It was a bad result against Olympiakos. It was a poor performance.
But Manchester United will not rush to sack David Moyes.
They will give him time to develop his own team and make it successful. It's what they did with Alex Ferguson, and they will do so again.
There's no denying that Manchester United's season has been disappointing. When you've won everything and you're used to winning trophy after trophy for season after season, of course it's disappointing to suddenly find yourselves out of League Cup, FA Cup, sixth in the League, likely to be knocked out of the Champions League, and with little hope of qualifying for it for next season.
Of course, most clubs would dream of being sixth in the League, having reached the semi-finals of the League Cup, and still be in the last 16 round of the Champions League, but Manchester United are not most clubs.
Most clubs would be itching to sack their manager in such a "failure" of a season. But Manchester United are not most clubs.
For many years, at least, Manchester United will not sack David Moyes.
Showing posts with label David Moyes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label David Moyes. Show all posts
Thursday, 27 February 2014
Thursday, 23 January 2014
Manchester United: simply not good enough
It's all gone wrong for Manchester United.
Dumped out of the League Cup at the semi-final stage by Sunderland last night, boss David Moyes is hiding his despair very well, simply saying that his team didn't play well enough. However, he must have been absolutely fuming over the way goalkeeper David De Gea fumbled a shot over the line in the last minute of extra time (when a save would have put United through); and he must have been fuming over some woeful penalty kicks in the shoot-out, of which Manchester United scored only one of five.
What's up? Let's have a look at last night's team.
David De Gea (goalkeeper). Mistakes will be made, of course, but De Gea has never truly inspired confidence and doesn't look to be a top-class keeper. He conceded Sunderland's only shot on target last night. 5/10
Rafael (right back): United have struggled to fill this position since Gary Neville got injured some years back. Rafael has some flare, but loses the ball too often and is not strong enough in the tackle or in the air. 5/10
Chris Smalling (centre back): Looks a little ungainly at times, making him slightly unpredictable in his touch. 5/10
Jonny Evans (centre back): Usually sure-footed, he seems to have lost some confidence. Some wayward clearances last night. 6/10
Alex Buttner (left back): Has neither the tackling strength nor the forward forceful movements of Patrice Evra, and was eventually taken off in favour of Evra. 4/10
Adnan Januzaj (winger): Has immense potential, but last night wasn't one of his best, though he did set up the goal. His shooting was wayward. Perhaps too much weight is being put on his young shoulders. 6/10
Michael Carrick (midfield): Over 32 now, Carrick remains an excellent passer of the ball, but is probably past his best. Never one to score many goals, this lack of contribution is hurting United currently. 7/10
Darren Fletcher (midfield): Coming back from injury, 120 minutes was a long stretch for him last night, but he was ineffective on too many occasions. Not what United need right now. 4/10
Shinji Kagawa (midfield): Not up to United's high standards at all. 4/10
Javier Hernandez (forward): Mis-control, mis-timed passes and poor shooting, Chicarito had a bad night, but then came up with a goal in the last seconds (he did nearly miss from five yards, however). 4/10
Danny Welbeck (forward): Lacks power, pace and fizz, but doesn't have a bad scoring record. Not the answer, though. 5/10
Quite simply: they're not good enough. Sir Alex Ferguson may have seen this coming and got out at the right time. Poor David Moyes cannot really be blamed. This is a poor team. Juan Mata can't arrive too soon.
Dumped out of the League Cup at the semi-final stage by Sunderland last night, boss David Moyes is hiding his despair very well, simply saying that his team didn't play well enough. However, he must have been absolutely fuming over the way goalkeeper David De Gea fumbled a shot over the line in the last minute of extra time (when a save would have put United through); and he must have been fuming over some woeful penalty kicks in the shoot-out, of which Manchester United scored only one of five.
What's up? Let's have a look at last night's team.
David De Gea (goalkeeper). Mistakes will be made, of course, but De Gea has never truly inspired confidence and doesn't look to be a top-class keeper. He conceded Sunderland's only shot on target last night. 5/10
Rafael (right back): United have struggled to fill this position since Gary Neville got injured some years back. Rafael has some flare, but loses the ball too often and is not strong enough in the tackle or in the air. 5/10
Chris Smalling (centre back): Looks a little ungainly at times, making him slightly unpredictable in his touch. 5/10
Jonny Evans (centre back): Usually sure-footed, he seems to have lost some confidence. Some wayward clearances last night. 6/10
Alex Buttner (left back): Has neither the tackling strength nor the forward forceful movements of Patrice Evra, and was eventually taken off in favour of Evra. 4/10
Adnan Januzaj (winger): Has immense potential, but last night wasn't one of his best, though he did set up the goal. His shooting was wayward. Perhaps too much weight is being put on his young shoulders. 6/10
Michael Carrick (midfield): Over 32 now, Carrick remains an excellent passer of the ball, but is probably past his best. Never one to score many goals, this lack of contribution is hurting United currently. 7/10
Darren Fletcher (midfield): Coming back from injury, 120 minutes was a long stretch for him last night, but he was ineffective on too many occasions. Not what United need right now. 4/10
Shinji Kagawa (midfield): Not up to United's high standards at all. 4/10
Javier Hernandez (forward): Mis-control, mis-timed passes and poor shooting, Chicarito had a bad night, but then came up with a goal in the last seconds (he did nearly miss from five yards, however). 4/10
Danny Welbeck (forward): Lacks power, pace and fizz, but doesn't have a bad scoring record. Not the answer, though. 5/10
Quite simply: they're not good enough. Sir Alex Ferguson may have seen this coming and got out at the right time. Poor David Moyes cannot really be blamed. This is a poor team. Juan Mata can't arrive too soon.
Monday, 23 September 2013
Not the start Moyes would have wanted
Manchester City stunned Manchester United yesterday afternoon with a 4-1 victory at the Etihad Stadium. The games won (and lost) in five minutes either side of half-time, those goals being scored by Yaya Toure, Sergio Aguero and Samir Nasri.
Apart from that Manchester United must have felt they had reasonable control of the game. But what use is having greater passing success (86.2% to 80.5% in United's favour) or territorial advantage (56.3 % to 43.7% in United's favour) if you're one, two, three, four goals down? None at all.
Wayne Rooney scored a sublime free-kick after 87 minutes, but it was merely a consolation.
It cannot be the start that new manager David Moyes had envisaged. He did bemoan the fixture list when it was published and he won't have changed his mind now. Chelsea (home, 0-0), Liverpool (away, 0-1) and Manchester City have been three extremely tough opponents in the first five league games - too tough for the current Manchester United team.
What must David Moyes do?
He was unlucky yesterday with the late withdrawal of Robin Van Persie, but it was the inability to stop City's rampaging attacks that let him down yesterday. Fellaini must settle in quickly and the wide men (yesterday it was Ashley Young and Antonio Valencia) need to ensure that the full backs have better protection. He also needs more attacking thrust through the centre of midfield.
There are options, and no need for Moyes to panic yet.
Apart from that Manchester United must have felt they had reasonable control of the game. But what use is having greater passing success (86.2% to 80.5% in United's favour) or territorial advantage (56.3 % to 43.7% in United's favour) if you're one, two, three, four goals down? None at all.
Wayne Rooney scored a sublime free-kick after 87 minutes, but it was merely a consolation.
It cannot be the start that new manager David Moyes had envisaged. He did bemoan the fixture list when it was published and he won't have changed his mind now. Chelsea (home, 0-0), Liverpool (away, 0-1) and Manchester City have been three extremely tough opponents in the first five league games - too tough for the current Manchester United team.
What must David Moyes do?
He was unlucky yesterday with the late withdrawal of Robin Van Persie, but it was the inability to stop City's rampaging attacks that let him down yesterday. Fellaini must settle in quickly and the wide men (yesterday it was Ashley Young and Antonio Valencia) need to ensure that the full backs have better protection. He also needs more attacking thrust through the centre of midfield.
There are options, and no need for Moyes to panic yet.
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