FORMER MANCHESTER UNITED manager Alex Ferguson has finally opened up about the sacking of his Old Trafford successor David Moyes, claiming the former Everton boss had not appreciated the club’s size.
Ferguson also attempted to set the record straight over United’s succession plan, questioning the “accepted view” that a meeting at the veteran manager’s house was enough to seal the deal.
The 72-year-old had previously avoided the Moyes issue in public interviews, but in excerpts from his updated autobiography he has revealed he held a one-to-one meeting with his replacement following the 3-0 home defeat to Manchester City, and also questioned his slow style of play.
“He hadn’t realised just how big United is as a club,” Ferguson wrote. “It was a massive jump.”
Regarding the playing style employed by Moyes, which attracted criticism from a number of pundits and former players, Ferguson continued: “The reason for playing at speed was that United players had been accustomed to operating that way.
“If the tempo slowed for any reason, I would be into them at half-time: ‘This is not us’, I would say. Playing with speed never hindered our results. It was our way: energy and determination in the last third of the pitch.
“As the results deteriorated, each defeat was a hammer blow to him.
“I could see that in his demeanour. In January we bought Juan Mata and that gave everyone a lift but I could see the walls squeezing in, leaving David with less and less room to breathe.
“I know that feeling from 1989, when we went through a terrible spell. You feel you are being crushed. The results gnawed away at David.
“Nobody could dispute how disappointing the season was. And it cost a man his job.”
Ferguson also launched an impassioned defence of himself from accusations that he had contributed to the club’s decline by taking sole responsibility for his successor’s appointment, and also that the squad he left behind for was too old.
Using the word “nonsense” on two occasions, Ferguson pointed out that 11 of his title-winning squad in 2012-13 were 25 or under, and claimed there was a proper process in place when it came to appointing the club’s first new manager since 1986.
“There appears to be an accepted view out there that there was no process,” he continued. “Nonsense. We feel we did everything the right way: quietly, thoroughly, professionally.”
On the squad Moyes inherited, Ferguson added: “Chelsea started the current season as favourites for the title, with a squad that also had six players in their 30s. I don’t hear any grumbles about the age of their group.
“Antiquated was a bizarre description of the structure I left behind at Manchester United. Have you seen our new training ground?”
Moyes was also questioned about his decision to let Ferguson’s back-room staff leave the club, but the former boss says he advised his successor to keep No.2 Mike Phelan.
“Maybe David felt that at such a massive club he had to be sure that all corners were covered in terms of his support system,” said Ferguson. “I felt that network was already there, with plenty of great people already in important slots.”
