David Moyes has warned Manchester United against becoming a club that "continuously changes their manager" and said Louis van Gaal should be given more time to succeed at Old Trafford.
Moyes took over at United from Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013 and, despite signing a six-year contract, was sacked after only 10 months at the then Premier League champions after an unsuccessful tenure that lasted only 34 games.
Pressure is now mounting on the Scot’s successor with United having lost four matches in a row under Van Gaal prior to Monday’s goalless draw with Chelsea. The hosts were much improved, which has helped Van Gaal’s position, but should United lose at home to Swansea City on Saturday then the Dutchman is likely to face renewed calls from disgruntled fans for him to be sacked .
Moyes believes firing the Dutchman would be a mistake. Pointing to his own experience at United, the 52-year-old said: "After Sir Alex, the job was going to be very difficult. It was going to take time to rebuild, it was a rebuilding job at Manchester United. You've got to remember David Gill [the chief executive] left, he was a big influence at Manchester United.
“I think what Manchester United stand for is they keep their managers, they’ve always supported their managers. I hope they stick with Louis van Gaal, he deserves more time. It’s still a work in progress for him, he’s made some signings, from my experience in Spain it will take time for players from abroad to settle in. So I think they should stick with it. They don’t want to become a club which continuously changes their manager.”
Moyes remains defiant regarding his own time as United manager, again criticising the club for not allowing him the time his contract suggested would be granted to him following his decision to move to the club from Everton, where he had managed for 11 largely fruitful years.
“I wouldn’t have done anything different. I would have only done it different if I’d known it was 10 months instead of six years,” said Moyes, who was speaking on The Clare Balding Show on BT Sport, which airs on Thursday at 8pm. “My understanding was that I was going to a club which always looked after their managers, even when they were in trouble and it wasn’t going well, you got your time to sort things out. I was under that illusion when I was there.
“I had a great group of players. They had recently won the Premier League under Sir Alex but it was going to take time for that to change, evolve and of course there was going to have to be a changeover of players in time, but it couldn’t be done in 10 months. Would I take the job again? Of course I would. There are very few managers in the world who wouldn’t want to manage Manchester United.”
Moyes, who was sacked as manager of Real Sociedad in November, also defended Wayne Rooney, whose form this season is chequered. The Scot gave the United and England captain his professional debut at Everton as a 16-year-old and also persuaded him to stay at Old Trafford in 2013 when the unhappy striker wanted to leave for Chelsea.
“He’s had a long career, he’s been playing since he’s 16, he’s had immense pressure on him since he was a young boy. You talk about the media and you think of the stuff that has been on Wayne all of his career and he has to keep playing and scoring and playing well,” said Moyes. “I think he’s having a tough time just now, but he’ll come through it again, he’ll find himself again, I think there’s plenty more life in him.
“Wayne can play in any position. He was great in goals – as a 16-year-old boy he would be diving about in front of the goals. He was mad at that time, but you look at the way he has matured, he is England captain, Manchester United captain. I think he’ll go on to be a midfield player, he’ll play again, but at the moment he’s still such a good goal scorer you don’t want to give that up just yet.”
(Guardian service)
