02 Feb 2014 15:55:45
When I look at our squad, I see top quality names there; footballers' who, on their day, are match winners in their own right. You stick all these match winners in the same team and in theory, we should have a highly effective, highly clinical, attacking unit. Yes, there are problems, but the sheer attacking prowess at our disposal should be enough to mitigate the flaws in the CM area. Unfortunately, it is not the case; and for some reason, even though on paper we are stronger this season, we are going backwards in terms of our football on the pitch. People can say that the performance from the players' are to blame, but for me, the blame has to lie at the feet of the manager and his coaching staff.

The proofs in the words of Moyes': "I thought we played well today. We got to the' BYLINE' on a number of occasions". That sums up Moyes' footballing philosophy for me. He seems hell bent on using an antiquated system, which is allowing teams like Stoke, Sunderland, WBA, Swansea, Southampton etc, to dominate us, because they have forward thinking managers and tactics.

IMO, Moyes' needs to play his strongest possible lin- up every week. If he is hell-bent on playing with wide players', he needs to play Mata in CM alongside Carrick or Fellaini - preferably Fellaini - with Januzaj and Valencia playing out wide and Rooney and RVP playing up top. Alternatively, Rooney can droop deeper into CM with Mata, to make it a 4141 system; for it is imperative that we get the best out of Mata, and playing him in a more central position will allow him to have a major impact on the game and the way we play.

I for one want to see Moyes' succeed. I am beginning to think he isn't up to the job, but I hope he proves me wrong. He needs to realise that he needs to play his best players' in their best positions. He needs to stop worrying about the opposition and let the opposition worry about us.

It might be too late to salvage our league season in terms of champions league football, but we can still finish on a high by getting better performances out of the players' and building for next season. And you never know: We could win the champions league. After all: football is a funny old game.

1.) 02 Feb 2014
The personnel we have SHOULD be in the top three challenging for the title. If SAF was still here with these exact same players we would be much further ahead. Yes we need to strengthen, but the main reason we cannot gel together and play any decent kind of football is because the players are in a rut. The players do not have the belief in Moyes that we had in SAF.

We will come good, but there are big question marks over whether we come good in time to finish 4th.

2.) 02 Feb 2014
If SAF was still in charge of the current team, I have no doubt we would be sitting near the top of the table - if not top.

3.) 02 Feb 2014
Syd, I agree we would be several points better off under SAF, but our squad is way behind City now. We might have, at a push, challenged Chelsea and Arsenal but City are a couple of rungs above everyone else.

4.) 02 Feb 2014
Moyes has the mentality of a manager that is accustomed to playing as an underdog. His first instinct is to defend and catch the team on the break or nick a set piece. It's no wonder our best win this yr was vs Arsenal, that kind of game suits Moyes. The great managers know how to win when expected to win. Moyes had no expectations at Everton, a top 7 finish was a job well done. Yes our squad has holes but the squad is easily in the top 3 talent wise. don't think we will finish in the top 4, do the owners give him more money to change the squad in the summer?

5.) 02 Feb 2014
Sydney!
Im not going into the tactics and all. But we have lot of players who have not played under SAF for that long as have the likes Evra, Vidic, Carrick et al. New players like RVP, Jones, Young, Smalling, Kagawa etc have not played under SAF for that long. (I would add Rooney to that list because I don't think it matters to him about "belief" in managers). So why are these players so under performing? If we look at players at other clubs, at least some of them make an effort to impress the new managers to get regular game time but in our case no one is trying to do that. Do you think that the "honest interviews" of DM (getting players in. current players not up to UCL standards etc) have had negative impact on players?

6.) 02 Feb 2014
Betty, I agree, City are well ahead in terms of squad and first XI. They also know the way they have to play and execute it very well.

7.) 02 Feb 2014
Syd, I think Pellegrini deserves great credit at City. Many believe it is easy to manage a team with such good players, but Mancini proved that untrue last year. I said on here the other day that despite all the money spent on players, Citys best signing was Pellegrini. We have a lot of catching up to do, but we will get there. Whether or not it will be under David Moyes is a different matter.

8.) 02 Feb 2014
Flint, great post and PR, I think the players do not agree with Moyes' philosophy. Nani was never going to make it under Moyes just like Zaha, as the manager constantly thinks defend defend defend. I think Adnan only broke through due to lack of personnel available to the manager. If Moyes wants us to be an hardworking team, then that's fair enough, but if you take away the MU attacking threat, you are left with what you are seeing now.

9.) 02 Feb 2014
PR

Yes in answer, suggesting that 5 or 6 are not good enough is going to be de motivational. Add to that he said it about a team that had just become Champions which could also have lost him a little respect. Then I wonder how Fellaini feels after Moyes said Mata was the first of the main players he was bringing in to the club to make a difference. However, the main issue is a question over whether Moyes has the right philosophy and tactics and do the players believe in it and I think that may also be a problem. The players are winners, serial winners so you can imagine being told half the team are not good enough by someone who does not have a win to show for all his doctrine. If I was them I would wonder how would he know what it took to be champions.

10.) 02 Feb 2014
Pellegrini was lucky he inherited those players and had the cash to buy four players that he wanted. And City were lucky to have Pellegrini. He knows how to manage a football team and to be fair Negredo has been a massive bonus this season.

11.) 02 Feb 2014
Spot on Red Man.

12.) 02 Feb 2014
There was a photo on line of Moyes in a United shirt with Mata. He just looks uncomfortable in it. I'm afraid to say he may be the managerial equivalent of Ashley Young: simply put, not technically gifted enough to contribute at the very top levels. Every time he opens his mouth, one cannot help feeling he's like a rabbit in the headlights. He does not exude confidence, and clearly many of his decisions are inexplicable, including as yesterday showed, not giving Zaha a chance.

I cannot see the Board allowing this to continue beyond next Xmas at the latest. It may depend on just how bad it gets. If we improve towards the end of the season, he will probably be given the money the squad needs invested, on the basis that even if he can't do it, the right manager will be able to. If it continues to spiral out of control maybe he won't even get that long. With a minimum of 4 very possible defeats ahead, it's hard to predict.

13.) 02 Feb 2014
Moyes isn't the man for the job, if a proper interview process was set up with say Moyes, Mouriniho, Conte, Blanc, Klopp- do you think he would of got the job. He got the job because SAF wanted to keep his control and choose the manager. Read anything from SAF and always reiterates control is what he strives for and appointing Moyes is his last act.

Ferguson has even said he is disappointed in Moyes replacing the coaching staff and the lack of experience all round is showing through.

Sydney you say moyes is defensive but we can't keep clean sheets and we can't create good chances. If we would have been drawing games 0-0 rather than loosing 2-1 we would about 4th now.

The squad is as good as Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool but our manager and coaches aren't.

I am adamant that he is not the right person for the job and he should go now of his own accord as the club is too good to sack him now like he deserves.

We should have signed a midfielder and a left back this Jan, players like Bangea, De Jong, Cabaye where available and whilst not ideal would have strenghthend the team.

Watching utd is painful now, I blame moyes

14.) 02 Feb 2014
Truth is I've won as much as Moyes, ie bugger all (ignoring his post appointment Charity Shield). And if I told the Champions of England they ain't good enough I'd expect to be ignored too.

I don't think it's a question of Moyes losing the dressing room, he's never had it in the first place. Would have been different story if we had appointed someone with the appropriate managerial credentials. You can't expect someone who's won naff all to manage a team of winners. Woeful appointment. And that dear brothers is only down to one Glaswegian. And it ain't Moyes!

15.) 02 Feb 2014
Road, that's the point, being negative isn't working. Moyes trying to win 1.0 keeps backfiring, so why not scrap it and go back to how we played last year. Moyes needs to gradually implement his style of play, not ram it down the player's throats in one go.

16.) 02 Feb 2014
Good debate guys, but "what is Moyes's style?" We haven't seen anything so far to shed any light on what he I am trying to do.
All I see, is a team lost and very low on confidence.

17.) 03 Feb 2014
I'm sorry utd road, but to say your squad is as good as arsenals or Chelseas is the most ridiculous thing I have heard in a long time. Do you even watch football? Baffled

18.) 03 Feb 2014
Valley, MU's squad on paper is better than Arsenal's. let's not forget this is the same squad that finished 16 points ahead of your squad minus Oezil last season. We have added Fellaini, Mata & Januzaj. On paper we have a better squad, we are just not playing well at all after the loss of SAF. You have continuity under AW and you are playing well. That is the difference.

19.) 03 Feb 2014
Syd
Do u think United's back 4 and midfield are better than arsenals.
What about manager and tactics .