David Moyes told he was doomed at Man Utd after making two key mistakes

08 August 2023 , 08:44

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David Moyes lasted just 10 months as Manchester United boss (Image: Michael Regan/Getty Images)

David Moyes ’ spell in charge of Manchester United was doomed for failure from the outset due to the way he went about succeeding Sir Alex Ferguson, according to Rene Meulensteen.

Moyes was chosen to follow Ferguson upon his retirement as United manager in 2013 but lasted just 10 months of his six-year contract. Ferguson had been in charge for 27 years at Old Trafford and left huge shoes for the former Everton boss to fill.

Meulensteen worked as Ferguson’s assistant for the final six years of his trophy-laden reign. He left the club in the summer of 2013 after Moyes decided to bring in his own coaching staff and watched from afar as it all fell apart for the Scot.

“Manchester United experienced a difficult transition in the spell after Sir Alex’s retirement,” he writes in his new book, . “I believe managers need 18 months to really see the value of their work pay off and to create consistency.

“Unfortunately for David Moyes he seemed to be moving in the wrong direction from the beginning by disrupting the continuity and stability.

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“I believe David should have been given some more time, but I also believe he needed help and advice to manage a club and squad of such magnitude.

“The only thing I and the others wanted was to help David. People say we were an ageing team, but I guarantee you that if Sir Alex had carried on, we would’ve made some good signings and we would’ve been there or thereabouts.”

David Moyes told he was doomed at Man Utd after making two key mistakes

The book is out on August 10

Rene Meulensteen was Fergie's right-hand man (John Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images)

Moyes’ brief spell in charge was just the start of a difficult period after Ferguson’s retirement – and Meulensteen was not enamoured by the next man to take the reins.

“David was succeeded by Louis van Gaal and I didn’t feel it was the right choice from the start,” he writes. “I haven’t worked with him so I can’t speak about that, but I do know he was a very polarising leader. Lots of players loved him. Many did not.

“I did feel he would struggle if he hadn’t sufficiently analysed the Premier League, because he’s so regimented in his own way that he would inevitably make it Van Gaal United and not Manchester United.

Louis van Gaal succeeded David Moyes at Manchester United (Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

“He would play possession-based football like he has done everywhere else – but the Premier League is so dynamic that such a playing style doesn’t work if you can’t be versatile.”

Next came the gigantic personality of the Special One – another manager who Meulensteen felt failed to cope with the unique role of Manchester United boss. “ Jose Mourinho had coveted the job for a long time. It seemed to me that Mourinho was surprised by just how big United was,” he writes.

“I think he struggled with the expectation that was on United to win and play an attractive style of attacking football because he’s a pragmatic calculator. You must embrace unpredictability and emotion at Old Trafford, and he struggled in that respect to find a good balance.

“The way he conducted himself in press conferences seemed strange. He was representing the biggest club in the world. What a privilege. You want to show your pride at being in that position. At times it looked as though it was a burden for him to be Manchester United’s manager.

“The spotlight at Manchester United can be very difficult for some people to embrace. If you win and you don’t play well, you keep most of the supporters onside because you’re competing. But if you’re not playing well and you’re not winning – and you have a manager who is quite happy to court controversy – it can all fall apart very quickly.”