Meulensteen opens mouth, inserts Moyesian foot

Rene Meulensteen just doesn’t care if anyone likes him, does he?

The former Anzhi and Fulham boss – and Manchester United coach – yesterday hit the headlines for self-reporting that he didn’t think David Moyes understood the size of the Manchester United task that faced him, and that the Ginger Chosen Replaced One was like a captain going down with his cruise ship.

The comments, both in nature and timing, reflect far more poorly on Meulensteen than Moyes. Despite ructions with his former charges, since his departure from Old Trafford on Tuesday David Moyes has been the picture of dignity; this screams of Meulensteen – who probably had irons in the fire with Anzhi when he and much of United's coaching staff were let go last year – repaying a nine-month-old debt. By kicking a man while he’s down.

Despite helming three clubs, Meulensteen’s best moment as a manager came in a 2-2 draw with Moyes’ Red Devils in February. That was later the source of a mild controversy when one of his younger players compared United’s tactics to those of a team four divisions lower. Meulensteen was replaced by Fulham only days later, whereby he obliquely accused his former employers of “pushing the panic button”.

It’s been an open secret around Europe that Meulensteen, despite being a extremely respected coach, sees himself as far more. These comments provide evidence that he carries himself with the arrogance that befits a manager. However, coaching kudos an overstated arrogance does not necessarily a manager make – just as tactical acumen and the ability to compete on a budget does not.

courtesy: fm-base.co.uk

This is a man who, as an unemployed coach/manager, is trying to ingratiate himself with people of authority? Did Meulensteen think about how this might reflect in future job interviews?

Hmmm.

Moyes still has plenty of people who rate him very highly and would employ him in a heartbeat; even those without a direct connection to the latest member of the sacked managers club might shirk at the sound of a relatively-unpopular-someone trying relatively-rather-clod-hoppingly to take advantage of a principled-if-perhaps-tactically-misguided-other-someone’s misfortune.

His comments on a vanquished foe were opportunistic self-promotion of the sleaziest type. As such, they reflect poorly on a man who so obviously has future management opportunities in mind. 

Moyes' problems began at the beginning

Over the course of this season, Manchester United have careened from disappointment to ponderous defeat. The latest few “disasters” made the position of manager David Moyes – The Chosen One – completely untenable, and the United board have responded by sacking him after less than a year in the position.

While the manner of his dismissal was poorly handled by the club, few – if any – disagree with the decision. The negativity surrounding the player group reached the threshold for toxicity months ago, while an overwhelming on-field ambivalence led to several insipid performances. The worst of these have occurred since January.

Throughout the season, Moyes conducted himself with a kind of pie-eyed optimistic dignity. Even the statement he put out through the League Managers Association upon his dismissal smacks of class. However, dignity is often the product of respect and therefore does not necessarily beget the arrogance required to both capture and hold the attention of a roomful of egos. Neither does it inspire confidence in fans.

Despite the underhanded manner of its announcement, the decision to let Moyes go was the right one even considering the paucity of viable replacements. Despite the distaste generated by disposing of a manager within a year of his appointment, David Moyes simply could not be authorised to spend the money required to rebuild.

Why was this? The answer, as with many failed hirings, was that under Moyes’ leadership the club simply had no identity. They weren’t the almighty steamroller of years past, nor did they have any kind of observably consistent offensive or defensive philosophies. It’s telling that, outside a certain handful of players, Moyes was never certain of his best lineup; his appalling summer transfer window in 2013 was the product of indecision – weighing up the benefits of one player/fee/style over another for far too long.

courtesy: Wikipedia

A large part of this blame can be apportioned to the departed manager, but another significant part rests with the manner of his coronation.

Most managers leave a club after their methods fail, when problems with the past manager’s style are obvious. Unlike most new gaffers, Moyes succeeded the most trophied boss in the business and thereby the typical new-guy remit - “don’t be that guy” - was not afforded him. He had no remit to change, just to evolve that which already existed; there was little stylistically to “fix”.

It is damning that the area of chief concern, the midfield, was addressed poorly and expensively at the transfer deadline.

Moyes has, however, given his successor – probably Louis van Gaal – that opportunity. The job description will probably include the words “Anti-Moyes”, “Arrogant One” and “Don’t be David” prominently featured in size-18 Comic-Sans. United are eminently fixable without the root-and-branch reform Moyes began peddling in 2014; all it takes is the ability to see the problems quickly upon arrival.

If nothing else, David Moyes’ tenure as United manager has highlighted areas that need quick and drastic improvement.

Rio Ferdinand: This is the End

Rio Ferdinand is old. At least, for a footballer, he’s getting up there – 35 years old, and turning 36 by the time the next Premier League season starts. He still has class and poise on the field, but the reason he’s almost certain to leave Manchester United at the end of this season is that his body just can’t do it any more.

Tuesday’s match against Champions League Champions (and Champions-elect) Bayern Munich exemplified the best and worst of Ferdinand in 2013-14.

With his hand somewhat forced by injuries to Jonny Evans, Rafael and Chris Smalling, manager David Moyes opted to revisit the past-prime Ferdinand/Vidic combination, with startling success: Ferdinand played as well as he has in months, while Vidic fired in the home team’s goal.

Ferdinand, confident and assured on the ball as is his style, was able to move the ball away from dangerous positions most of the time. However, he was liable – as, more damningly, was Marouane Fellaini – for United conceding the equaliser only minutes after taking the lead.

On Fox Sports Eric Wynalda spake about Ferdinand “half-challenging” Bayern assist-giver Schweinsteiger, he was only half right: Ferdinand simply couldn’t get a full challenge in because age has robbed him of his lateral mobility. This in turn gives the appearance of the former England centre-half constantly being wrong-footed – as he was multiple times by Edin Dzeko last week during the defeat to Manchester City.

While lateral mobility for a tall player is always more difficult than for shorter players – compare Peter Crouch’s ultimately linear style with that of Lionel Messi. The first aspect of muscle performance – strength, power and endurance – to decline is power, or the quick burst required to change directionsor react to an opponent’s course-correction.

There simply is no place in a rebuilding back four for a player who lacks the mobility to cover even and Edin Dzeko (or Mario Mandzukic), let alone a player as scamper-y as Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi or Edin Hazard. Ferdinand will hobble into the sunset (ie. MLS) and Manchester United fans should remember him not for his declining years but his dominant years where he was as smooth as could come.

An open letter to Manchester United fans

Dear Manchester United fans:

Courtesy: Creative Commons

-         United fans plan “Moyes Out” flypast

-         Stewards forced to defend “The Chosen One” banner

-         Sir Alex Ferguson abused by fans

-         United fan calls 999 asking for Sir Alex Ferguson

Don’t be that guy.

Seriously.

More than Sir Alex’s “decision”, Moyes’ indecision, Ed Woodward’s lack of transfer nous, Marouane Fellaini’s absent heartbeat and a right flank that swallows all, it is entitled fans who most tarnish the club’s reputation.

Flybys? Really?

There are many things you can do to hurt your club. You can be involved in racial abuse, become one of those crazy Ultras who stab people in the bum or just walk out, taking your affections (and money) with you. Those people are easily identified as “traitors” or “crazies” because they pin their affections to the mast and cast a club in a poor light.

While it’s not even in the same ballpark as racism or arse-stabbing, so too do entitled fans who feel as if they deserve success simply because they know nothing else. If it’s traitorous to switch allegiances to another club, surely allowing your actions to reflect poorly on the team you supposedly support is also an act of betrayal? While the whole English Premier League is enjoying United’s lack of success this year, they’re also just as thrilled at Red Devil fandom’s spontaneous combustion.

This doesn’t mean that you can’t protest. If you feel it helps, go for it – but don’t be boorish or violent about it. The most effective protests aren’t screaming obscenities at the greatest football manager in recent memory, the man almost solely responsible for the success you’ve so enjoyed over the past quarter-century.

The club has endured 25 years of startling success, almost unparalleled in the modern game. We’ve won with guys who should have triumphed, and with teams (like last year’s) who shouldn’t. To forget that, on occasion, the boys won’t win is a disgustingSometimes – but not always – we as fans have been classy in victory. It’s time to start learning to lose with grace, as the rebuild may take time.

Sincerely,

Another long-term fan

We ... need to talk (about Manchester United)

Some years ago I dated a girl who was no good for me. It didn’t take long for me to work this out – say a couple of months – but for a time I wrestled with the ramifications of us staying together or of me making the break.

It started in a flurry simply because we enjoyed each other’s company. After the initial buzz dissipated though, the relationship never 100% “worked: the good times with this young lady were fun – we had a similar sense of humour, liked the same stuff and were both basketballers of some repute and could bond over that. But we also argued a whole bunch, and the suspicion never went away that she mightn’t the best person with whom I could walk on through life.

This secretive doubt went on for maybe two months before I summoned the courage to talk to my old man about it. I knew he and my Mum liked the girl as a person but didn’t think she was a great “fit”, which in the end was true. The words my Dad had for me that day have stuck by me ever since: “If it’s only the right decision when you’re with that person, then that’s a bit of a red flag”.

In the end, the truth of those words compelled me to end a conflicted relationship, and it was the right decision.

This scenario sprung to mind on Wednesday as I watched the second leg of the Manchester United – Olympiakos Champions League tie. I found myself wondering how United could look so compelling (at least for the first sixty-plus minutes) when compared with recent performances against opposition of quality.

"My" United - complete with Mame Biram Diouf

United played a breezy first half and ... a second one, completely unencumbered by the self-doubt that has defined much of David Moyes’ first year in charge. The change in personnel was minor, as the team basically comprised a similar XI to Ferguson’s first-choice last year, but the difference in outlook was tremendous. Antonio Valencia displayed a right-sided briskness reminiscent of his best, Wayne Rooney showed he might be worth his new contract while a latter-day-Giggs performance just about sealed a perfect day for the Red Devil support.

To the tumultuous throng, it just felt right. And it hasn’t for some time. The mood of the team (and the media surrounding) has for six months been very bipolar, which manic peaks heralding the dawn of a new era and earth-shattering lows that have the players, hierarchy and even fans questioning what it actually means to be “Manchester United” in 2014.

Herein flaps the red flag: existential questions don’t plague happy teams. Very few such posers have been presented of Everton, or Liverpool, Man City or Chelsea. There may be mechanical questions – when/if to play Player X, Y or Z, for example – but none of these lineups, despite great change in personality, have had to endure the same all-pervasive, low-grade conflict as at Manchester United.

This has made watching United more of a chore than in years past: not so much the lack of success as a sensation of watching a once joyful union disintegrate. It’s like watching myself and the girl from my twenties again form the outside. The good times, like Wednesday, are still great fun but it’s harder to get excited about the prospect of the ill-matched 2014 iteration of United. Reasons for hope exist, but are overshadowed by the club relationships aren’t necessarily actually pointing in the right direction.

I’m no longer 25 and my relationship with Manchester United stretches back decades, rather than a few months. It was a good idea to get into bed (so to speak) with United, rather than my girlfriend of a decade ago – I’m not going anywhere. But Moyes’ United have the image of a couple – This is 40-style – tinkering to try and get the sparkle back, without realizing it wasn’t that sparkle that kept them together.

Good times and bad for Manchester United (and I) are still ahead.

Who will United's next centre-back be?

In a season of questions, there is one certainty: Manchester United’s annus horibilis will conclude with the departure of club stalwarts Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand. The captain has signed a deal to move to Internazionale; while Ferdinand has rarely appeared this term and when he has, the numbers have not been kind.

Their partnership has underpinned nearly a decade of success at Old Trafford.

You'd win bets in 2011 saying Lindegaard
would outlast his fellow photo-mates at United.

While Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Jonny Evans have been three of David Moyes’ most reliable players, each has struggled with injuries this season and has a history of doing so. It is dubious if two of those three guys, appreciable as they are, will coalesce to form the next great United wall.

Each player has absolute strengths and weaknesses. Evans is a throwback to the lanky British centre-backs of the mid-eighties, a player born to defend who seems to be just about coming into his own at Old Trafford. Jones is a frenetic kinesis, perhaps a player without a position and still learning what it takes to be truly elite. Smalling is more suited to carrying the ball out from the back, and like Jones, can swing to right-back if required*.

Each is a good player, true enough – but will any of them be great? Jones has the most hope in this regard, but there are grave doubts as to whether these three have the requisite personality to drag a defense along in their wake. Unless this force of will rapidly becomes apparent, United will be in the market for a defender this summer.

Rumours have placed David Moyes, Ed Woodward and any number of United scouts at various arenas around Europe in attempts to find the next great United centre-back. The most featured names include Frenchman Eliaquim Mangala of Porto and German youngster Matthias Ginter, who is performing well at relegation-threatened Freiburg. Alarmingly, Stefan Savic has also been linked, while suggestions that Mats Hummels would abandon Borussia Dortmund for Manchester are pure fancy.

I’m taking the liberty here of adding a personal favourite to the investigatory list: Steven Caulker, of Cardiff City. Caulker is young, British, athletic and poised. While his club hasn’t had the greatest of campaigns (understatement alert), Caulker has only solidified his reputation as one of the better young central defenders in the Premiership; one who actually has the tools to improve his game and a team around him.

It may not be as simple as three-into-one. Each of these players has significant drawbacks that limits their immediate usefulness to the Moyesian Manchester.

The fee for Mangala is likely to approach scandalous amidst interest from practically everyone, while little is known as to his mental makeup. Ginter – while apparently honoured to be linked United – is still something of an unknown quantity – a mix of marginally-impressive stats and an impressive junior record. The German may be more accessible, but would he necessarily be a better fit for the United back line? He bears impressive size for a centre-back, but at 20 would need to have remarkable self-assuredness to help turn around a listing club whose headspace – rather than talent – is under question.

Caulker has experience in such conditions, as captain of a struggling outfit. However he has shown only spurts of an off-pitch ability to galvanise his comrades. Much of this can be attributed to the curious antics of Cardiff City’s owner, but if United are looking for an emotional catalyst, Caulker may not be the guy. He boasts Premiership experience, a nice eye for a pass and looks good in uniform (you can’t teach that) – but if a relatively-rudderless United is searching for leadership, it is questionable that Caulker can provide.

If the three most obvious options aren’t able to totally fill the criteria, then it may be United’s choice to go with the best prospect and hope a summer away from Carrington may be a tonic. It may also allow for the stink that has enveloped the United sheds to disappear, rather than be covered over by the Febreze of a Juan Mata signing, or lofty sponsorship deal.

On paper, a centre-back is paramount as David Moyes begins to shred the remnants of Sir Alex Ferguson’s once-great team. But none has really stood out as the outstanding candidate. This is Moyes’ challenge– not the choice of why or if to rebuild, but how.

*It must be said that this is accomplished with varying degrees of success.

Manchester United's Transfer Window, summed up in one table

For Moyes and United, a successful season already unachievable

David Moyes is overseeing probably the worst Man Utd season since 1988-89. In every season since then – excepting 2001-02 and 2004-5 – the Red Devils have contributed to the trophy room; in both those intermediate seasons without sparkles, the club finished third in the table.

With a 2-1 home loss to an understrength Swansea culminating in elimination from the FA Cup, the rancor surrounding David Moyes’ viability the club’s manager increased. After surrendering another injury-time goal today to lose at Sunderland today in the first leg of their League Cup semi-final, it might be best hold place the official Manchester United Twitter feed under 24-hour guard.

With the team in seventh position in the league, a Cup victory now a precarious proposition, the team almost completely devoid of central midfielders and unpromising Champions League hopes, there are influential voices suggesting Moyes and United must win the League Cup to ensure 2013-14 is a campaign the club doesn’t want to scrub from the annals.

The fact is that for United, this is already a disappointing season and a League Cup victory would do nothing to change that. As enjoyable as it might be, wins over Sunderland and Man City wouldn’t paper over the holes Moyes has to fill. Unless there is a remarkable sprightly second-half turnaround any reasonable goals for the season will remain unfulfilled – therefore, the season has been a disappointment.

Now equipped with half a season of hindsight, achievable aims for United would have been the provision of hope for the future – with a bonus coming in the form of a title challenge or Cup win – due either to player development, squad refreshment or a masterful new tactical system that saw the club entering the post-Ferguson/Gill era with hope.

Red Devil fans have seen none of this, and no amount of success – and for clubs like United, League Cup victories only marginally count – can hide how deficient their squad is.

Despite its respected position, the League Cup has no place in defining a successful season for a club the size of United. The old axiom that success begets success is somewhat true in football. Trophies – and sometimes, the money they bring – can attract players to your club that otherwise might sign elsewhere. But it’s unlikely Arturo Vidal (or other similarly-talented players) would be enticed to Manchester on the strength of League Cup silverware – and thus United, winning this competition is merely a bonus and completely unintegral to defining this season’s fortunes.

Were United to win the League Cup playing outstanding football, or with a lineup featuring Nick Powell, Wilfried Zaha, Alex Buttner and a revitalized Anderson – that would be a fine platform on which to build the next great United XI. Such a scenario is so unlikely as to be practically impossible.

The Champions League? Player-to-player comparison of United with Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern, City and even Atletico and PSG is an unfavourable exercise. Any hopes in this competition now rest with a Great Escape similar to that of Chelsea’s of 2012, in which an inferior squad managed to hole up against superior opposition in three straight rounds. Possible, sure – but highly unlikely.

This coming offseason looms as another of great change at Carrington. It needs to be, as the club continues to tread timidly, turning often and conspicuously to the image of Grandpa, retired and safe but still a presence in the Director’s box.

Wilfried Zaha: Destination West Bromwich

Wilfried Zaha, Manchester United's most exciting (and most underutilised) acquisition of 2013, seems likely to be loaned out to another Premier League club this winter. The clubs associated include Everton (surprise, surprise), Newcastle United and, predictably, former club Crystal Palace.

United fans were initially excited by Zaha’s unharnessed horsepower, but his inability to break into David Moyes’ convulsant first team sees Red Devil fans enticed by what he might be, rather than what he will contribute to 2013-14. That probably means seeing him temporarily don blue or black and white.

A good argument is made by NBC’s Pro Soccer Talk that Everton might be an agreeable loan destination: the Toffees might be able to take points from other teams competing for the top four while getting the young England international the competition he needs to develop. A bonus comes in the form of manager Roberto Martinez, who dating back to his days at Swansea has nonpareil form at turning loan players into monsters.

What this theory fails to account for is that Everton, driven by a compelling foursome of loanees (Gareth Barry, Gerard Delofeu, Romelu Lukaku and possibly Zaha), might themselves muster enough points to keep United from Champions League qualification. Although it seems less likely, the same might be said of Newcastle United.

While Everton, Newcastle and Palace seem the most likely Zaha destinations, an under-the-radar option might exist. West Bromwich Albion boast a coach-turned-manager in Steve Clarke who managed the club to an upper half EPL finish last year and who has with Roy Hodgson turned a former yo-yo team into a solid Premiership club – albeit one that still appears to lack goals. Clarke also used temp man Romelu Lukaku in a devastating manner last year, has developed young winger Saido Berahino into a wonderful international prospect.

The Baggies sit fifteenth in the table and seem to have based much of their recruitment on maximizing returns from good, but not great players. The addition of Lukaku – who lopes around the field with the speed and manner of a big cat hunting – last term provided a physical weapon capable of freezing opposing defenses and creating space for midfielders like James Morrison. Were West Brom able to rotate Scott Sinclair, Berahino and Zaha, their forward corps would be perhaps more fascinating viewing than even the Man U Moyespocalypse.

Whether the Baggies have the available squad space and finances to make such a deal work remains questionable, but the club is certainly an option worth considering. It might make West Brom better, it would almost certainly make Wilfried Zaha better and would give fans of each side even more to tune in to.

Spurs/United a preview of what might eventually be

Let’s talk about neurology (again). Specifically, let’s talk about the way the human nervous system deals with learning a new strategy – either a movement strategy or a new way of applying what knowledge you already have.

Technically speaking, learning is a relatively permanent change, a product of a change in the architecture of the body’s nervous systems. Performance is another matter altogether; it is a temporary change in behaviour observed during supervised practice. It depends on many factors including the environment and the level of ambient stress.

Now, let’s talk about football – and more accurately, about this weekend’s past match between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United. Both teams are acclimating to new personnel, and thereby learning new tactics, methods and movements.

David Moyes’ arrival means the entire club is adapting to a new way of doing things, while the Whites have replaced a once-in-a-generation player with a wide array of disparate talents like Erik Lamela, Andros Townsend, Paulinho and Roberto Soldado. Each new player is now – and still – adapting to Andre Villas-Boas and the way he thinks about football and demands it played.

To expect instant change, or a team to understand implicitly a new motor learning strategy within months is unrealistic – for someone to retrain a learned behaviour, it takes anywhere as much as 400 repetitions. Add to that the communication barrier – message, language or mode – and suddenly it becomes reasonable to expect any particular situational play to take months to consolidate.

Occasions of exquisite performance, such as Manchester United’s 5-0 triumph over Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League last week, can occur despite a lack of learning. Sometimes, circumstances transpire to create an atmosphere in which performance can occur despite a lack of learning. The learning will occur as each player’s reps increase, with the most benefit coming from time spent on the field in matches, rather than the training ground.

Manchester United 2013-14 player use trends

The chart below maps the player usage trends of David Moyes at Manchester United. It's hardly revelationary, but it is interesting to get to grips with his concept of "squad rotation" (especially considering it's impossible not to hear how rarely he was afforded that chance at Everton).

If one certainty has emerged from this week, it is that this pattern will change, with Michael Carrick ruled out for up to six weeks with an Achilles injury. As you can see below, it is likley his minutes will be divided between Ryan Giggs, Phil Jones, Tom Cleverley and Marouane Fellaini (because let's not talk about Anderson ... please).

Interesting trends include the deployment of Jones, Smalling, Evra and Rafael as prominent defenders during the club's recent nine-game unbeaten streak, as well as a forward reliance on Wayne Rooney and (recently) ... Shinji Kagawa.

Key: X = started match, I = made substitute appearance, 0 = unused substitute. Blank spaces = player left out of the matchday squad. 

Moyes' Manchester United honesty both helps and hurts

So David Moyes thinks that the team that won the Premiership by eleven points last season doesn’t have enough top-class players.  He also apparently kens that things might get worse for his Manchester United mob before they get better.  And that qualifying for the knockout round of the Champions League is far from guaranteed.

What do you really think, Dave?

Blind Freddie on the trams could tell you that United haven’t started well – the club has three losses in six league matches, or sixty percent of all the club’s misses last season.  They’ve looked staid, boring and bored; the weekend loss to West Bromwich Albion at Old Trafford a Picasso of listlessness.

Yet Moyes seems remarkably verbose.  In earlier times he’s bastardised the fixture list before in the past week publicly: searching for reasons for an apathetic derby performance, (understandably) finding the loss to WBA “a concern”, that Champions League progression wasn’t going to be easy, reinforcements were required at the club and – perhaps most gallingly – that the Red Devils face “more blows to come”.

All of the above statements are almost certainly entirely true.  In another situation, Moyes might be congratulated for his candor.  However, when the man who bosses a club with the size and repute of Manchester United makes such a concerted effort downplay expectation, he wields a blade that cuts both ways.  While he may temper fan demands or media speculation as to the quality of his side or the security of his position, what he also does is slowly erode his players’ confidence.  If the manager – their leader, the one with the brains, supposedly – isn’t convinced his team is good enough or able to calculate why they’re playing like crap, what are the grunts to believe?

Every United player will already be slightly down as a result of consecutive haphazard displays in Manchester; public statements that they might not be good enough to achieve what they did last year are hardly likely to inspire faith in a gaffer who’s still trying to win them over to playing his way.  Whether reasonable or not, the single-minded but brittle psyche of the professional athlete responds to someone who totally backs them, or for spite of them.  Moyes is shakily walking a very thin path alongside a steep drop; few are convinced he can navigate it successfully.

What should concern David Moyes, more even than a home loss to West Bromwich Albion, is sending out the wrong message to his players.  With every honest comment comes a certain amount of respect from one corner, accompanied by the opposite from the other.

United's laughable window ends with Fellaini serendipity

So one or both of Ed Woodward and David Moyes screwed up.  This much is certain.  

Entreaties to Cesc Fabregas, Luka Modric, Ander Herrera, Mesut Özil and Juan Mata went thoroughly and brutally unfulfilled.  The club is – rightfully – embarrassed by three months of low-ball bids and beat-poet serenades below player balconies that hit all the wrong notes. 

And now, as it emerges that the three men previously dubbed “impostors” who attempted to negotiate Herrera’s buyout clause in fact had legitimate United connections.  The best-known and perhaps most powerful club in Britain painted itself as indecisive, frugal and badly lacking the impetus offered by the departed leadership. 

Formerly, desir’d fillies entered the United stable after being entranced by mere nudges and winks.  In the quarter leading up to September 2^nd, the Red Devils struck out at an astonishing rate.  This left David Moyes attempting to spin a wasted summer – hardly his strength – thus finding himself exactly the situation the club hoped to avoid by acquiring one or two truly world-class players.   

However, the club’s administrative incompetence may have a serendipitous side-effect.

Marouane Fellaini was always the player Moyes was most likely to end up with.  The pair’s past relationship at Everton, his desire to play Champions League football and status as a fallback for misfiring bids for wantastays like Fabregas made him most likely to cross the Old Trafford threshold.  That he cost 4 million more than he would have a month ago … well, that’s unfortunate, but Fellaini is obviously a player of quality.  However, questions persist if he’s a quote-unquote United player.

Such concerns are answered with relative ease: he may not have a typically polished United skill set* but compensates by being the most unique midfielder in Europe.  No other central player has his combination of versatility, physical stature and ability to influence games across the entire park.  While he may not scythe balls through defences like Modric or Mata, Fellaini’s style offers defences the Catch-22 of matching him in the air or on the carpet.  It’s unlikely many teams could blunt both simultaneously.

Man U fans would certainly have preferred Johnny Kills or Özil professing undying loyalty while holding aloft a red scarf – and why not, considering they’re two of the best ten players in the world?  (According to the Guardian, the Afro-ed One ranks number 60, the sixteenth best player in England and the only one outside this year’s title contenders).  Supporters may mourn, but while Mata, Fabregas or Özil might have professed more so-called intent, Fellaini presents defences with a completely singular problem.

Heaven forbid his arrival masks the serious flaws United displayed throughout the window; the club acted not like a global power but like a desperate teen late on prom night.  A list of targets for the January anti-bonanza must be created to ensure their most coveted player arrives to ensure United keeps its reputation as a destination club.

Despite its disappointing conclusion, the success or failure of Manchester United’s transfer window should not be assessed according to the presence (or absence) of statement signings, buts whether the club actually improved their squad.  It shouldn’t matter if Fellaini was option A, B or J – only that his purchase makes United more dangerous and complete, which he does. 

While Fabregas was a good option A, Marouane Fellaini is one hell of an option C.

*Ashley Young has that polished skillset but continually refuses to influence matches in any perceivable way.

EPL finally overcomes offseason inertia

The most pressing questions facing the English Premier League as the offseason began were:

Question: Will Luis Suarez stay at Liverpool?

Answer, May 30^th: Likely, but we don’t know

Answer, August 14^th: Likely, but we don’t know

Q. How will David Moyes fare as Manchester United manager?

Answer, May 30^th: Your guess is as good as mine

Answer, August 14^th: Your guess is as good as mine

Q. Will Arsenal spend big (or at least moderately) in the transfer window

Answer, May 30^th: Who can tell?

Answer, August 14^th: Who can tell?

Q. Does Wayne Rooney really want to leave Manchester United, and if so, will they sell him?

Answer, May 30^th: Probably, and probably not

Answer, August 14^th: Probably, and probably not

Q. Can Tottenham rebuff interest in Gareth Bale from bigger clubs in the long-term

Answer, May 30^th: Maybe for a while, but it risks destabilizing the team

Answer, August 14^th: Maybe for a while, but it risks destabilizing the team

Q. How will Manuel Pellegrini fit in as Manchester City manager?

Answer, May 30^th: He’ll favour attacking football and be more popular than Mancini, but we can only guess

Answer, August 14^th: He’ll favour attacking football and be more popular than Mancini, but we can only guess

You get the picture.  It’s time for the previews, endless transfer punditry and assumptive journalism to end and for football to start.  This close season has not produced one answer to any big question of relevance: before last term ended, we knew Jose Mourinho’s return to Chelsea and Manuel Pellegrini’s move to Man City were faits d’accompli, the baton had been passed between Scots at Old Trafford and that some clubs were going to remodel themselves almost entirely.  For most of the league, however, it has been an offseason marked by inertia.

Moyes' new era at Manchester United starts in the back room

And so ends David Moyes' first week at Manchester United. The seven days has seen him prove his ruthlessness far more quickly than anyone had calculated.  Multiple bids have been made for former charge Leighton Baines to the disquiet of his erstwhile employers, and gone are stalwart and respected coaches Eric Steele, Rene Meulensteen and Mike Phelan.

The replacements for this back-room trio are Moyes' associates from Everton: Steve Round, Chris Woods, Jimmy Lumsden and Phil Neville, plus the understated figure that attempts to link to Ferguson's pomp, Ryan Giggs.  That the exiting trio  - especially Steele, given his work with PFA Goalkeeper of the Year David De Gea - were dispensed with so quickly is a matter for unease by many Manchester United fans.

It is common practice - because it's usually common sense - for a manager to bring in his own back-room brethren; for example, coaches Mark Bowen and Eddie Niedzwiecki might be nicknamed "American Express", because Mark Hughes never leaves home without them.  He is not alone. That Moyes has brought his men with him will have astonished precisely no-one.

However, to bring in (gifted) buddies carte blanche and despite the obvious qualities of the incumbent staff could be construed as being a little counterproductive.  While the "new" coaches are undoubtedly intimately aware of Moyes' tendencies and techniques, sages like Phelan and Steele are far more in-tune with how to communicate with - and thereby get the most from - established egos figures within the Manchester United framework.  It is Moyes' imperative - his job - to select the coaches he thinks will most benefit his team; what is most confusing is that none of his cadre of high-profile coaches have worked under Ferguson.

This is hardly a criticism of the incoming staff.  Moyes' team has squeezed blood from stones like Yakubu, Leon Osman, Tim Cahill and former United 'keeper Tim Howard.  But the near-summary dismissal of experienced and talented didactic foundations of a successful side seems a sign of the new manager utterly determined to kick-start a new age at Old Trafford.

One one hand, this seems wise: no figure could possibly replace Sir Alex Ferguson, so why try?  Better to make a clean break and move into a new future using new methods.  However, with Ferguson - and now Phelan, Meulensteen and Steele - departs much of the culture and continuity built up over the past twenty years of success at Manchester United.  And this might be behind the appointment of Neville and Giggs, where two of the Fledglings are left to bequeath the legacy of the most dominant manager of all time.

In releasing these links to the recent past, Moyes has committed to creating a new identity for the Red Devils.  In fairness, that's probably what needed to happen.  However, by not giving any of these learned men the chance to be a part of this new era, entry into the new future may be a little rocky.

Moyes all set to continue at Everton

With Everton’s demise at the hands of Wigan in their FA Cup Quarter Final, the future of David Moyes has been cast into doubt.  During his long and successful tenure at Goodison Park, the Scot has been lauded as an exemplary manager who consistently compelled teams to overachieve in spite of a modest budget.

However, this success has been juxtaposed against a stark lack of results when it comes to the final hurdle.  

During his reign, the Toffees stumbled against a good Villarreal team during the 2005-06 Champions League Qualifiers, fell in the 2009 FA Cup Final and, despite a great start to a relatively-open season, look like missing out on a top-four position this term.  (It must be said, however, that Everton owner Bill Kenwright is almost certainly stoked with Moyes’ ability to generate top-third finishes.)

Moyes’ name has been linked with jobs as high profile and varied as Tottenham Hotspur, Scotland and even Manchester United.  However, opportunities to “progress” to a club with a larger budget are intrinsically linked with quantifiable success (ie. Trophies and Champions’ League berths), which means there are now pundits questioning whether Everton’s rather staid tactics are actually suited to success in one-off, crucial matches.

Managerial hiring is now trending towards younger, more adventurous managers.  Liverpool took a punt last year on Brendan Rodgers (perhaps after missing out on Roberto Martinez, a man constantly in demand despite Wigan Athletic’s constantly underwhelming league position) and Moyes was reportedly considered for the Spurs position before they opted for a younger, sexier look with André Villas-Boas.  Ugly-but-effective Young Thing Paul Lambert was snaffled quickly by a club with pretentions. 

Though effective, Moyes’ methods are now distinctly unfashionable, limiting British-based positions.

The Everton manager has become typecast.  He is Tom Baker, Raymond Burr, a beardless Chuck Norris; pigeonholed as someone who achieves much with … not much.  With a record such as his, would Daniel Levy, the Glazers or Stan Kroenke trust him with acquiring bright young things to advance their teams?

But there’s a certain job security that comes with inertia.  There’s no sense in Moyes moving on at this point in time: his straightforward style and more straightforward manner might make management opportunities scarce at wealthier teams.  He succeeds at Everton with less money spent than at clubs like Stoke City or Queens Park Rangers, and in so doing shepherds his men closer to success than might otherwise be possible.  Both manager and club have continued to find new ways of filling a leaky bucket – almost, but not quite, to the brim.  A Toffee flirtation with a PYT probably wouldn’t be to their best advantage (remember the Owen-Coyle-to-Arsenal malarkey?), considering Kenwright seeks success without expense.

He – and Everton – are both victim/beneficiaries of success lacking the ultimate prize.

It’s doubtful that there is reciprocal interest between Moyes and outside clubs.  Any real suitor would need more standing and disposable dosh than he already has at his disposal (narrowing the field substantially), while - like so many shallow beauties - so-called “glamour clubs” demand a partner as sexy as they think they are (removing most of the others).

David Moyes may be many things, but sexy isn’t one of them.  He is well suited to Goodison Park, Liverpool in general, and to Everton.  Man and club are a match for the job at hand.

Three things: Where have all the good teams gone?

Are there any great teams in this league?

Table-toppers Chelsea, while capable of sparkling, appear to lack real depth in their midfield. Nonetheless, they remain the team to beat. Manchester City have flattered to deceive so far this season; cross-town nemeses United have struggled mightly, losing at home to Tottenham Hotspur for the first time in Tom Cleverley's lifetime. Arsenal, while appearing more solid than at any time during the past half-dozen years, have only two wins in six.

On results thus far, the league has seven good teams and no great ones. The results may show not so much in English competition – where someone has to win, perhaps even by default – but in Europe.

So far, the most impressive teams in the league have been Everton (see below) and West Bromwich Albion, two clubs who have embraced the possibilities that fiscal conservatism brings.

Six games is a large enough sample size to begin drawing conclusions. The top teams are not performing to their peaks, meaning that a run of good form from a deep team is enough to split the entire competition open.

Everton: no need for Moneyball

David Moyes has long been admired for his ability to conjure great performances from teams which appear as deep as a toddler's wading pool. Over the past half-decade, he's almost exclusively worked on a sell-to-buy program. The team he's assembled over the past year is no different: Mikel Arteta now plays for Arsenal, but begat Nikica Jelavic, while Jack Rodwell's Manchester City jaunt allowed the purchases of Kevin Mirallas and Bryan Oviedo.

Moyes has always been the smartest accumulator of talent in the league and the Toffees now stand at second on the table because of it. Moneyball, thanks to Kenny Dalglish's ill-fated purchases at Liverpool now seems to a verboten concept in the English Premier League: the acquisition of Stewart Downing championed by his oustanding “converted crosses” ratio while at Aston Villa.

Moneyball, the concept, was not about finding statistics which provided the edge but a novel concept of assessing players and their worth in individual situations; finding players that others didn't value. It was about value for money – and Moyes doesn't need it, because his hit rate with acquisitions is so very high. At a reported 19 million pounds, Downing could exemplify little value. Value for money often comes at a lower cost – something Moyes is accustomed to dealing with.

Andre Villas-Boas knows what he's doing

Despite some odd actions, Andre Villas-Boas is a man who knows where his towel is. Despite a vastly different team to the one that Harry Redknapp took into Europe three years straight, there's every possibility that his team is in fact superior to that iteration. Spurs' squad has a leaner, trimmer appearance this season.

Moussa Dembele has justified the interest of Manchesters United and City, Clint Dempsey was perfectly positioned to succeed at a club almost, but not quite, exactly good enough to qualify for the Champions' League and Emmanuel Adebayor is the perfect point man for AVB's offensive schemes. All of this was accomplished while ridding the squad of significant baggage and wages.

Spurs' win at United on Saturday is without question the largest of his English managerial career and shows signs that Spurs can become a viable fifth (or sixth) option in the chase for the Champions League. The squad has depth, balance, youth and experience. They appear to be establishing an identity based upon their smooth midfield. Now all they need is another striker.

Tim Cahill joins New York Red Bulls

Courtesy: montrealgazette.com

The New York Red Bulls have (all-but) signed Australian Tim Cahill from English Premier League side Everton. He joins MLS after eight successful years on Merseyside as a attacking-minded midfielder. He's the kind of player who can – and will – succeed enormously in MLS.

The time was right for him to move on. As one of the youngest members of the the Socceroo Golden Generation, it was time for him to follow his ageing brethren in leaving a major league for a more fiscally rewarding one. Already this summer, his head was turned by enticements from Al-Nasr of the Saudi Professional league, among others. After a down 2011-12, Everton manager David Moyes obviously thought it best to sanction the move.

Other factors play into Cahill's eagerness to shift continents. Meaningful minutes – despite his stature, not guaranteed as a Toffee – should cement his spot in the Aussie midfield at the World Cup in Brazil in two years' time; any impact he makes will also be the first any Australian has had on MLS, hopefully making Cahill a trail blazer for Aussies chasing a step up from the A-League.

Despite this move suggesting Cahill sees himself more as a big fish in a smaller pond, RBNY secured a major bargain with the acquisition. He remains one of the best headers of the ball in world football, and still ghosts into the box like he trademarked the phrase. These traits should combine well with the silk of Thierry Henry and further strengthen New York's MLS Cup push. Cahill's relative youth and a move back into the midfield (he's played out of position as a striker for much of the past two seasons) make him not only a bargain but potentially a league-wide star.

Redknapp's logical successor

Let's just assume, despite apparent misgivings, that Harry Redknapp will manage England at this year's European Championships. The common-sense logic is that England will likely qualify for the second round and then be eliminated. Such things were written in stone, long ago.

Were he to go, however, who would replace him at Spurs? Noises have been made about summoning Jose Mourinho from Real Madrid to helm next season's increasingly-improbable Champions' League push, while other names thrown forth into the vacuum include Fabio Capello, Rafael Benitez and David Moyes.

Interestingly, the Spurs personnel actually quite suit a manager like Andre Villas-Boas, but it's unlikely AVB would get such a high-profile position immediately after his Chelsea flame-out. This should elicit nervous Liverpudlian glances towards Fleet Street's rumour-mongers.

If Jose's not coming – and he's not, there should be little doubt that David Moyes is the best fit for the Spurs job.

Harking back a moment to Villas-Boas, there are myriad reasons for his dismissal but the greatest was an initial refusal to adapt his tactics to his players. This doesn't apply for Moyes, who for the vast majority of his decade-long tenure at Goodison Park has employed with success either a flat 4-4-2 or a 4-4-1-1. He would have to make little or no adaptation, but simply deploy a superior playing group. To prove his efficacy, he need look no further than a player that Spurs now own – South African Steven Pienaar.

His maintenance of Everton as one of the league's more efficient defensive teams speaks volumes, as does his ability to bring together a cohesive dressing room and his noted ability to work well on a budget. Spurs could certainly benefit from all four of these selling points – in fact, combining Moyes' defensive schemes with the offensive talent on hand at White Hart Lane is an exciting prospect.

This remains pure speculation, and it's no sure thing that Moyes would agree to a contract at Spurs. However, it remains the most tantalising option should Redknapp be seconded into national service.

Harry Redknapp - checking (most of) the boxes

The odds are that Harry Redknapp will replace Fabio Capello. The Spurs manager has been heavily backed for the position by everyone from Wayne Rooney to former FA Chairman Lord Triesman. That Stuart Pearce has received the FA's blessing to take charge for England's February 29^th match with Holland indicates that any potential decisions won't be made swiftly. Spurs fans can cling to the knowledge that 'Arry will pace the White Hart Lane sidelines for at least three more weeks.

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Redknapp is of course favoured for the job for many reasons, not least of which is because he's English. It's disturbing to see a football populace focused so firmly on nationality rather than talent; but with two of the country's past three gaffers being expensive “ringers”, much of the masses hope for a local boss to make good.

And well he might: Redknapp as a manager checks many of the boxes you'd want from a leader. He keeps thing simple (a must), doesn't delve too far into tactics or coaching, isn't a disciplinarian and isn't in John Terry's camp. He is a simple “player's coach” – but rather than being an enabler like Schteve McClaren, he is an empowerer.

He's even won things, too. He brought an FA Cup to Portsmouth, notwithstanding the trophy was part of a spending spree which nearly caused the death of the club. When nationalism, coaching and player relationships are considered, Harry Redknapp probably checks more boxes than any other potential candidate.

But checking boxes isn't enough.

Remember back to the schoolyard riddle that asks who you would prefer to run your country. The chain-smoking, possibly-alcoholic, philandering astrology buff; the manic depressive toff with a drink problem; or the vegetarian, teetotal war veteran? I'm sure you've heard this riddle – for the seemingly straight-laced decorated veteran is, in fact, Adolf Hitler. The former two are President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill.

If you apply the same logic to a real-world situation, then suddenly the picture becomes even clearer. Now, companies do much of their pre-research and vetting for employee applications online in a multiple-choice questionnaire. This is in order to minimise the time spent by Human Resources on screening applicants.

If you've ever filled in one of these surveys, you'll know what I'm getting at: they are able to completely misrepresent an applicant as an individual by breaking down a person's entire existence into yes-or-no type answers. And yes-or-no answers are rarely – if ever – able to describe a situation fully and truthfully. Although no-one expects the FA only to look at Harry Redknapp's resume, his achievements are of the type which lend themselves to yes-or-no answers. The CV of, for example, David Moyes does not – and there are those who suspect he would make an excellent England manager.

Sport is rife with examples of people who checked all the right boxes, yet failed miserably as a coach. In 1993, the Dallas Mavericks employed rookie coach Quinn Buckner. He had all the right attributes to become a wonderfully successful coach: driven, very smart, hard-working, knowledgeable, measured, came from a background of team and individual success, disciplined … and the Mavs won 13 games (of 82).

His mentor, the firebrand Bobby Knight, is considered one of the greatest coaches in basketball history. As a player at Ohio State he was a scrub on a middling team. As a coach, his record was even more surprising: he was arrested while leading a team to Puerto Rico; left Charles Barkley off the 1984 Olympic team (for Jeff Turner); was quoted as saying “if rape is inevitable, relax and enjoy it”; was nearly fired for allegedly assaulting a student and eventually dismissed for “a pattern of hostile behaviour”.

There's almost no question Quinn Buckner was as qualified to succeed as Bobby Knight.  But but didn't.

Of course, coming from a different sport, this is a flawed example. But the premise remains the same – that the candidate that checks the most boxes isn't necessarily the best man for the job. Just ask Liverpool fans what they think of Roy Hodgson, Inter their opinion of Gian Piero Gasperini or West Ham of their time spent with Avram Grant.

There was every reason for optimism on Fabio Capello's appointment to boss England; or at least there was until England broke him. There are just as many suspicions that Harry Redknapp would be an outstanding England manager, but it's possible he's not the best man for the job.

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