DiegoD Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 As for their midfield, they had all summer to work on it and the only thing, Moyes could come up with was overspending on his old midfielder from Everton. Fergie had plenty of time to address this lack of depth in midfield himself, but he didn't. Yes, Moyes arguably could have done more to provide backup and competition for Carrick, but it's an accusation that could have been levelled at Fergie himself a season ago as well - the difference of course was that Carrick did not get injured last season, and United romped their way to the title. While I agree Man utd clearly have problems with their midfield its weird to say that Fergie didn't address it. He bought Kagawa last season who didn't work out (or was injured I cannot remember) and knew how to use Jones, Carrick, Cleverly and Scholes to keep things working. Moyes would have known from day 1 the midfield needed to be sorted out as Scholes wasn't going to come out of retirement for him and for some reason he thought spending a fortune on Fellani would be answer which seemed always doomed to fail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legov Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 Fergie bought lots of midfielders, but they were either not good enough (Young, Anderson etc) or, in most cases, not what they really needed. One of the things United have needed for a long time, I think, is someone who's good enough to act as competition and backup to Carrick. There's a reason why Carrick was always the first name on the teamsheet for Fergie - he really is what keeps United's midfield ticking. Fergie failed to address this lack of depth in the sense that he was not able to find a long-term solution to the problem of providing backup to Carrick. And now, Moyes is suffering because Carrick is injured, and his squad - largely inherited from Fergie - doesn't have the depth required to fill Carrick's shoes. I'm not really blaming either manager for failing to find backup - there are not a lot of quality ball-playing defensive midfielders around, and even fewer would be willing to sit on the bench. Regardless, whatever the circumstances, Fergie failed to address the Carrick problem in a sustainable, long-term fashion, and so did Moyes, and United are arguably suffering right now because of that. Fergie was "luckier" in the sense that he had the good fortune (or a better fitness programme, idk) of having Carrick available to him fit and injury-free the entire campaign last season. Moyes hasn't had that luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LondonLax Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 It is not luck if you have the opportunity to fix the problem but decide not to. They decided to move last minute for the midfielder at Athletico who is in the same mould as Carrick but had left it too late to get a deal sorted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjw63 Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 No doubt we'll still lose at home to them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legov Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 They decided to move last minute for the midfielder at Athletico who is in the same mould as Carrick but had left it too late to get a deal sorted. Wasn't aware of that, fair enough Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LondonLax Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 Sorry, it was Herrera from Athletic Bilbao I was meaning. Not from Athletico. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted December 5, 2013 Author Moderator Share Posted December 5, 2013 Not from Athletico.Never heard of them 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 My faith in the footballing world would be restored somewhat if Arsenal won the league and Everton got 4th spot. Good luck to both of them I say. Hear bloody hear. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 City falling apart also helped them on their way, Mancini imploded and lost control of the dressing room They won the title with 89 points though. They must have been doing something right - all Mancini's implosion explains is why City were so far behind, not why United were so consistent themselves. Early on in the season they won all the big games with quite a bit of luck. They won at Anfield despite being outplayed by 10 men after Shelvey was sent off, they won at Chelsea who went down to 9 men and they also won at Man. City with a last minute RVP free kick. Plus they also had some extraordinary comebacks against us and Reading. That gave them a big points lead at xmas and City kind of just gave up at that moment. It's strange, you look at these players under Fergie and they were worldbeaters. Even though it's the same names, under Moyes they just don't look as invincible. Quite a few of them are over 30 now and starting to look it so problems ahead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rovers13 Posted December 5, 2013 Share Posted December 5, 2013 They were very lucky with injuries last year for the most part in terms of key players not going down, and they had scholes. Even Fergie always struggled to manage Uniteds midfield without scholes, so it's no surprise that moyes has struggled without him. Also, they could finish fifth and be fine long term, I wouldn't even be surprised if they kept Moyes. He needs time and money (more than the glazers have been willing to spend) to rebuild his side, and once he gets that he should be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islingtonclaret Posted December 6, 2013 Share Posted December 6, 2013 My faith in the footballing world would be restored somewhat if Arsenal won the league and Everton got 4th spot. Good luck to both of them I say. Hear bloody hear. x2 Would love it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samjp26 Posted December 6, 2013 Share Posted December 6, 2013 So, word on the Twitter vine, RVP has handed in a transfer request! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarewsEyebrowDesigner Posted December 6, 2013 Share Posted December 6, 2013 Apparently the source is Mark Lawrenson. Not out of the realms of possibility (Moyes changing his training routine, and the subsequent injuries, coupled with Manure looking shite), but I very much doubt it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davkaus Posted December 6, 2013 Share Posted December 6, 2013 I hope it's true. One star player leaving could spark an exodus of all of their top talent and **** them up for years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rovers13 Posted December 6, 2013 Share Posted December 6, 2013 I hope it's true. One star player leaving could spark an exodus of all of their top talent and **** them up for years. This is something that, barring the Glazers being incredibly stupid and cheap (even more so than they have been), has no chance of happening Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Czechlad Posted December 6, 2013 Share Posted December 6, 2013 Dont worry they still have Welbeck to lead them to glory 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyM3000 Posted December 6, 2013 Share Posted December 6, 2013 Fergie left at the right time, it was a sinking ship. Smalling, Evans, Buttner, Welbeck, Cleverley aren't good enough along with tons of others he got the best out of like Anderson & Nani who now dont look half as good. Giggs, Ferdinand and Vidic are aging and its showing. The only thing he left him with was a good keeper and RVP because at the time nobody knew what would happen with Rooney. It's sort of the same theme as Villa, quality keeper and a good attack but problems in between that. Last season I didn't think they would win the league, Man City should have strolled it. Fergie really did work miracles IMO and he was a big pull for transfers, Moyes wont have that power and without CL football I think hes doomed, question is how long do the Utd board allow Moyes? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legov Posted December 6, 2013 Share Posted December 6, 2013 The new Emile, eh? I swear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AvfcTheObsession Posted December 7, 2013 Share Posted December 7, 2013 People talking about Everton for top 4. Is it just me that would find that slightly more annoying than a bigger club like Liverpool or Spurs getting it as it shows how if we'd been better run and managed it could be us? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Posted December 7, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted December 7, 2013 My faith in the footballing world would be restored somewhat if Arsenal won the league and Everton got 4th spot. Good luck to both of them I say. Arsenal winning it would be OK with me, but Everton getting the 4th place would make another team we cant catch, so not for me. Anyone but Liverpool please (....and Everton). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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