Did Manchester United get the wrong man?

The criticism from Manchester United fans and pundits started well before the final whistle blew on a resounding 4-1 win by Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium in the Manchester derby on Sunday.

If United’s start to the new Barclays Premier League season had offered reason for some level of legitimate concern the loss to Manchester City was perhaps the realization of fans’ worst fears.

United were not only outplayed by Manchester City but the team looked devoid of character and strangely overawed by the occasion. Only in the final ten minutes when the game was already well in hand by Manchester City were United able to get any traction in the match.And not only that, United lost to their arch rivals Liverpool at Anfield which for sure would have made their fans upset.

Perhaps the biggest change between Manchester United teams of seasons past and those of today is stark the loss of experienced personnel in the team and on the bench.

It was only two years ago that Manchester United had players as seasoned as Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and Edwin van der Sar within their ranks. Now, though, United’s team is comprised mostly of players that, though have won major honours, lack the sort of experience required to pull themselves out of the type of pot holes they currently find themselves in this campaign.

Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand and Ryan Giggs remain the only real figureheads in the team that have seen it all. They have plenty of experience between them, they seem the sort of players lacking the motivational skills to push on or lift up younger teammates.

No one ever imagined or suggested that taking over from Sir Alex Ferguson was going to be easy for David Moyes but the loss to City will only strongen the critics who have been lurking during the first few weeks of the season
And there are a number of juicy targets. New signings who don’t make an immediate positive impact offer, so no doubt Marouane Fellaini will be one – being the only transfer of note only serves to magnify the attention.

Moyes has started the experienced centre back partnership of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic in all five Premier League matches this season – something we rarely saw under Ferguson either through choice or injury – but neither came to grips with the City attack and left many wondering if we are reaching the point where experience morphs into old. Aguero and Negredo proved too hot to handle and pretty much bullied United’s centre backs.

The performances from Antonio Valencia and Ashley Young in wide positions were insipid. Valencia was cruelly exposed by the City left back Kolarov in the first 45 minutes and Young was wasteful in possession and fortunate to last until he got the hook six minutes into the second half with City up 4-0. 

Under Ferguson the formation was pure excellence by a mentality of aggressively forcing the opposition into mistakes – impose yourself on the game, up the tempo and more often than not the opposition will crumble. It is also only fair to note that it took many years for Ferguson and United to develop superiority and the belief that there is no such thing as a lost cause.

Change the system or change the mentality – something has to give up.
For the sake of David Moyes and Manchester United,the team needs to rebound from Sunday’s result and bounce back on this Wednesday’s fixture vs Liverpool as it has done in the past or the pressure is going to grow tremendously on Moyes.