Why was David Moyes sacked?

The Scot was sacked this morning after 10 months in charge at Manchester United. Moyes signed a 6 year contract at Old Trafford following his 11 year tenure with Everton. Moyes has made some mistakes during his time at United but does it warrant him losing his job? Not really.

His first problem was his back room staff. Like the majority of managers at a new job, David Moyes brought in his back room staff that he had at Everton and replaced the likes of Mike Phelan, David Gill, Eric Steele and Rene Meulensteen and replaced them with Steve Round, Jimmy Lumsden, Chris Woods and Phil Neville as well as the addition of Ryan Giggs to the coaching staff. This brought a big problem to Moyes as he had little idea about the squad he was working with, the back room staff that had worked with SAF had been there for vast amounts of time and had worked with the squad previously so why change it? It gave little chance for Moyes to prepare thoroughly for this season as he had little idea and background knowledge of his player.

His second problem was his squad. Yes we all know there has been little change from the team that won the Premier League but if you have a long hard look at the individual players, they're not good enough for the top 4. Players such as Tom Cleverley, Danny Welbeck and Chris Smalling all aren't fit enough to wear the shirt of Manchester United. Not to mention his lack of activity in the transfer window. Marouane Fellaini is just a poor man's Yaya Toure. Fellaini looks very uninterested when on the field and lacks tactical ability. Even when he does put a bit of effort in, it seems to resort in a foul. Juan Mata in a full strength United team is surplus to requirements. Mata typically plays in the "Number 10" role and with Wayne Rooney currently filling that position for the foreseeable future, are you really going to drop Rooney for the bench or have a brilliant player such as Juan Mata not getting regular game time? Logic suggests not.

The failure to clear out United's old guard was another of Moyes' problems. Players such as Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra, Ryan Giggs and Michael Carrick should have been gone in Summer to ease the transition however the players jumping ship en masse hasn't helped David Moyes.The fantasies that raised supporters' hopes of a shock return of Cristiano Ronaldo and a headliner of Gareth Bale when we all knew they were never going to go to Old Trafford and were instead replaced with the poor excuse of a footballer in Marouane Fellaini eventually started the loss in support from the Old Trafford crowd in Moyes.

Of course David Moyes was going to adapt the playing style of Manchester United to his own accord but was it the best thing he could do? SAF always attacked from the off because he knew he had the quality to but David Moyes seems to lack the motivation and authority to be able to adopt the SAF style. He eventually lost the support of his senior players partly down to his playing style on how negative Manchester United have become in the big games. The first leg at home to Bayern Munich looked like Moyes was setting out for damage limitation. All the Football Manager players out there will know what I mean when I say Moyes set out "Very Rigid and Contain".

His main problem was the pressure that came with the job. It was always going to be a hard job for who ever replaced SAF and it has been a difficult transition period for David Moyes and Manchester United but was he given enough time? In my view he wasn't. The majority of United fans are stuck living in the past under the glory of SAF. It may have to get worse before it gets better for Manchester United and I don't think the slide has stopped just as yet. The majority of the team needs rebuilding and it looked set to happen this summer with an alleged £200 million being given to Moyes to create a new outlook on the Post-Ferguson era of Manchester United. However it looks to be given to be given to his successor.

All these problems eventually leaded to Manchester United parting ways with David Moyes after just 10 months in charge. A season to prove yourself after the stature of his predecessor isn't long enough, in my view he had to be given until at least Christmas. The Glazers have again showed that they are not fit to run the club. They are only focused on the financial side of things and the fact that they have just made a big lost as they have just had to pay out a vast amount of money to shareholders due to the fact that there will be no Champions League football at Old Trafford next season as well as no trophies either. It looks as if Ryan Giggs and Nicky Butt will take charge until end of the season giving the Glazers and Ed Woodward time to look for David Moyes' successor with Ryan Giggs, Louis Van Gaal and Jurgen Klopp being the headliners for the job.