon be up. Others like rvp simply preferred to focus on next summers world cup finals and on the cl.
another hypothesis could be that people like evra,vidic,Río and others could not be motivated by fear anymore because they know that their time will soon be up. Others like rvp simply preferred to focus on next summers world cup finals and on the cl.
If what's written in the article is true, then there is no way back for Moyes.
Replacing the players he already demoraized with new ones to demoralize wouldn't solve the problem.
Vidic and Giggs would be the last players I'd expect to "revolt", so if they think Moyes is the wrong man, then you pretty much have to change 23 players then..
He can talk all he wants about players letting down their manager, but there is not a single reason why our players would want to do that. They're winners. They were raised by Fergie. Moyes was here to stay for a long time, and Moyes seems like a nice guy (not lately though). Any kind of frustration by the players I would say is at least 90% his own fault.
There is no way our players are more spoilt than the City or the Chelsea players. And even when you compare them to the Everton players who were pretty much in the exact same situation. Martniez didn't struggle to win the support of these players, and is already getting them to put out even better performances than they were before he came..
I understand what he's saying but the specifics he mentioned make no sense.
'We’re worried about the opposition, their free kicks, their throw-ins, their corner kicks. People started to worry before games. We didn’t flow any more. Fear crept in' (Denis Law).
That doesn't sound like a proof point to back up worry about new stuff, that sounds like a proof point to back up how our football is filled with fear. Kay actually talks about our rubbish football in the very next paragraph.
Just look at this Tim Howard quote:
'The manager keeps us bright and bubbly and focused on ourselves. Not always having to look over your shoulder at who is coming next is good.
We work on ourselves and it's a difference. The manager will have some specific areas in which he thinks Tottenham are weak, or Sunderland, Crystal Palace or whoever are weak.
We'll train on trying to exploit them, as opposed to 'Here is what they are going to do to hurt us and this is what we are going to do to defend against them'. That is not in the manager's nature'
http://www1.skysports.com/football/...-howard-praises-everton-boss-roberto-martinez
Thats Tim Howard talking about how Martinez has changed Everton.
Tell me you dont recognise that sense of looking over your shoulder, worrying about the other team, thinking of how we'll defend from Law's quote. Tell me you dont see it from everything that Moyes says and all his negativity around games and needing to make it hard.
Moyes has created this atmosphere, just as McGuiness did. Moyes has created the fear that's clipped our wings and crushed our confidence.
If the players are revolting against it, its cos they know its not the United way and they know it wont be successful. You cannot win titles without daring and risk.
Good point
That Times article. So basically all our problems are because of senior players letting Moyes down? The same players who asked by the new manager to hit long balls and sit deep are the problem really? And the part about Ferguson being disappointed by the players. The same Fergie who ignored our poor midfield for 5 years. The same Ferguson who replaced Ronaldo and Tevez with Obertan, Valencia and Owen, indulged Anderson for 7 years and bought Ashley Young.
So Moyes is going to spend £265 million in his 1st 3 transfer windows? I have a feeling this time next year we will still be in 7th. Moyes will be asking for more time to get his new players settled. I hope our fans will still be singing his name at Old Trafford.
So Moyes is going to spend £265 million in his 1st 3 transfer windows? I have a feeling this time next year we will still be in 7th. Moyes will be asking for more time to get his new players settled. I hope our fans will still be singing his name at Old Trafford.
I agree this £200m is a load of guff, PR planted by united, never going to happen think the most we have ever spent in a window is £50m or so can't see us quadrupling that.
And i agree we seem to be linked with the right players but that is the case almost every year, if we lose out on 1st and 2nd choice targets because of lack of CL, in a scenario with Moyes being a man under even more pressure than this season to hit the ground running and get results.
I could see him scatter gun panic buying hoping to get something decent, he knows he can't use this seasons excuses next season plus clubs will ream us this summer on prices.
£200m could easily be invested unwisely.
There were details that came out after the deal, that Mata wanted to join us, and he told Mourinho about that, and we did ask Chelsea about him, and half heartedly tried to sign him, but he wasn't a target of ours (had he not asked for a transfer and became available), and we didn't even pursue him that much (it was later revealed that we were afraid that they bring up the Rooney issue in the negotiations).
It was a smart business, but something that we didn't look for, but rather something that came our way and we picked it up.
Watching Liverpool, you can see what a good manager can do with available players. No need 200m just for Top 4 aspiration. Laughable thinking and excuse.
After yesterday, I find it laughable that people blame Moyes for his negativity, I would be negative looking at the standard of some of the performances too. But I do feel some things should not be said publicly. However...after listening to Jose and all the negative things he is saying about his team and their chance of not winning the league he isn't exactly a ray of sunshine.
Where's all this money coming from? Was Fergie given access to such a huge amount and, if so, why did he persist in getting inferior players on the cheap? What was that guff about "value in the market" about if he had that kind of money to spend. Why was it necessary to drag Scholes out of retirement when he could have gone out and bought a top-class replacement? I don't think Fergie ignored the problem at all. I just think he was expected to make do with limited funds. He was a manager who could do that and still bring in trophies. Moyes isn't.
They do not. I was being sarcastic.
Maybe it's his attempt at playing mind games with Pep
@#07 just to put you in the perspective if things, Busby used little or no tactics at the time. It s more than natural that when a new coach started giving these new instructions some players were not happy
They are supposed to be genius mind games.
Did you read the full article?
Like:
Again, it is instructive to turn to the pages of A Strange Kind of Glory. “It’s wrong to say we didn’t try [for McGuinness],” Denis Law is quoted as saying. “There was a vacuum. All of a sudden we’ve got blackboards, the team-talks become very complicated. We’re worried about the opposition, their free kicks, their throw-ins, their corner kicks. People started to worry before games. We didn’t flow any more. Fear crept in.”
or
It was just a shame you could not tick more than one box; if the word out of United is that the board sympathises with Moyes because he was left with a squad short on class, then have the Glazers forgotten that, while spending more than £550 million of the club’s money since 2005 on propping up their parasitic regime, they severely reduced Ferguson’s ability to leave his successor with a squad full of top-grade players?
thought so with the footballing intelligence bit but then decided you were serious.
Maybe it's his attempt at playing mind games with Pep
Naah, he's not that stupid. Or wait, scratch that, after his recent comments, he very well could be.
@#07 Yes, all that is possible - but I specifically said that the sort of fear Kay is talking about isn't about negative tactics. Perhaps our players are simply depressed because of Moyes' perceived stone age ideas - I don't know. But reacting negatively to a new manager isn't anything new in football - it's happened many times before, regardless of what brand of football the new man brings with him.
And, yeah - Kay. I meant Kay - not Keys!
And, yeah - Kay. I meant Kay - not Keys!
If Moyes said what Jose is saying we'd be slaughtering him for it.
We could use part of those £200 million quid to pay whatever it takes to get rid of Moyes and bring in someone capable and spend some of the remaining money to strengthen our midfield and defence and be way better off.
Glazernomics.
Glazernomics.
Law doesn't say they were unhappy. Law says they were worried. Law says fear crept in. Its exactly the stuff Tim Howard was talking about. How can you deny it? Howard says they used to be looking over their shoulders, worried about what the other team might do but now they go onto the pitch thinking they'll win.
You telling me you cant see the difference the shift of worrying about what we can do to others, to worrying about what they can do to us hasn't been a major issue?
What I find most worrying is what sort of plan for the future he has nto shape who he buys with that £200m. He waxed lyrical about crossing and all after Fulham, so are we buying wingers? Or are we buying what we really need? And is he going to be confident recruiting players from Europe or simply established PL players (or maybe even unestablished ones)?
I worry about giving him £200m to spend. I really do.
I worry about giving him £200m to spend. I really do.
thought so with the footballing intelligence bit but then decided you were serious.
I added that 'cause that's what Moyes used to justify his position. He didn't mention results or performances or did not mention about what plans he has to turn things around. All he could muster to justify his incompetence is that the football people at United wanted him. The same people who he bashed indirectly when he said that the squad they left behind is poor.
That wasn't mind games from Jose. He, like the rest of us, knows Liverpool will win the league and he lost it. Jose isn't used to coming second.
If some players aren't giving their all, then why are they playing? why haven't they been dropped? Why haven't our fringe players been given a chance?
I'm not saying it's not true, it most likely is. However it tells me that Moyes may be afraid to drop established players, it's something that a manager should never be afraid to do.
If he feels some players are against him then they shouldn't be near the team.
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