Man Utd: Is David Moyes Destined To Fail At Old Trafford?

It's obviously early days in the season and certainly too early to consider sacking a manager only appointed in the summer. But you have to at least admit that the omens do not look good for David Moyes. The Manchester derby could have hardly gone any worst for him with the goal for Wayne Rooney the only slight silver lining. Nevertheless, this 4-1 defeat will live long in the memory. The obvious concerns for Moyes have been the two defeats to Manchester City and Liverpool in the early part of the season. However, the problems clearly run a little deeper than that as in inquest will surely start into why United lost those games. I think the problems really started in the transfer market. Clearly, United still has a big appeal to some of the world's big stars, and they continue to generate massive revenue. But the fact that Real Madrid are now the most valuable sports team suggests that things could be changing. This is especially the case due to the crippling debts that the Premier League champions carry. Nevertheless, that's really a story for another day; the big thing was the systemic failure in the transfer window. Not because they didn't have the money, but because they couldn't convince the big stars to come or agree a deal with the selling club. The signing of Marouane Fellaini being the obvious exception, but they couldn't even agree the second part of that proposed deal to secure Leighton Baines. It is all perhaps a sign that Manchester United isn't such a pull now that Sir Alex Ferguson is not the manager. The failures in the transfer market has to be put to one side for the moment as they clearly can't be addressed until the January window opens. Moyes does need to focus on getting the team he has playing, but despite the lack of arrivals things just don't seem to be flowing at the moment. Of course, there should be a psychological factor going into certain games. The United boss didn't have the best of records going to big clubs as Everton manager and that trend seems to be continuing. But there also seems to be a problem with the United's style. Lack of attacking intent is not something you would ever associate with one Sir Alex's teams, but something does certainly seem to be missing this season. It also seems that Moyes' side don't seem to have the same kind of passing style as they did under Ferguson. There is certainly data from Who Scored to back up these impressions. United have had only 55.5% average possession this season, which obviously sounds ok. But it only places them eighth in the league in this category, more crucially than that Arsenal, Spurs, Manchester City and Chelsea have all performed better. There is also some worrying evidence for the lack of attacking intent that I mentioned. Man Utd has averaged only 14 shots per game, which although doesn't sound too bad again it's bettered by many other teams. Six teams to be precise which again includes Spurs, Arsenal, Chelsea and Man City. It's a similar story on shots on target with the aforementioned four teams ahead again. Passing style is also a concern with the 68 long balls played per game being the second highest in the league. However, one area they are doing well in is with crosses, which is currently second highest in the league. I think we have to agree that there are a number of very worrying signs for Moyes. It is certainly an early stage in the season and his United career, but pressure comes with a top job like this. Nevertheless, it did take a while for Sir Alex Ferguson when he first arrived at Old Trafford, but time is something that is seldom seen in football these days, especially at this level. Moyes consistently overachieved when he was at Everton, but he is living in a different landscape now. It appears that he will have to adapt very quickly in order to survive. So, is he destined to fail as Manchester United manager?