MOYES ‘MUST BE GIVEN TIME’
Man United coach must be given time – Gary Neville
TWO wins in six English Premier League games have left anxious Manchester United fans wondering if manager David Moyes is up to the job, although the man himself is refusing to push the panic button. The English champions have endured their worst start to the season since 1989 and are in the bottom half of the table in 12th place with seven points after backto-back league defeats against Manchester City and, more surprisingly, West Bromwich Albion.
“I have been in situations very similar to this at my old clubs Everton and also at Preston. You get on and you do the right things,” Moyes said before his side secured a 1-1 draw against Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on Wednesday.
“I haven’t changed what I have done. I will continue to do that. The results will come. I have no doubt about that. It is always the thing at Manchester United – everyone is interested in them. It is a talking point for everybody throughout the world,” the Scot said. He has not been far from the back pages of newspapers since taking over from Alex Ferguson.
With boos heard around Old Trafford at the end of the West Brom defeat, United fans may think they have got it bad but next up for Moyes’s men is a trip to bottom club Sunderland, who sacked coach Paolo Di Canio last month following a string of poor results.
Whatever the result tomorrow, Moyes is unlikely to suffer the same fate any time soon, according to former United defender Gary Neville, now a pundit for Sky Sports.
“David Moyes will be given time over three or four years to build a football club and learn the ropes. It takes time and he’ll be given time, just as Arsenal have done with Arsene Wenger,” Neville, who retired as a player in 2011 after almost 20 years at the club, said.
“If you think about the early years of Sir Alex Ferguson, he was allowed to develop into a presence. In the first three or four years he was at the club he was coming under intense pressure.
“David Moyes, there’s no doubt about it, is still learning to come to terms with his squad and getting to know his players and the culture of the club,” he said.
On Sunday, West Brom host league leaders Arsenal, who have been rejuvenated since the arrival of Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid on transfer deadline day.
Liverpool, two points behind the leaders, host struggling Crystal Palace tomorrow boosted by last weekend’s goal-scoring return of striker Luis Suarez against Sunderland after a 10-match ban.
Seventh-placed Manchester City, who have yet to win in the league away from home after losing 3-2 at Aston Villa last time out, return to the Etihad Stadium to face Everton tomorrow.
Chelsea travel to Norwich City on Sunday, and Tottenham Hotspur, in third, take on West Ham United. – Reuters