EPL: Don't just blame manager Moyes

Things are not looking good for David Moyes at the moment.

After Manchester United's shocking 2-1 defeat by West Bromwich Albion at Old Trafford last Saturday, the champions have already dropped 11 points.

The former Everton manager certainly hasn't helped himself in the process, hauling off Shinji Kagawa at half-time despite a promising performance and then saying his team weren't good enough to win the Champions League in the papers yesterday.

It's another gaffe after he inadvertently described Wayne Rooney as Robin van Persie's understudy to feed the critics who think he isn't good enough to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson.

Regarding Moyes' Champions League comment, I have to say Sir Alex would never come out and be that critical, and I guess that comes about with the pressure of losing games.

You cannot see things properly and that's one of the problems. However, I'm not so sure if he's out of his depth just yet.

It's a massive change to go from Everton, where the expectations aren't really high, to Manchester United, where you're expected to win every game.

There's huge pressure on Moyes and maybe, he's realising how difficult the job is.

It's easy to look from the outside in and say it's the management, but there's a whole lot more to it.

The players have been used to a certain type of manager in Sir Alex because he did things a certain way and now that's changed.

Struggling

Things are different for everyone concerned and they're struggling at the moment.

Back-to-back defeats in the league is something that doesn't normally happen at Manchester United.

The next few weeks are going to be vital for David and the club - to get the players to believe in what he is doing and for him to pick up the results and start believing.

I've no doubt that Moyes can turn things around, simply because he has good players at his disposal.

While I might agree and say that United aren't good enough to win the Champions League - even Sir Alex's record in the Champions League wasn't great - this squad won the league last season and are certainly good enough to do so again.

What they didn't have to contend with too much last season was Robin van Persie being out.

The Dutchman didn't start in the derby defeat by Manchester City and I think it shows that the other boys around him aren't quite as good.

Javier Hernandez is a top lad, but I don't think he's anywhere near top quality.

While I expected him to play more games, it looks to me that Kagawa might have a bit of a problem with Moyes after he was a little critical about the Scot earlier in the season.

That said, I suppose the manager is trying things around to find the right balance in the team.

Another thing I've been wondering about is whether the players are focused. When you look at the goals they've given away, United are defending really poorly.

Why did they seem to do it so consistently for Sir Alex when he was there and, now that he's not, why are they making mistakes they don't normally commit for two weeks in a row?

A lot of people feel that if things aren't going well, it's always the manager's fault since these players have won the league before.

However, I'm not in that camp. While I don't think the players are playing poorly on purpose, sometimes they do test the manager to see how good or strong he is.

Perhaps the focus isn't quite there as much as when Sir Alex was there.

This is where Moyes has to flex his muscles and put down a marker to show his character and that he's the man for the job.

The Scot is going to have some big decisions as to who he starts and leaves out in the next match against Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on Thursday morning (Singapore time).

Everyone can give his opinion, but I think it would be wrong to be highly critical at this juncture.

I totally agree that you shouldn't be losing points so early on in the season, but who's to say Moyes won't go on a winning run in the next 10 games?

npsports@sph.com.sg

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