It's all been said. Fergie bought RVP to protect the last year of his legacy and it worked. Can you blame him on one hand? I mean he built it from scratch so why should he gift the next guy anything. Either he's good enough or not. Bit cheeky IMO to hang around upstairs and watch the new guy struggle with what you left him though.... To call for Moyes head so soon is silly though. He's no Roy blaming fans, insisting that all you should expect is mediocrity. He was between a rock and a hard place. Imagine if he'd made sweeping changes to a championship winning team and you were still in this spot now? There'd be just as many accusing him of dismantling a winning Fergie side. If it's planned, I think he's been smart. This is Fergies side that's poor not his and he's let you see it. If and when he goes through a couple of real transfer Windows, starts shaping his own team and improves from this year (which isn't even close to being over BTW!) Then he can say it's HIS team that's successful not merely him caretaking Fergies last team. Give him 3 transfer Windows at the very least!
Can't see him being on the other side of the glass anytime soon frank so let him look at his picture of Fergies charity shield with pride.
http://www.physioroom.com/news/english_premier_league/epl_injury_table.php To be fair Man Utd have one of the best injury records in the league, with only RVP and Carrick out (Fletcher is a long term condition not an injury). Only 3 teams have better than that, and none of them are above Man Utd. RVP is just crocked. Last season's health was a fluke aberration.
Moyes needs time to build HIS team, end of story. United's current team isn't the strongest it's ever been by any means, it's also entirely based round the way Fergie wanted HIS teams to play. This being said, I still think Moyes should be getting in the top four with no problems. Definitely should've been allowed to make more signings in the summer. I am baffled at people complaining that not enough top quality young English players are coming through youth systems, it's down to the fact that managers don't get the time to play them when they're being judged after 14 games!
And the uninjured season before that? And the one before that? The last time he had a notable injury was 2010. Crocked my arse.
RVP's had two injuries, lets wait a while to see if its a consistent thing or if he just picked up two knocks. Rooney has been more petulant, but also he's playing the best football he's played in a long long time. I think he's got the fire back in his belly, and the downside is he's going to be doing some stupid things and get sent off, fined, and possibly retroactively banned at points during this season. Luckily we have another word class CF to take his spot. Ill give you half of that list as not being good enough. Vidic, Rio, Jones, Chicharito, and possibly Smalling are good enough to play at United. People seem to write off Smalling's performances while Vidic was injured. He's getting judged off of his many appearances at RB. In the end who cares, that's a list of squad players, and it's a squad game. I'm sure half of the teams in the PL's squad wouldn't make it in our U21 team. Piqué left for two reasons. 1). Rio and Vidic were at that point the best CB pairing in the world, and there was no way he was going to break their partnership up. 2). He was homesick, he went up to Fergie and asked if the club would let him return back to Barcelona. This are facts piqué himself has openly admitted.
Moyes needs time to bring in his own players especially a creative centre mid as carrick alone is not enough. Most of all though we just need some more consistency and a little more cutting edge, too many times this year we havent taken our chances when they have come. To my mind thats the only damning thing this year, as lets face it we were defensively shocking at times last year and the midfield problem was already there, last year the RVP Rooney etc were just taking more of their chances, hopefully that will change and maybe a few additions in january will give a boost. ultimately Moyes needs time and fans need to be patient and follow SAFs advice to stand by our manager
It will be difficult to do the required business (a couple of quality midfielders) in January, give him at least 2 more transfer windows
Sell us Rooney, play Fellaini in his best position off the striker, bring Scholes back out of retirement again and everyone's a winner....
Aye, hardly any major signings happen in January. Not unheard of, but pretty rare, as a lot of the big players are cup tied for European Competitions etc. Its also a lot harder for players to adjust to a new club (and especially a new league if they are foreign) in January because the games come thick and fast, they dont get a summer of training with their new team and playing some friendlies, they are expected to just hit the ground running, which isn't always good. Personally, I feel that Moyes should get this whole season at least, and Utd shouldnt even consider sacking him until this season is over (You dont want to end up like us), regardless of where Utd finish. Unless it looks like you are being pulled into a relegation battle, which isn't going to happen.
Jan is helpful for clubs with smaller squads for instance to adjust for injuries they may have picked up etc but as above, very rarely is business done in Jan that dramatically effects the course of a top club - as the kind of players are rarely available that would make a difference. You're not going to get a modric or fabregas in January.
I mostly agree, but sometimes it's not about the quality of the player, but rather the impact. We signed Evra and Vidic in January 06, turned out pretty nicely I'd say. Our short loan period with Henrik Laarson kick started our season. Landon Donavon has had two loan stints at Everton starting in January that have turned their season around. You're right we won't sign the world class midfielder, but hopefully we can sign someone that will have a positive impact on our season.
I dont see how the squad can take the majority of the blame. The starting line up last night, far from our best line up, had 60 Premier League winners medals between them. This is a side that SAF took too 89 points twice, winning one title and losing the other on goal difference. A poor squad would be the one we had with the Djemba brothers, Miller and Fortune in our midfield. The current side is far far better. The issue is Moyes seems incapable of motivating them, something SAF could do, something I suspect a whole host of managers would have no issue doing. That is one of the biggest parts of a managers jobs, motivating his players. Should Moyes go? No, simply because there is nobody available now who we can realistically get. If a genuinely top class manager suddenly became available then who knows.
If it is a case of the players not trusting or believing in Moyes then theres little that can be done. Some of his decisions this season have been bonkers. The substitutions against Southampton. Leaving Welbeck on yesterday when he was the worst player on the pitch. Setting up defensively in games we shouldnt be doing. even when Fergie picked similar sides, it was with the intention to attack, be it via a counter or through controlling the game. Moyes seems to be surrendering the game before its even started at times.
