Top Ten ways David Moyes reign will be defined 10.Keeping control of the dressing room As we saw with Paolo Di Canio’s Sunderland once you ‘lose the dressing room’ the players will stop performing. David Moyes is well respected within football and has been successful with his previous teams and so this is unlikely. Even so, with big names in the squad with different personalities it will be a new challenge to manage all of the different egos. Possibly David Moyes biggest success so far has been reviving Wayne Rooney from a player who wanted to leave into the team’s chief performer. However there are rumours that Robin Van Persie is unsettled due to new training methods. 9. Players taking responsibility Rooney has been the outstanding performer for United this Season with Adnan Januzaj injecting moments of magic in his breakthrough season. Too many players however, are not performing, many of them full internationals with lots of experience in the champions league. One of Sir Alex Fergusons greatest strengths was getting the best out of his players, can Moyes do the same? 8. The Boardrooms trust With Sir Bobby Charlton, Ed Woodward and Sir Alex Ferguson in the boardroom David Moyes has been guaranteed the time he needs to be successful. On that front he does not need to worry and will probably outlast many of his players at the club. However qualification for the Champions League must be a minimum expectation and United currently lie in 7th place in the Premiership. Source Being booed off against Swansea in the FA Cup loss one can only wonder how long even the most faithful of fans can sit and watch their team struggle against teams they used to beat comfortably. The fans usually look for a scapegoat and that person is usually the manager. Moyes has a very supportive club behind him but the clock is always ticking for success. Rumours are Jürgen Klopp has already been mooted as a potential successor. 6. Luis Nani In the 2010-2011 season Nani was named in the Professional Footballers Associations Team of the Year and also won the clubs player’s player of the year award. After recently signing a lucrative 5 year contract, Moyes must have seen something he likes. A revival in form could see United gain some much needed momentum going forward. 5. Style of Play With a style of play currently more akin to an unfashionable traditional Sunday league team, something needs to change. Paul Scholes has never been replaced and a world class playmaker needs to be introduced as soon as possible, a player like Juan Mata would be perfect. He could provide the link between midfield and attack which is currently missing as Shinji Kagawa has failed to impress since his arrival from Borussia Dortmund. At the moment Wayne Rooney is over- compensating and dropping deep trying to fulfil other player’s roles when he is needed in attack. 4.Defensive Continuity Rotating five Centre backs so frequently is preventing any relationship been built between the defence. Conceding ‘easy’ goals all too often is damaging the Premier League Champions title chase. Two or three centre backs should be picked consistently to build some solidarity and confidence. 3. Robin Van Persie’s fitness Top scorer in the Premier League last season, the more games he plays and the more games United will win. Rumours are building that Van Persie isn’t happy with the emphasis Moyes puts on fitness during training sessions. A succession of injuries has negatively affected his season and only time will tell whether Van Persie can impact the team positively by staying injury free. Conversely, Wayne Rooney seems to be thriving under the new training methods so perhaps Van Persie has just had a run of bad luck. 2.Selling Players There are too many players at Manchester United who are not good enough. Simply put they need replacing with better quality otherwise qualification for the Champions league may be more of a pipe dream. All of the English competition for Champions League qualification has strengthened their squads and United’s only major summer signing Marouane Fellaini has failed to have any significant impact thus far. 1. Signings You can only play with the hand your given and David Moyes has inherited a squad in which Sir Alex Ferguson has seemingly enjoyed the last of its major successes winning the Premier League title last term. The first half of the season has shown the squad is in need of a major overhaul with the likes of Tom Cleverly and Nani not at the required standard. Missing out on players such as Thiago Alcântara and Cesc Fàbregas has only highlighted the importance of the current January and upcoming summer transfer window. It is here where Moyes can define himself as the new manager of one of the biggest clubs in the world and announce a new era of success with key signings.
Posted on: Mon, 20 Jan 2014 07:20:44 +0000