Is time running out for David Moyes? - Turning the misfortunes.

David Moyes knew what he was letting himself in for when he accepted the challenge of succeeding Sir Alex Ferguson as Manchester United manager. For all the prestige of inheriting a squad of champions, the Scot had seen enough of Ferguson’s team to understand that he had just been handed the keys to a Ferrari with 99,000 miles on the clock.

Manchester United manager David Moyes is facing biggest challenge of his managerial career following latest defeat. Newcastle United’s 1-0 win at Old Trafford exposed the failings in David Moyes’s managerial capabilities and now the Scot faces a battle to prove he was the right man to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson.

The responsibility for Manchester United’s awful run of form lies with David Moyes. Of course it does.

He inherited a squad of players who won the Premier League title by 11 points last season. But four months into this season, United have lost five times, counting three misfortunes at home. They have suffered back-to-back defeats at Old Trafford for the first time since 2002, and they are only barely in the top half of the table.

The area of the team that is clearly in dire need of improvement. The acquisition of a central or defensive midfielder is paramount and something that failing to address would hamper David Moyes’s debut season.

There are many options available to the club this summer, however, as time goes by this number is rapidly decreasing. Early targets Kevin Strootman and Thiago Alcântara have already moved. Whilst rivals Manchester City and Tottenham have already sought out players in this position: Fernandinho and Paulinho.

In retaliation, Manchester United should look to sign the likes of Marco Reues, Lars Bender, or Ander Herrera more than capable of matching the retired Paul Scholes as the club’s creative influence. Scholes was one of the more evident losses from last season’s title winning squad and as the 2011/12 season demonstrated requires an immediate replacement.

These depend on whether further players leave such as Patrice Evra or Nani with both requiring 1st team replacements, such as Everton’s Leighton Baines or Benfica’s Eduardo Salvio.

In the last few minutes of the game against Southampton, Moyes took off Wayne Rooney in place of Chris Smalling, and it cost them dearly when the Saints scored just moments later. Not the greatest tactical move on his part.

I personally gave up on Moyes when he didn’t use all of his substitutes against Manchester City when United were down or also on Saturday when he substituted Cleverly with Anderson I mean why Anderson? When you have Kagawa who is so much better than Ando, because at least under Ferguson when United went down, they went down fighting!

When Ferguson’s United suffered a 2-1 defeat against Crystal Palace at Old Trafford, 24 years ago on Monday, the beleaguered manager was greeted with a Stretford End banner which read, ‘Three years of excuses and it’s still crap. Ta-ra Fergie.’

Things worked out fine into the final moments for Ferguson, however, and Moyes must guarantee he delights in a comparable destiny.