Manchester United manager David Moyes isn’t impressed with his underperforming team and fully admits they have problems in all areas of the pitch, after United have gone on an awful run of late.
Manchester United take on Shakhtar Donetsk in their final Champions League group match on Tuesday, with first-year manager Moyes conceding that his side have struggled to capture form in the opening weeks of the Premier League campaign.
United have lost their last two Premier League games against Everton and Newcastle United respectively, with both of those 1-0 defeats coming at Old Trafford, as United supporters have began to raise their anger and frustration at the side, with key players under performing.
Following Saturday’s defeat United have dropped to ninth, fourteen points behind league leaders Arsenal.
Moyes stated in a pre match interview ahead of United’s Champions League tie against Ukranian side Shakhtar Donesk….
“So I think it’s all round we’re trying to improve. But it was only a few weeks ago when we had beaten Arsenal and beaten Bayer Leverkusen we were talking very well about the team.
“We’ve been inconsistent at times and played very well in some of the games in the Champions League, but not so well in the Premier League games, albeit we’ve lacked a little bit of good fortune at times which could have made the difference.
“It’s tough, because the expectancy is to win all the games.”
Asked if United’s players needed to show more conviction, after appearing to lose heart, particularly against Newcastle, Moyes said: “I agree. In recent games we haven’t quite finished the games the way we would have liked to.
“We’ve tried to make changes to improve it but it hasn’t quite happened. But I think we’ve lost two goals quite late on in the last two home games – the Newcastle one not so late – but we just couldn’t find a way of getting a goal back.”
United have struggled for consistancy this season, with poor performances at home to West Bromwich Albion and Southampton respectively, as Moyes attempts to win supporters round, since replacing fecently retired manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
Moyes went on to say in the interview….
“The biggest transition is that a manager who was here for 26 years has moved on and a new manager has come in,” said Moyes. “So it’s a transitional period for the whole football club, not just me and the players.”
Intriguingly, Moyes admitted the squad he inherited from Ferguson was big enough in terms of numbers, but stopped short of saying it was satisfactory in terms of its depth of quality.
“The question I got asked was, ‘Is the squad big enough?’ and I said, ‘Yes, the squad is big enough,’” said Moyes. “Your question [is the squad good enough] is slightly different. I believe the squad is big enough, yes.”
“It’s important to give ourselves the best possible chance we have in the next round,” said Moyes. “But the big job was to make sure we qualified from the group, which we’ve done and hopefully we can finish off the group unbeaten. If we do that, that will see us through.”
United defender Rafael said the squad needed to rediscover its self-belief.
“We are unlucky in some games,” said the Brazilian. “We work the same way and we just have to believe.”
Moyes has come under fire from supporters after signing Maurone Fellani from Everton, who has so far failed to live up to expectations at United after a big money move on deadline day.
United face Shaktar tonight, with a win being enough to see them crowned group winners.
By Ben Reardon
@BenReardon1
