Moyes living with some of Fergie’s biggest mistakes

Sir Alex Ferguson was, without any doubt, the greatest manager British football has ever seen. Given his record and achievements during the 27 years at Manchester United as well as prior to that with Aberdeen, criticizing him would almost be like telling Vincent van Gogh he should have used more colors on Sunflowers. Although it is not wrong, it does miss a few points, however.

Ferguson may have been a lot of things but one thing’s for sure, he was a winner. Last season was perhaps the greatest example of that as he took a United team, with arguably the weakest squad of the top three and won the club’s 20^th English title.

Did THAT team suffer under such constraints? Au contraire!

They cantered to the league with a staggering 11 points ahead of Noisy Neighbors Manchester City. Whatever it required, the Scotsman always found a winning formula. Arsenal, Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City were all left wanting as the great man found that extra push to leave them in his wake as he relentlessly pursued glory for Manchester United.

Now, he has retired for good and after 27 years, there is a new man in charge of Manchester United. David Moyes is a great manager but by no means can he be considered a genius. The late, late goals, the miraculous comebacks became a trademark under Ferguson and very often, it felt as though the team was succeeding through the sheer strength of personality and attitude. His successor, on the other hand, is a mere mortal and he has to live with some of the mistakes made by his predecessor.

The most glaring failure of Ferguson during the last few years of his reign was the lack of desire to sign a world class central midfield player. It seemed that the manager was almost sadistically enjoying the cries of the fans for a playmaker and still delivered the silverware.

Michael Carrick is a fine player and perhaps the best English midfielder at this time after Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard and he is still in his prime. But he is not someone who will dominate the centre of the park when United come face to face with a European elite. Marouane Fellaini, although not a bad signing by Moyes, doesn’t exactly fit the bill completely and he will find it hard to fill the void left by Roy Keane almost eight years back now. Anderson and Tom Cleverley, on the other hand, do not have what it takes to become top players at a club like Manchester United.

The wing play is also a concern. The great sides put together by Sir Alex over the years were swift counter attacking teams, capable of breaking down any opponent with their swift and agile movement down the two wings. In the last couple of years, Ashley Young, Antonio Valencia and Nani all have struggled for form, fitness or even both. Wilfried Zaha is a player of undoubtedly high quality but of late, he has struggled to make the match day squad, let alone the first team.

On his Old Trafford swansong, Sir Alex informed the press that Wayne Rooney was unhappy with his position in the team. Although the England man vehemently denied those claims, he angled for a move away from Old Trafford throughout the summer. And though the dust seems to settled for the time being and Rooney has been on a great run of form at the beginning of the season, there is no telling what lies ahead in the future, especially with Sir Alex remaining at the club in a directorial capacity and with his new autobiography scheduled for October.

Finally, the left back position also seems to be an area of concern for Moyes. Alexander Buttner doesn’t seem to have the quality to push Patrice Evra for a starting spot and considering his advanced years, it would be hard on the Frenchman as well to have him perform consistently twice a week, every week.

The Great Scot made his fair share of mistakes but he also had the capacity to correct them with his sheer perseverance and hunt for glory. Now, the baton has passed to Moyes and he needs to address his squad immediately. Otherwise, the fans might just miss Sir Alex more than ever.

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Posted by Subham Mitra on behalf of FootballWorld.