Not yet two weeks into his tenure as Manchester United manager and David Moyes is already under fire from some sections of the Old Trafford faithful. Having lost his first game as manager at the weekend (a non-competitive fixture against the Thai Singah Allstars in which he fielded a less than half strength team), David Moyes now appears to have missed out on signing two transfer ‘targets’ within a few days.
I use inverted commas because there was absolutely no official interest ever declared by Manchester United in Thiago Alâcantra. Cesc Fâbregas sounds like a shirt-selling signing dreamt up by a board who are looking anxiously over their shoulders, not the logical choice of a man Sir Alex Ferguson told his loyal fans to put their trust in.
Sure, United need a central midfielder and have done for quite some time now – around five seasons I’d say – and that seems to have given the papers licence to link them with every available and unavailable midfielder. For example, who remembers when they were about to sign Wesley Sneijder? or Frank Lampard? Exactly. Thiago is a somewhat unproven lightweight midfielder, not what United are in the market for so Moyes can hardly be deemed to have failed in his fabricated quest to bring the Spanish-U21 starlet to Old Trafford.
Cesc Fâbgregas, whilst established at Premier League level, had never been a serious target for United until a £25 million bid was registered with Barcelona on Monday afternoon. On the face of it, it seems a ludicrous move by United - a move for a player who has previously stated that he doesn’t want to leave the club he is currently at; a club, who have coincidentally just sold another midfielder (also a United ‘target’) and are very unlikely to let another go within days.
Not to mention, the buy-out clause in Fâbregas’ contract which allows Arsenal to have first refusal on him should Barcelona opt to sell; Arsenal, who have money to spend themselves and are still smarting from the sale of Robin van Persie to United last summer will never allow United to sign a second ex-captain of theirs in as many seasons. The proposed transfer then, (which looks to have been unsuccessful as I write this) could be an attempt by the board to bring a player to Old Trafford which will signal United’s intent in the Post Fergie era, and not a logical choice made by a logical manager like David Moyes.
Talking of logic, the logical choice would be Marouane Fellaini; a player whom Moyes has worked with and would suit United’s needs more than either Thiago or Fâbregas. Expanding on this point, United’s main central midfielder, Michael Carrick, is likely to remain a part of Moyes’ plans. Carrick is a player who can thread the ball through the eye of a needle when he has time, but the current United midfield cannot afford Carrick the time he needs to make these killer passes.
So, United need a player who can make a tackle; anyone who has ever watched Fellaini, knows he can make a tackle. Unfortunately, Fellaini’s commercial potential does not meet that of Fâbregas, which could well be the reason why United haven’t made a formal approach for the big Belgian. Also another reason behind this could also be that the transfer season is only two weeks old and still has around six more weeks to run.
Moyes says he has identified a set of transfer targets and says he is happy with his respective progress, so these early dissenters I mentioned need to get off his back and behind him. Let’s not forget that Moyes is a man whom Fergie trusted, so surely this should be enough for any United fan?
The on-going Rooney saga is looking ever-more likely to end with the striker departing Old Trafford and when this inevitable day comes, I’m sure there will be a few fans blaming Moyes and maybe even a few who will get to work on the ‘Moyes out’ placards for the beginning of the season. This is utterly ridiculous and these fans need to remember that Rooney’s troubles at United began way back in 2010 when he requested a transfer before being rewarded with a huge five year contract. United fans should resign themselves to losing Wayne Rooney and move on, they have the options to cover him, and there is no point in trying to force someone to play for your team who simply doesn’t want to.
United fans have become somewhat accustomed to success over the years and if they want this success to continue, they need to give Moyes a chance. I am talking about a small minority when I talk about the fans who are questioning Moyes at such an early stage, but this could indicate the shape of the things to come, and perhaps expose an expectant, negative attitude amongst United fans.
Do they remember how Fergie was almost relegated and failed to win a trophy in his first three years at the club? Maybe two decades at the Premier League summit has gotten to United fans; these days everyone seems to think they could do a better job when maybe they should just enjoy the sun and give Moyes a chance.