Another Clock Begins To Tick - Fergie's Departure, Moyes's Arrival

Another Clock Begins To Tick -
Fergie's Departure, Moyes's Arrival
Opinions from editor Wong Yang and assistant editor Oliver Gui

Wong Yang

Moyes built an Everton that lacked the resources many other clubs in the Premier League swaggered about with. Moyes pushed forward Everton's youth system, emphasising the importance of developing youth players. Moyes offers stability, a value that attracts United, who, in a period where Chelsea used 18 managers, Manchester City 14 and Real Madrid 24, stayed with Ferguson. Moyes inherited an Everton that battled in the lower half of the table, and transformed it into an respectable institution that competes near the top. According to a report by The Guardian, before Moyes joined Everton, the club finished 13th, 17th, 15th, 6th, 15th, 17th, 14th, 13th, 16th and 15th. After he entered office, they finished 7th, 17th, 4th, 11th, 6th, 5th, 5th, 8th, and 7th. Should they stay at their current 6th postion, they would finish ahead of their Merseyside neighbours Liverpool, which Everton seemed to live in the shadows of years ago, for the second successive season.

Moyes is a driven man with an incredible work ethic. Alan Fraser put it best in his column on the Daily Mail's site. "One thing is certain. If he fails at Old Trafford, it will not be for the lack of trying."

In his Everton reign, Moyes won about 42% of his games, with 217 wins out of 516 matches in all competitions. He won the League Managers Association's Manager of the Year in the 2002-2003 season, 2004-2005 as well as 2008-2009. And though he has not won a major trophy in 11 years as Everton manager, he was still Ferguson's recommendation, so a lack of trophies will not perturb the Scot. 

Yet, some feel no one will ever fill the shoes left by Ferguson at Old Trafford. Arsense Wenger told www.arsenal.com , "It's not easy to replace a person like that." Ferguson was a man who salvaged his job after a Mark Robins goal in  the  FA Cup, and then go on to win 4 more FA Cup trophies. Ferguson was one to experience Eric Cantona's infamous kungfu kick as the manager, he was one to sign goal machine Dwight Yorke, but then the one to sign flops Diego Forlan and subsequently, Bébé. He is the man who is the centre of "Fergie Time" a term used to describe the injury time given to United by referees when they are trailing.

Whether Moyes can be able to steer the Manchester United ship towards greater heights, or should I say, waters with an abundance of fish, it is a fact Moyes and Ferguson have strong similarities. For one, they are both Glasgow sons. Ferguson was born in the docklands of Govan, where Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish was raised. Both Ferguson and Moyes were  fans of Rangers. They are both Labour Party faithful, as Moyes voiced support for Andy Burnham in 2010 while Ferguson was named in a list of the biggest private financial donors to the Labour Party. They are both fans of horse  racing, and they are both men who have owed their success to their wives. With the same work ethic and determined minds, Ferguson and Moyes make for very similar characters.

Ferguson chose the timing of his exit just as well as he can manipulate the time at the end of United's matches. Everyone wants to leave the best impression, and you bet Ferguson would want to leave after winning his 13th title, for that's what he will be remembered for.

But we know as football fans, that whatever the timing of his departure, the game will just not be the same without Ferguson. For one, "Fergie Time" will be gone. 

Oliver Gui

26 years and 38 trophies later, it is finally time for Sir Alex Ferguson to retire from managing Manchester United and he has chosen current Everton manager David Moyes as his successor. However, this is the same David Moyes that Sir Alex rejected 15 years ago when David Moyes applied to be Sir Alex’s assistant at Manchester United and I believe that David Moyes will still fail to prove to be a success at Manchester United.

Reputation. Reputation is something extremely important and valuable in the modern game and it is something that David Moyes lacks. When one thinks of managers with good reputations it is because of their success, the way that they behave or even because they had a legendary status during their playing careers. David Moyes is not one such name. A manager with a good reputation can attract players just because of their names. Playing for Real Madrid means playing for Jose Mourinho, playing for Arsenal means playing for Arsene Wenger and playing for Manchester United means playing for Sir Alex Ferguson.  More specifically, managers such as Michael Laudrup can even attract Spanish internationals such as Alvaro Negredo, who has been linked with Swansea in recent months, to a club currently placed 9^th in the Premier League. When Manchester United try to buy players more attached to their current clubs, for the players it would mean leaving a place they are already very suited to, and to play for Manchester United and more specifically, David Moyes. Hardly an awe-inspiring or convincing name.

   

Next, his style of play and tactics. How would David Moyes’s style of play and tactics differ from Sir Alex Ferguson’s? Moyes has been described as “one-dimensional” in the past and he will certainly need to be able to adapt to losing situations more at United, if they are to continue to compete for the top trophies. Only United has won more points from losing positions than Everton, but being an under-dog and expecting to win a game are two different feelings, especially among supporters where at Old Trafford, he will be expected to win games regularly against the top sides of the Premier League. David Moyes’s style at Everton has been fairly direct with a larger emphasis upon competing in the air, with Steven Gerrard once describing Everton as a “long ball” team. Everton also sit eighth in the possession statistics, yet there are only ranked 12th in the pass completion rates, whilst United sit fourth and second respectively. Now a proportion of that can be attributed to the simple fact that Manchester United have superior players, but when you consider teams such as Wigan and Swansea having more of the ball and Fulham and Newcastle having a higher pass completion rate than the Toffees, it changes the previous assumption somewhat. David Moyes will need to be able alter his tactics and style of play as Manchester United fans will no doubt want to see their team play aesthetically pleasing football after being years of seeing Sir Alex Ferguson’s side beat teams with pace and width and this change by David Moyes may go a long way in winning over the Old Trafford faithful.

The questions that many Manchester United fans have been asking since David Moyes was appointed the next Old Trafford boss are “Is he qualified?", and "Can he take us back to the pinnacle or European football next season?” Well, the answer to both of these questions is a resounding no. In his 11 years at Everton, he has picked up no trophies and the highlights of his reign at Everton were a finish in 4^th place and participating in the FA Cup final against Chelsea where Everton lost. Bear in mind that Manchester United are arguably one of the best teams in the world and should be winning trophies every season consistently. Is David Moyes really the right man for the job? Also, Manchester United has faltered in Europe this season and the last season. Last season, they failed to progress out of a relatively easy group stage against the likes of Basel, Benfica and Otelul, and this season they have failed to progress to the quarter finals of the Champions League. Manchester United need a manager who can bring them back to the pinnacle of European football to satisfy the fans and not a manager such as David Moyes with only two Champions League preliminary round games,which ended up in defeats, under his belt . Coincidentally, the two games back then were against Manuel Pellegrini’s Villarreal and if rumours that Manuel Pellegrini is to take over as Manchester City’s new manager, both of them would face each other in the Premier League next season as rivals. Furthermore, David Moyes’ away record against the teams that primarily make up the top 4 of the Premier League over the past decade has been horrendous. In 43 games, he has won none, drawn 16 and lost 27. These are worrying statistics especially when one considers the fact that these sides have to be beaten in order to secure the Premier League title and these sides are of the same level as the opposition in Europe.

  

Despite all these flaws, David Moyes is a low-risk choice for Manchester United. He does not demand high wages like Jose Mourinho would, and he would not bring a totally new style of play and philosophy to the club like Pep Guardiola would. Truth be told, David Moyes has been solid if not spectacular at Everton. Moyes has to work with a shoestring budget, yet Everton has finished in the top half of the table for most of his reign. This season will most likely see them finish ahead of their Merseyside rivals Liverpool. This is commendable, but it does not mean he is suited to United. Top-half finishes are not what a team of Manchester United’s stature is satisfied with. The goal for every season is to win trophies and this is the sort of pressure he has not experienced at Everton.