Man U

Manchester United: An Open Letter to David Moyes

Old Trafford Stadium, inside

Letter to Manchester United boss

Dearest Mr. Moyes,

After a season in which the team has plumbed new depths, hitherto unseen by many Manchester United fans, we think it’s vital that you understand how many people feel about your management of the team.

Worryingly for some it appears that, despite terrible results in a heavily results-driven business, you will be given more time at Manchester United. So perhaps you will take note of some patent problems in the team. We refer to your post-match press conference:

“I think if you are going to look at the stats and pick out the number of crosses, you need to look at the number of passes,” said the Scot. “I don’t think we just went out and crossed the ball.

“And a lot of people would say that one of the big things about Manchester United is that they do play with width, it’s in their genes here.”

Yes, Manchester United are known for playing with width. But do you honestly believe that a top manager would play with wingers when they don’t have any top ones at their disposal? For a man who gets paid so much for his expertise to still select Ashley Young on a regular basis, while Adnan Januzaj sits on the bench, seems bizarre.

Top managers use the tools that they have. Manchester United quite clearly do not have a vintage set of wide men right now. This was amply proven by yesterday’s record number of crosses – none of which directly resulted in a goal. What they do have, thanks in no small part to your recent record-breaking acquisition, is three brilliant forwards who are best deployed in a narrow formation behind a striker – Rooney, Januzaj, Mata. These guys simply have to play. It’s staggering that you can’t see that and don’t alter the formation to accommodate them all.

Mata was stuck out on the right wing, from the outset against Fulham, in what must be the biggest waste of talent in Premier League history. Meanwhile Januzaj sits on the bench. So, effectively, instead of adding a world class talent to the team in January you have brought in Mata and taken out Januzaj – the star performer for Manchester this season. So you have substituted one top talent with another when you need all of your best performers on the park more than ever. Did you really buy Mata to play as a right winger?

4-4-2 is great when you have the players for it. But Manchester United don’t right now. What they do have is 4 really top talents who need to play in a narrower formation.

It is glaringly obvious, from the players available that Mata, Rooney and Januzaj need to be deployed in a 4-2-3-1 behind RvP. This also begins to solve the regular problem of Manchester United getting overrun in midfield. Playing two in front of the defence, as most teams do now, would give Manchester United much more solidity.

‘We had to defend maybe three or four times in the whole game, but that happens sometimes in football. The more we went to score the more chances they had.’

Fulham proved to Manchester United that possession is of little consequence if you don’t do anything with it. Yes Manchester United had chances but, surely, that is to be expected against the rock bottom side in the division.

In our opinion the problem with Manchester United under your management is that the team doesn’t get behind opposition defences quickly or often enough. They get the ball to 2/3 of the way up the pitch and then start passing sideways. Even more reason to have your creative talents on the park and playing through the middle.

Rene Meulensteen could see the flaws that Moyes fails to:

‘I think the variety in play wasn’t there, it was all about crossing the ball. Can you start manipulating the play, can you play give and goes and force Fulham to do something different. Fulham were comfortable saying ‘throw balls in’.

Back to Mr. Moyes:

How we didn’t win I have no idea,”

I think that you have summed it up perfectly Mr. Moyes. You don’t seem to understand why you aren’t winning. It doesn’t bode well.

53 Comments

53 Comments

  1. Fred The Red

    Feb 11, 2014 at 5:17 am

    Moyes
    Out

    Y
    E
    S

    • JOHN

      Feb 11, 2014 at 4:50 pm

      Moyes must go together with his Assistances

  2. Vincent

    Feb 11, 2014 at 5:20 am

    Can u imagine what ds bozo is saying…boy ds guy has no clue about what he has to do i think sir alex has to tk d blame here. Man am i pissed…

  3. Utdfan

    Feb 11, 2014 at 5:37 am

    Moyes just needs to be let go…….whatever the cost may be before Man Utd get relegated.He has turned a TEAM that was well respected and feared in the Premier League into a bunch of lame ducks with his boring (archaic) and predictable tactics.

    Continuous blaming of the Players and Luck will not hold water anymore cause there are many instances in various games we’ve played this season which has show cased the lack of modern football tactics and strategic thought process to change game plans mid-game to overcome/counter the opposition team’s tactics.

    Moyes, retain whatever dignity and credibility you have left and leave the Club asap before you make our beloved Club a laughing stock !!!

    • Ameh E. Uncle

      Feb 11, 2014 at 6:22 am

      “b4 u make our beluvd club a laughing stock”. Wake up,son! It’s already one. Isn’t it? Some rival fans in Nigeria call it Tahiti who only serve as a measuring scale for other clubs’ strength.

  4. Keith

    Feb 11, 2014 at 5:40 am

    We didnt need two holding midfielders against Fulham .

    1-4-1-4-1 would been perfect with janujaz and valencia/young stretching the defence . Leaving Rooney , Van Persie and Mats to try and weave an opening on ground in centre .
    LOW crosses needed , we have no one to win high balls so why play them .

    Disilushioned , time for Moyes to leave i think .Nice man , not up to job .

  5. Khumzy

    Feb 11, 2014 at 5:44 am

    Moyes should immediately resign. PLEASE!! PLEASE!! U min u can not fire him because he is a chosen one, i lov man u bt nw i strongly hate

    • roshan

      Feb 11, 2014 at 4:12 pm

      For about hire or fire. now lets to the amateur club united of Manchester there will be no moyes and other cubs like liverpool, mcity, Arsenal or chelsea.

  6. lununcle

    Feb 11, 2014 at 5:48 am

    SAF did make some mistakes in the past (selling Jaap Stam, pushing Beckham away from Old Trafford, buying Bebe without watching him play himself, letting Pogba go, …) but passing his throne to this “Chosen One” is the biggest mistake above all!

  7. Chukwuka Isreal Chijioke

    Feb 11, 2014 at 7:22 am

    I wonder wt Man u is still waiting 4. Moyes said wit his mouth dat he dose nt knw wt to do 4 Man u to win a match. Cn u hear dat, wt sm1 dat called him self a coach is sayin. Moyes is a gud manager bt nt a winning manager. Sack sack sack David Moyes b4 is too late.

  8. Felix

    Feb 11, 2014 at 7:38 am

    Mr Moyes has broken de whole records in wrong reasons. The worst tin in his life is lack of tactics. Hw can u bench ur best players? Imagine, hw can someone who call himself a manager dn’t knw hw to win? He has taken man u back to wht Everton is bn knwn for (6-7position). I tink I will be in support if I wake up in de morning n hear dat Moyes has bn sacked.

  9. Don Namikasa -Bungoma Kenya

    Feb 11, 2014 at 7:56 am

    moyes must go.. moyes must go.. moyes must go.. moyes must go

    • roshan

      Feb 11, 2014 at 4:14 pm

      u r right

  10. AwesomeVideos365

    Feb 11, 2014 at 8:10 am

    I’m tired of people saying you’re a plastic fan, because you want #MoyesOut.
    Every game it becomes more evident that he isn’t cut out for this job! If plan A doesn’t work out, he doesn’t know what to do!
    Unfortunately I suspect he will be given this season & the next before they sack him . . . so time for United fans to brace themselves for the dark days ahead!

  11. Emmanuel ojoko

    Feb 11, 2014 at 8:34 am

    Wow moyes has vanished the winning metality in man u players bcos of like of tactics God help us b4 fans will hav hrt problem.moyes go,moyes sack.

  12. Kanyuzi

    Feb 11, 2014 at 8:38 am

    Moyes has lost his way,he simply has no clue, he brought in a bunch of Amateurs as his Assistants & it is evident his guys are all utterly inexpexprienced & naive at making top decisions for a top club.This is all SAF’s fault for just fishing Moyes out of a small pond to come and manage in a big Ocean. Plse the Glazers, save our season by sacking Moyes ASAP before he causes a collateral damage to our beloved club.He must go now.

  13. Kanyuzi

    Feb 11, 2014 at 8:50 am

    Moyes is very inferior to his players because they have won a lot which he has never done himself.How can you motivate an employee who has more achievements than you have got, he must leave now.

    • Gordon Tan

      Feb 11, 2014 at 10:33 pm

      Only Jose Mourinho can command respect? Your view?

  14. mewayenu odun

    Feb 11, 2014 at 9:22 am

    lack of experience has cost Moyes this problem. He should resigns now

  15. James Tarawallie

    Feb 11, 2014 at 9:31 am

    Moyes must go before it is too late cause he does not know how to set a team to win. Sack him now before it is too late.

  16. Isha

    Feb 11, 2014 at 9:48 am

    I know ppl will hate me for saying this .please don’t blame Moyes . We should blame the board who give the job to him why can’t some one stood up and blame the blame the board insted of blaming Moyes

  17. athil

    Feb 11, 2014 at 9:57 am

    He spent £27m on fellaini and decided he would like to play him as defensive midfielder, when fellaini has never really played there before. He bought mata for £37m and decided he should be played on the wing, a player with not much pace but a fantastic passing and football brain who should be played behind the striker to unlock defences. He played young week in week out, why? He sticks with Valencia, why? He gave nani a five year contract, why? He sacked all the backroom successful staff and replaced them with the idiots we have now, why? He won’t give zaha a chance, why? He won’t play kagawa and on the odd occasion he has, he plays him at left wing, why? He knew Fulham had the tallest cb in the league, so the plan was to get crosses in where the cb can just head them out, why? He blames everything but himself, why? He has alianated vidic, why? He continues to play caveman 442 caveman tactics, when we don’t have good wingers and the tactics are outdated, why? He refuses to play 4231 when we have amazing players in rvp, rooney, mata and januzaj, who can play that system as good as any team, why? United and fergie keep saying that we don’t sack managers unless given the time, a very honourable stance, but in this case, why not? We replaced the most successful manager of all time with a manager who has won nothing, why? He plays everyone out of position, why? He doesn’t give the likes of petrucci, ekangamene and Pearson their chance when clearly we are lacking on the midfield area, why? He’s always negative in his pre and post match talks, why? He continues to be supported blindly by some fans, when clearly he’s totally out of his depth, why

  18. danny

    Feb 11, 2014 at 9:58 am

    dark days indeed….i said at the time when mata was bought it would be at janujazs expense…this archaic manager would rather have an heart attack than play two flair players…he was bought in to continue the negativity of fergies last couple of seasons…boring functional football…however moyes is so bad he cannot even get the functional right with a title winning side…everyone has to share the blame here…even the fans didnt want jose “he will only stay for 3 years” yeh can you imagine 3 years of trophies and attracting world class talent and players who worship him??? and then if he went after 3 years it wouldve meant moyes never got this job that is so beyond him it isnt funny to anyone except our rivals??….the arrogance of our club has come to bite us on our backsides…jose wasnt good enough…so we got a steady pair of hands….i wish fergie had gone after the 2009 title win…because since then every decision (welbeck cleverly young smalling pogba refusal to address midfield moyes) has brought this club to its knees after the cracks under the paper are now to big to hide..

  19. In the know

    Feb 11, 2014 at 9:58 am

    It’s time for a mutiny at Man United if not by the supporters then by the players .let Moyes give his team talk then when on the pitch totally ignore him and start playing the Manchester United way Moyes will look up to heaven then down to the ground he will cover his eyes these are all his normal reactions his mouth will open and close but nothing useful will come out so ignore them and play the way Sir Alex taught you. If only they had the balls to do it for us fans

  20. Kewee

    Feb 11, 2014 at 10:08 am

    Moyes should go. He has a trove of talent in the middle but has no other tactics than to cross from the wings.

    Ferguson should go too. Questions have to be asked on why he chose Moyes to succeed him. To protect his own legacy? I bet he didn’t expect the fall from grace to be so fast and furious!

  21. realist

    Feb 11, 2014 at 10:50 am

    sorry to ruin the trend here guys but i think moyes should stay at least until december of next season. i believe he will come good and do not blame him for most of our troubles!
    the only thing i have not liked in all of his short time here is the fact that he did not play adnan against fulham. he brought him on after an hour and im sure he will continue to start most games from here on in after him being given a little break the last few games. the boy is still only a spindly kid afterall…..im sure SAF would have done similar!
    also i recall SAF saying after one or two awful performances last year (a lot worse than the weekends performance) that he just didnt know why we had lost, so to brand moyes clueless for saying the same thing i find a little pathetic….the same as i find most of the above comments to be honest! 🙂

    • Touljier

      Feb 11, 2014 at 5:46 pm

      Just a gentle reminder that Moyes achieved nothing in 11 yrs and has been tasked with leading the defending champions and one of the top 4 clubs in the world intoa new era. I see only darkness but I see you appear to see some light. Can I therefore humbly ask you to please explain to us all why Man U chose Moyes as I am sure he was not on Bayern’s list of Managers? I can see the dissapointment in Bayern not choosing a non achiever to take defending CL wiiners and trbble winners forward and settling for Pep instead as it seems to have driven them to so much dissapointment that the latest is that Bayern could walk away with the league as early as March. But let’s not compare ourselves to Bayern as our standards are clearly lower…….I look forward to your response.

  22. JUNAID AOFIYEBI

    Feb 11, 2014 at 10:57 am

    I have a very strong feeling that SAF is making money out of all these mess or maybe he brought this mashmeelo head and not a 1st class manager so we all can continue looking at him as the man but he does not know that Moyes has spoilt what he built for 26 years which make both of them shit heads, my advice is for Man u not to trust Moyes with any Money for summer transfer cos he wont know what to buy and even if you give him all the star players around the world, believe me, DAVID MOYES will play them out of posotions and make them look like school children playing street football. We need another manager (not SAF) that could attract world class players because we most likely wont end the season in the 1st – 4th positions. Long live MNACHESTER UMITED and IN SHA ALLAH we shall overcome, AMEEN.

  23. allen

    Feb 11, 2014 at 12:29 pm

    moyes has to go no two ways about it,he is a failure he can’t even read the game,enough is enough please leave our beloved team,please go peacefully

    • zuby

      Feb 11, 2014 at 7:19 pm

      He is not gonna leave 6 years contract if he resigns gets nothing if sacked then around 15 mollion he is a scot

  24. santu arthur

    Feb 11, 2014 at 12:38 pm

    moyes has known that manu is a club for three quarters for the population in the world. holding now to that position breaks the hearts of these people. he should help himseft from being black listed even at other clubs by leaving manu now

  25. henry mark

    Feb 11, 2014 at 12:53 pm

    Ferguson should also have a portion of the blame. Getting a successor who doesn’t have winning mentality is a grave mistake. Man utd should have been taken over by someone who has trophies history,someone who has trophy in sight. Is man utd the only club that replaced their manager?everton did,manchester city is not an exception,chelsea also and yet man utd becomes a different case.come on,here in nigeria “fella” was a musician and Moyes ended up buying a musician for us.Even with fellaini’s kind of wig,he is ought to be singing.Turnin manchester united to everton is what am not proud of.everyday that passes,we drop in revenue and in quality.”I don’t know what to do to win” answered it all.he is just out of ideas and that shows he is even below substandard in management.Manchester united is turning into liverpool and liverpool now possess the fire power that man utd had.I can’t imagine a united without the strength to win sunderland,west brom,newcastle,everton,swansea,tottenham,southampton,weakest fulham etc.out of FA cup,capital one cup,and out of champions league qualification.we are just screwed.Moyes out is not for plastic fans,moyes out is for true fans who want the best for the team.If you can qualify for champions league,how can you attract top players during the summer?

  26. henry mark

    Feb 11, 2014 at 1:11 pm

    Manchester united as the big team that it is doesn’t need “give him sometime”,because they all they need now is result.it is only a small team that needs time to come good,but for a mountainous club like united,all we need in every match is positive result..that has been the tradition.8 home defeat this year is below poor.playing 25 matches and picking up just 41 points is the poorest in the world,even poorer than the poorest country in the world.we are doomed if moyes is not caution or taken out to save united’s season.If Ferguson were had known,he sould have brought in moyes 3years ago as an assistant before his succession.before you coach a big team,you have to understand the team first.AVB was replaced by sherwood,AVB was replaced by di mateo,mourinho has coached chelsea before etc,why won’t they succeed?Meulenstein should have been given the opportunity to manage united before sorting out the proper replacement if his performance isn’t ok.If you people have to know,fellaini is a panic buy and moyes is also a panic buy manager.they are both not fit for united

  27. henry mark

    Feb 11, 2014 at 1:23 pm

    “Yes,it could get ugly before it gets beautiful,it could get worst before it gets better”that has been our belief and it seems that the the ugly it gets today,the uglier tomorrow,and ugliest a day after tomorrow.Now tell me,when is it gonna get better.The patient dog eat th fattest bone and the patient dog is tired of waiting,cos right now,it is starving to death.pretty soon,it won’t have the strength to even eat bones.come on,we all tired of waiting for result when other lesser teams like everton and tottenham are eating on our head.If I am to manage man utd,I will do better than moyes cos moyes is a badluck.it is now clear to you all that he has been the reason everton never grew when he was managing them…Always stagnant.Now he wants to kill us with stagnation and I said”NO” to that

  28. Ezekiel musa

    Feb 11, 2014 at 1:30 pm

    Moyes hav to be sack if not we a mising our position in d ucl 2014 2015

  29. yael sara pruzan

    Feb 11, 2014 at 2:26 pm

    Moyes has to be sacked- better sooner than later.

  30. Ameh E. Uncle

    Feb 11, 2014 at 2:37 pm

    I think am as confused as moyes himself, who has got no clue about what to do next for man utd to win matches. After that painful and unexplainable draw- I’d rather call it a loss- against Fulham, all the poor manager had to say was “man utd deserved to win…” and then hinged the misfortune on badluck . Tho angry fans may not take this but only blame his incompetence, his words are so clear that they cannot be miscontrued. It means he has offered his best for a great club he was chosen to lead but unfortunately his best did not earn him a victory. Facial reactions as well as mouth confessions have shown that Mr. Moyes is clueless and remains clueless going into Arsenal match on Wednesday night. I don’t blame fans qwertying sack! sack! sack!… But the question is ‘is Moyes so bad a coach?’ To me, the answer is no. The whole thing is one big mystery and like Moyes i’d say Man utd deserved to win against Fulham and Darren Bent last minute can only be seen as mystery. In some setting, Man utd’s misfortunes will be taken as a consequence of an expired voodoo. In such case, if i were Moyes, i would subject Fergie to some secret quiz. For instance,’ i learnt, like me, u didnt start well at this club, how did you then come about the 26yrs of enviable successes?’ if for example Fergie replies, ‘my brother, when i realized things were not working fine initially, i had to quickly resort to something…’
    Then Moyes would raise his eye-brows and ask; ‘something like…a voodoo?’.
    Fergie nodded ‘but don’t tell anybody’, he’d say.
    ‘of course, i won’t’, Moyes promises, ‘could it be the reason why man utd won Bayern mysteriously in CL final?’
    ‘U got it, son!’Fergie replies,’and Chelsea, when John Terry fell. Then many decisions in favour of Man utd’, he adds.
    ‘I see!’ Moyes says, nodding several times.

    If such imagination were to be true, one would quicky conclude that it is the expiration and the consequence of expiration of such voodoo that is responsible for sudden retirement of SAF as well as Man utd sudden fall, and not Moyes’ incompetence. As we have seen so far, Webb has also repented. All but mystery.

  31. SAN

    Feb 11, 2014 at 3:00 pm

    im seriously tired of this kinda nonsense.
    how can a manager, as in a manchester united coach be like this
    he’s tactless, take the match against stokecity for example
    he has no action n all he talks abt is “trying” instead of winning games for us.

  32. ALI MOHAMMAD

    Feb 11, 2014 at 3:20 pm

    It is so painful watching our beloved MAN UTD play, we have became the laughing stock, Moyes tactics are to blame and SAF should also take the blame too, why play young when Adnan is on the bench?

  33. peter darwin

    Feb 11, 2014 at 3:22 pm

    It seems that the good soccer played this year waan Shinji Kagawa was in his middle position……………he makesa team tick………give him ten games in a row in his position….along with Mata..they have the speed foot and thought to disturb most teams………….Middle is a disaster…………….not quick enough…….look at th amount of times front are waiting…….and they run the ball up to them…their skill level is not good enough….Fletcher deserves to be there……………

  34. MAHOMED

    Feb 11, 2014 at 3:49 pm

    I AGREE 100% THE MODERN GAME IS PLAYED THROUGH THE MIDDLE, THE WIDTH IS NOW PREDICTABLE, AND WITH MATA, ADNAAN , AND ROO THEY WOULD BE FORMIDABLE …. COME ON MOYES WE DONT NEED NANI ASHLEY YOUNG …. THE GAME CHANGED WHEN ADNAAN CAME ON.

    MAN U IS AN AWESOME SIDE THE LADS ARE GOOD BUT TACTICS ARE ANCIENT.

  35. Man u guy

    Feb 11, 2014 at 4:47 pm

    Moyes must go. We want Jurgen klopp.

  36. Kakolonya Hauwanga

    Feb 11, 2014 at 4:49 pm

    Moyes must go this is the last chance for him if he didn’t win at arsenal.we are really tired of our greatest team losing like this.how can a manager say I don’t know what do for my team to win,this somebody who doesn’t have experience in what he is doing. Last chance for him please man utd management step up please

  37. Trevor

    Feb 11, 2014 at 5:44 pm

    Whatever has happened to Kagawa. He was the perfect player to put on at half time in place of Young. Also Fletcher. Must be the slowest player in the Premier League.
    I also want to complain about Moyes Press conference , why does he bother. He was on for 2 minutes 40 seconds with no information what so ever. Waste of time
    Goodbye Moyes. From Champs to Chumps.

  38. Reza

    Feb 11, 2014 at 5:49 pm

    What fans think is never taken into consideration. What the club needs is our money & basta! We should use our only power to get things changed : Fans should boycott all home matches until the directors decide to sack Moyes. The longer he remains as United’s manager, our team will be in deeper trouble. Even worse than Liverpool has been in since they last won the championship.

    • Gordon Tan

      Feb 11, 2014 at 10:43 pm

      A step further. Fans boycott. MU relegated! Sponsors stop sponsoring. glazers and woodward out!
      Rot started when glazers came un and suck MU dry.
      So out with the glazers and glory days will be back.

  39. Shawn

    Feb 11, 2014 at 7:45 pm

    But what all are missing…phillip neville…what the heck is he doing as a n umber 2. the man was an average footballer and coupled with Moyes who is an average manager we get an average team…the mans tactics is a mystery!!! How do you play carrick and fletcher at the same time…defensive midfielders for crying out loud…and wht did Janujaz do to deserve playing off the bench.. The man has no skill to put a team together, cant read the game and who is by his side: Phillip Neville…both should do the right thing and leave before our beloved United sink even deeper…SOS

  40. alle simeon

    Feb 11, 2014 at 10:46 pm

    David Mumu is a fucking cunt! sack the dinosaur era coach before we boycott Man United games at old Trafford! SACK MOYES NOOOOOW”

  41. Sniper

    Feb 11, 2014 at 11:04 pm

    Reza i support ur idea.Man utd fans should bycott the rest of our home matches.That way the glazers will come to their senses

  42. Rich Gee

    Feb 11, 2014 at 11:27 pm

    Moyes is out of his depth. Tactically inadequate and dumbstruck. Will you please resign, be honest to yourself. You’re clueless. Glazers do something! !!

  43. ALAN

    Feb 12, 2014 at 1:12 am

    plz plz plz,just sack DM he is not good ,i am from iraq all manchester united fans here are not happy with DM

  44. jimmy

    Feb 12, 2014 at 6:21 am

    moyes shuld learn that 442 tactic is outdated with players at disposal like kagawa,mata,janujaz,rooney,zaha who are creative in nature are not fully utilized and suprisingly he opts for young,welbeck on the flnks fellaini so disgusting and moyes shud aslo be in positionto read the game before making subs if rvp has failed,give chance to chicharito if he doesnt pick anything from wat all manutd fans hav posted then utd is doomed

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