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Vital Football Legend
Moyes is the wrong choice
David Moyes’ accession to the Old Trafford throne was the worst kept secret in football.
The tears of the United fans that had flowed so freely when they learned of Sir Alex Ferguson's imminent retirement had barely dried before all eyes turned to Goodison Park and on Thursday it was confirmed the heir apparent had received his official coronation.
It is easy to see the logic in United’s decision making process. The club hope they’ve opted for a repeat prescription in Moyes to the dose delivered by Ferguson.
They hope they’ve associated themselves with another pragmatic but visionary Scot who will preside over Old Trafford with much the same iron will and appetite for accumulating silverware as his predecessor.
Hope is a wonderful thing but the Premier League champions may have misplaced it in appointing Moyes.
His many qualities are not in dispute. His ability to inspire players is, perhaps, even greater than that of Ferguson and his Everton teams over for the past decade have always greater than the sum of their parts.
He cooked with modest ingredients on Merseyside but miraculously managed to serve up banquets and he certainly possesses the cool, steely determination that is a prerequisite for life at Old Trafford.
His well-publicised lack of silverware is a blemish rather than serious black mark on his CV, but it is Everton’s failure to beat United, Chelsea, Arsenal or Liverpool away from home during his 11-year Goodison tenure that should set the alarm bells ringing.
United desperately hope Moyes will be the new Ferguson. He’s the closest fit available but in striving to replace like for like, they’ve missed a fundamental trick.
Seduced by the allure of continuity and no doubt appalled by the revolving managerial door at places like Stamford Bridge, they were wary of the inevitable upheaval and unpleasantness that the Jose Mourinho circus would have brought to Old Trafford and they’ve balked at the Continental system and its constant churn of managers.
But the Red Devils hierarchy have also been blinded, forgetting that one of the hallmarks of Ferguson’s reign was frequent revolution and overhaul both in terms of players, formation and the coaching set-up.
Everton teams have essentially played the same way under Moyes for a decade and his appointment represents the antithesis of the Ferguson philosophy.
The bolder, less conservative move would have been to look to Germany and approach Borussia Dortmund’s Jurgen Klopp.
What the 45-year-old has achieved at the Westfalenstadion since he was installed as manager in 2008 is little short of miraculous and while Dortmund’s progress to this season’s Champions League final is eye-catching, his astute reinvention of the club extends far beyond one mere cup run.
In the mid 2000s, Dortmund were in such financial straits they were forced to introduce a 20% pay cut on their players to safeguard against potential bankruptcy and Klopp inherited a side that had seriously flirted with relegation the previous season, the club’s worst in 20 years.
Within three years, Dortmund dethroned Bayern Munich to become Bundesliga champions for the first time since 2002.
Klopp, the Bundesliga Manager of the Year for two consecutive years, has achieved all this with a remarkably young side and a modest budget.
The average age of his starting XI that ripped Real Madrid apart in Germany in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final last month was less than 25 and seven of the 10 outfield players were aged 24 or below.
The German is a renowned tactical innovator and has instilled a flexibility in Dortmund that has seen the team emerge as a major force in the Bundesliga.
Dortmund don’t play one way, they adapt to the situation and he has empowered a young group of players beyond their years.
He is five years younger than Moyes but after starting his managerial career at Mainz 05 in 2001, he still boasts more than a decade on the touchline.
His European pedigree is exactly what United needed after two season’s of Champions League failures. Dortmund finished bottom of their group in 2011-12 but little over a year later, Klopp had transformed his team into finalists.
Moyes’ Champions League experiences extends no further than Everton’s ill-fated foray in the play-offs against Villarreal back in 2005.
The lingering suspicion is had Klopp happened to be Scottish rather than German, he would be sitting in Fergie’s office at Old Trafford now but United weren’t ready to look to the Continent and appoint a ‘foreign’ manager for the first time in the club’s history.
Whether Moyes is able to thrive in his compatriot’s considerable shadow remains to be seen but his appointment reminds me of when the producers of Dallas changed the actresses playing Miss Ellie and hoped no-one would either notice or care.
Klopp would have represented a greater culture shock but the bigger the risk, the greater the reward.
http://sport.uk.msn.com/socialvoices/moyes-is-the-wrong-choice#scpshrjwfbs
David Moyes’ accession to the Old Trafford throne was the worst kept secret in football.
The tears of the United fans that had flowed so freely when they learned of Sir Alex Ferguson's imminent retirement had barely dried before all eyes turned to Goodison Park and on Thursday it was confirmed the heir apparent had received his official coronation.
It is easy to see the logic in United’s decision making process. The club hope they’ve opted for a repeat prescription in Moyes to the dose delivered by Ferguson.
They hope they’ve associated themselves with another pragmatic but visionary Scot who will preside over Old Trafford with much the same iron will and appetite for accumulating silverware as his predecessor.
Hope is a wonderful thing but the Premier League champions may have misplaced it in appointing Moyes.
His many qualities are not in dispute. His ability to inspire players is, perhaps, even greater than that of Ferguson and his Everton teams over for the past decade have always greater than the sum of their parts.
He cooked with modest ingredients on Merseyside but miraculously managed to serve up banquets and he certainly possesses the cool, steely determination that is a prerequisite for life at Old Trafford.
His well-publicised lack of silverware is a blemish rather than serious black mark on his CV, but it is Everton’s failure to beat United, Chelsea, Arsenal or Liverpool away from home during his 11-year Goodison tenure that should set the alarm bells ringing.
United desperately hope Moyes will be the new Ferguson. He’s the closest fit available but in striving to replace like for like, they’ve missed a fundamental trick.
Seduced by the allure of continuity and no doubt appalled by the revolving managerial door at places like Stamford Bridge, they were wary of the inevitable upheaval and unpleasantness that the Jose Mourinho circus would have brought to Old Trafford and they’ve balked at the Continental system and its constant churn of managers.
But the Red Devils hierarchy have also been blinded, forgetting that one of the hallmarks of Ferguson’s reign was frequent revolution and overhaul both in terms of players, formation and the coaching set-up.
Everton teams have essentially played the same way under Moyes for a decade and his appointment represents the antithesis of the Ferguson philosophy.
The bolder, less conservative move would have been to look to Germany and approach Borussia Dortmund’s Jurgen Klopp.
What the 45-year-old has achieved at the Westfalenstadion since he was installed as manager in 2008 is little short of miraculous and while Dortmund’s progress to this season’s Champions League final is eye-catching, his astute reinvention of the club extends far beyond one mere cup run.
In the mid 2000s, Dortmund were in such financial straits they were forced to introduce a 20% pay cut on their players to safeguard against potential bankruptcy and Klopp inherited a side that had seriously flirted with relegation the previous season, the club’s worst in 20 years.
Within three years, Dortmund dethroned Bayern Munich to become Bundesliga champions for the first time since 2002.
Klopp, the Bundesliga Manager of the Year for two consecutive years, has achieved all this with a remarkably young side and a modest budget.
The average age of his starting XI that ripped Real Madrid apart in Germany in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final last month was less than 25 and seven of the 10 outfield players were aged 24 or below.
The German is a renowned tactical innovator and has instilled a flexibility in Dortmund that has seen the team emerge as a major force in the Bundesliga.
Dortmund don’t play one way, they adapt to the situation and he has empowered a young group of players beyond their years.
He is five years younger than Moyes but after starting his managerial career at Mainz 05 in 2001, he still boasts more than a decade on the touchline.
His European pedigree is exactly what United needed after two season’s of Champions League failures. Dortmund finished bottom of their group in 2011-12 but little over a year later, Klopp had transformed his team into finalists.
Moyes’ Champions League experiences extends no further than Everton’s ill-fated foray in the play-offs against Villarreal back in 2005.
The lingering suspicion is had Klopp happened to be Scottish rather than German, he would be sitting in Fergie’s office at Old Trafford now but United weren’t ready to look to the Continent and appoint a ‘foreign’ manager for the first time in the club’s history.
Whether Moyes is able to thrive in his compatriot’s considerable shadow remains to be seen but his appointment reminds me of when the producers of Dallas changed the actresses playing Miss Ellie and hoped no-one would either notice or care.
Klopp would have represented a greater culture shock but the bigger the risk, the greater the reward.
http://sport.uk.msn.com/socialvoices/moyes-is-the-wrong-choice#scpshrjwfbs
