After only nine months, Manchester United has ended the reign of David Moyes, firing him today. The official statement from the club said simply:
Manchester United has announced that David Moyes has left the Club.
The Club would like to place on record its thanks for the hard work, honesty and integrity he brought to the role.
United legend Ryan Giggs will take over until a permanent is made.
United did not exactly cover themselves in glory with the way they handled this over the last 24 hours. Everyone on Fleet Street had the story yesterday that Moyes was going to be fired but the club hung Moyes out to dry for almost 24 hours before making it official. I have to think that if David Gill had been in charge and not Ed Woodward that this would have been a cleaner decision.
The sacking was inevitable after Sunday’s disastrous performance at Everton. There was no passion, no pride, no tactical plan from United. It seemed like the players and mangers were going through the motions, and that is something that it unacceptable at a club like United.
Some Moyes supporters will point out that he did not have the time to get his own players in, and that he inherited an average squad. Not true. David Moyes inherited the champions of England, a squad that won the title by double digit points a year ago, and spent over £60m upgrading that team. This is not a seventh place squad.
As for the idea that he deserved a transition period. Why? Did Ancelotti and Real Madrid, Guardiola at Bayern or Blanc at PSG get a transition period? No. They were expected to come in and win. The expectations were the same for David Moyes .
What frustrated me the most about this season was the lack of progress. As the season went on, I could not see a United style of play, was United a team that attacked down the flanks, or one that sat deep and counter attacked?
More worrying was that the longer that Moyes and his coaching staff worked with the players was the worse that they played. With the defeat at Everton at the weekend, United have lost 10 times since January 1, in 22 games. Never mind losing 10 times in a season. Moyes managed to do that in four months!
Strangely I think the United job is actually more appealing to managers now than it was a year ago, even without Champions League football. Who ever comes in will be following in David Moyes’s footsteps, not Fergies. And the new manager will given what is expected to be a £200m transfer kitty, something that wasn’t available a year ago.
