No Bedding in Period for Moyes

No bedding in period for Moyes

Marc Fox

David Moyes knew that the first month of his first Premier League season as Manchester United manager was never going to be straightforward.

He even went some way to acknowledging that publicly in August when he announced that the club's opening five fixtures of the new season were, in his words, hard to believe.

Whether seen as getting his excuses in early or simple fact given the trips his side have made to - and come away vanquished from - Liverpool and Manchester City already this term, Moyes knew that there would be no semblance of a honeymoon period at Old Trafford.

Throw in the clear and ongoing disgruntlement of Wayne Rooney despite his on-field performances and the recent injury to Robin van Persie, which kept the Dutchman out of yesterday's 4-1 humbling at the Etihad, and you have potential minefield with which to contend.

Not to mention the sense of having to place his mark on the club after a generation of Sir Alex controlling matters (Ferguson, in his guise as one of the club's directors, was still interviewed last week by MUTV about Rooney's form).

Or that former chief executive David Gill is also still in the public eye as another of the club's high profile directors as well as a Uefa executive committee member, offering his insights into Moyes' transfer dealings during the summer.

If Moyes wasn't already completely clear that the job of Manchester United manager would give him sleepless nights during his transition period, he knows now.

After Sunday's humiliation at the hands of their cross-town rivals, Moyes admitted he made his underperforming players well aware of their slipping standards and demanded a positive reaction from his side in Wednesday's league cup tie against Liverpool.

Ferguson was the first manager to start selecting second string starting XIs in the league cup, and most managers of Champions League participants have tended to follow suit over the past decade.

Whether Moyes adopts that same tenet given his side's start to the season has now become a source of intrigue.

At the very least, he will want to avoid a second damaging defeat to arch-rivals Liverpool in a month.

However, the match might also give him the opportunity to flex his attacking system from the one that is so embedded in both the Old Trafford club from the Ferguson era and his own Everton sides of years past.

In the inquest over the defeat to Manchester City, Moyes admitted to being concerned by his team's failure to create, and score, more goals.

"Yes, a little bit," Moyes said. "I thought we created a few chances later on in the game, albeit the game was probably won by Manchester City at that point.

"There was no reason for us not to perform well today, but it's one game, there are plenty more to come and plenty of time for us to try to fix it.

"I I think our squad is really strong."

The extent to which Moyes dips into that squad will be revealed on Wednesday.

It's difficult to imagine a scenario in which Japan international playmaker Shinji Kagawa doesn't play some role, especially now that he is starting to feel more refreshed after an exhausting schedule with his national team.

But the bigger question is whether Moyes might be bold enough to select a side without tradition wingers, with perhaps Rooney, Danny Welbeck and Kagawa selected behind a lone striker.

United must start to create more going forward to appease those doubting supporters, especially given that they'll be searching for maximum points in their next five EPL matches against West Brom, Sunderland, Southampton, Stoke and Fulham.

Any losses in those five games and Moyes could be in for a rocky ride this season.

© Marc Fox & Soccerphile.com