David Moyes will be Manchester United manager next season, make no mistake. That is not what this article is about, so do not post on here about wanting him gone, or any of the rest. There are already other threads to do that.
Now then, traditionally, Manchester United have been defined by risky, attacking wing play, and fast entertaining football. Sir Matt Busby embraced these traits when building his teams, and was praised as one of the greats of the game in his time. Sir Alex Ferguson, who many call the greatest football manager ever, took over the club in a period when it had faltered, re-instilled these values, and added in his own fearsome tenacity and aggression to make us one of the most successful clubs in the history of the English game, and utterly dominant over the last two and a half decades domestically.
Following this man is, in my opinion, an almost impossible task, and I believe trying to follow him by playing HIS way, the Manchester United way, is nothing short of unachievable. If Jose Mourinho, the current Chelsea manager and the man regarded by some as the best manager in football currently, had taken over from the great Scot, you can be sure he wouldn't have tried to follow him by playing the same way. He would have brought with him his own brand of football and changed Manchester United's methods. Whether he would have been successful is anyone's guess. Ask me if he would have been accepted, and I believe that the traditionalists who know and care about the clubs roots, the clubs philosophies, and in some the clubs cases moral obligations would have found Jose's personality and his take on the game in direct contrast to what Manchester United stand for. Youth promotion and attack first, defence second would have been all but stopped, as has always been the way with Mourinho's clubs. The casual fans, and also those who see tradition as less important than success in the present and immediate, would have been far more eager to open arms to the new ethos someone like Mourinho would bring. They would not mind seeing United go 1-0 up at Old Trafford on 30 minutes and shut down the game, attempting to ensure victory by strangling the life out of the contest, and would be thrilled at the idea of signing new multi-million pound megastars every summer.
In spite of me feeling strongly on one side of the debate, the fact is that neither are right, nor wrong. I would struggle greatly with seeing United ignore the gifted 19 year old from the youth team, in favour of the 40 million pound player from abroad. Far more "Pogba" situations would happen regularly than ever before, and seeing this sort of thing happen while watching United play conservative, get-the-lead-and-hold-it football would not be at all what I believe supporting United is about. Equally, success at a club like Manchester United is of massive, crucial importance, and after this current campaign, I expect nothing short of a vicious response from the club as we hope to tear back our crown, and our throne.
Whether this can be achieved by imitating Sir Alex, or by Moyes finding his own way and being allowed to free himself from the BURDEN of "the Manchester United way" for a few seasons, is what I hope we can debate.
Does he sacrifice what he needs to in the short term, whether it be youth promotion, attacking style, flying wing-play, a focus on British and Irish talent, wage and fees caps, the soul of the club, whatever he deems necessary, in order to ride through this turbulent time in Manchester United history, so he can bring us back to our traditions in the future when the storm has passed. Or does he choose to be a manager set on protecting the beliefs and ideals of the club he manages above all else, and maybe even sacrifice himself and his own ambitions of being a great and successful Manchester United leader, by unintentionally making himself a buffer between the incomparable Alex Ferguson, and the man, whoever it may be, to next lead us into a new phase of glory in the clubs history. Potentially dooming himself to failure, for the values of a family he has just become a part of?
Could that be the true fate of "the chosen one"?
Should Moyes change the United philosophy?
posted on 19/4/14
Moyes is awful. Most Utd fans seem to have accepted this. Why haven't you? Martinez is proving that by playing great football with Moyes' old players and challenging for the CL.
As much as it is very funny to watch, I'd rather be fighting it out with Utd at the top of the table than Chelsea and City. He is your Souness, and the sooner you get rid the better it will be. Unlike us when we had Souness, you do have the money (apparently) to get in good players.
posted on 19/4/14
People criticising him on here aren't doing it without a validated reason.
This season has been nothing short of atrocious, in relation to our previous seasons. Very similar squad. Anyone who's saying the squad has aged, well yes, that's correct- the whole squad has aged, so the older players got older to the detriment of the squad, but the inexperienced and younger players gained a years experience so that could be argued as a positive to negate the negative
posted on 19/4/14
comment by The Number 4 Shirt. (U19487)
posted 22 minutes ago
I could write an article on why Moyes is a good manager, but it's much easier to look him up + read what former players + fans of his teams have said. Tons of info out there and Ferguson did t just pick him "because he was Scottish", contrary to popular belief. I think his best quality as a manager is his ability to knit teams together and get the players playing for each other. He's not the whole package yet imo, but nothing like the terrible manager he's been made out to be after 1 season struggling in the situation he's in.
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I have not called Moyes a terrible manager even though he is doing a terrible job. I have said he is not capable at this level.
I would suggest you read what Jagielka, Howard, Stones, Barkley have said recently about Martinez in comparison to Moyes.
Baines refusing to leave Everton to join the manager extraordinaire should also tell you a lot.
I met an Everton fan on a business trip last week and he's still laughing that we bought donkeyfro
posted on 19/4/14
comment by Shinjisshin (U1700)
posted 27 minutes ago
People criticising him on here aren't doing it without a validated reason.
This season has been nothing short of atrocious, in relation to our previous seasons. Very similar squad. Anyone who's saying the squad has aged, well yes, that's correct- the whole squad has aged, so the older players got older to the detriment of the squad, but the inexperienced and younger players gained a years experience so that could be argued as a positive to negate the negative
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Only our squad has aged my good man, all the other teams have been hiding in a space-time continuum and have not aged a bit
posted on 19/4/14
For Moyes to change the Utd philosophy, he needs one of his own.
What is that philosophy my good man?
posted on 19/4/14
comment by The God Fowler - Farewell to the irreplaceable, the one and only, Jamie Carragher (U2538)
posted 1 hour, 49 minutes ago
Moyes is awful. Most Utd fans seem to have accepted this. Why haven't you? Martinez is proving that by playing great football with Moyes' old players and challenging for the CL.
As much as it is very funny to watch, I'd rather be fighting it out with Utd at the top of the table than Chelsea and City. He is your Souness, and the sooner you get rid the better it will be. Unlike us when we had Souness, you do have the money (apparently) to get in good players.
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Scouser with more sense than some of our fans
posted on 19/4/14
Curb the condescension. You aren't correct in saying Moyes is incapable and will never be, anymore than Fergie was in saying he was and will grow into his role. Moyes philosophy at Everton was to be hard working, solid and very difficult to beat. At United, that will have to evolve and change. But one summer isn't enough to do it. We have played better towards the end of the season, and Moyes has shown bravery at times with his changes. Like I said on a thread the other day, I will make my final call on Moyes AFTER this pre-season. I want to see how he handles this summer, and I won't be distracted by us signing big names. If they are the wrong players. Personally, I believe Mata was the worse signing Moyes made this season. I don't think he'll cut it as a United player. Neither will Fellaini, but Mata will be around longer and actually do more harm in the long term, in spite of him being a fabulously gifted player. I've digressed, you are entitled to think what you want about Moyes, about me and about my article, but after seeing that embarrassment of an article by Stretty when I came to log back on, I'm surprised more people haven't tired of him quickly and got rid of him from their experience of the site. He gave his opinion, was thanked for it + asked to be respectful towards my club + manager of my article, refused + insulted me, and then after I said "Your opinion, that's cool" he posted a tirade of utter carp about Moyes that was blatant propaganda against him, without considering any of the opposing arguments or mitigating factors. People with such an extreme agent can't be reasoned with, so I deleted his post + blocked him, knowning I'd beer get a stimulating dabate out of him. Next thing I know his toys are out of the pram and there's an article about me being "a broad". Ridiculous child that one.
posted on 19/4/14
Agent = agenda
Beer = never
Smartphones...
posted on 18/7/14
David Moyes will be Manchester United manager next season, make no mistake
Love this article.
posted on 18/7/14
What name did you use to have OP?