Moyes should concentrate on what he has

All those who craved for an opportune moment to pour scorn and laugh at Manchester United are having a field day since the closure of the transfer window on Monday.

Saturday, September 07, 2013
Ivan R. Mugisha

All those who craved for an opportune moment to pour scorn and laugh at Manchester United are having a field day since the closure of the transfer window on Monday.Just before the transfer window closed, Arsene Wenger’s former crimes were suddenly forgiven and forgotten with the capture of Mezut Ozil, while David Moyes took centre stage, being rudely taunted as a "small man in a big club.”For some reason, Moyes decided to bid for up to 70 players on transfer deadline day – a rush action that was definitely practically forced onto him by none other than the English press.He ended up getting only Fellaini from his former club Everton but missed out on Andas Herrera, Sami Khedira, Daniel De Rossi, Wesley Schneider, Leighton Baines, Fabio Coentrao, to mention but a few.For this totally memorable snub, Moyes together with the new United Chief Executive, Ed Woodward, suffered a great amount of humiliation and ridicule. But Moyes should not read much into this circus of missed transfer targets.He should instead understand that the Red Devils were able to win the Premier League with the same players last season, even when the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea spent fortunes on new players.Sir Alex Fergusson retired on a high by leaving United with so much depth in the squad – good quality starters and good quality replacements.All Moyes needed perhaps was simply one world class signing; not a creative midfielder, but a box to box playmaker with a leaning towards defensive duties. And in Fellaini, they got exactly what they needed.Therefore, instead of lamenting about transfer failure, Moyes should now work on his most visible weakness – team selection.As evidenced in recent games, Moyes refused to unveil Kagawa and Zaha, two players who are arguably bursting with quality.This meek, unaggressive and timid approach has seen Moyes sacrifice games by offering Ryan Giggs starting spots, even against a Liverpool side that has been impressive this season.In Kagawa, Moyes should know that he has a potential Fabregas, a potential Herrera – or even better, a potential Andrea Pirlo. He should trust him with the creative role.He should also think of a formation that puts all his strong players on the pitch; in other words, instead of insisting that Rooney will play second to Robin Van Persie, he should get a formula where they can both feature alongside Kagawa and Fellaini.Nani looks like he is back in shape and has even signed a five year contract. He and Anderson are two players that Fergusson failed to get the best out of. Moyes should take this opportunity and help them loosen up the potential we all know they posses.There are even the younger lads like Wilfred Zaha and Adnan Januzaz who are itching for an opportunity to show what they can offer.Rather than border at mediocrity just for the sake of salvaging a few points by continuously starting the old guard, Moyes needs to kill his fear of failure and become ruthlessly risky by fielding all his best attackers.As a man in a job under the microscope, he should know that merit before reputation is what guarantees first team spots for players. There are no trial games – like he thought at Anfield when his team selection raised a brow or two.Many have written Manchester United off title contention, much like they did once too many times only for Fergusson to prove them wrong.Moyes has the right players and, therefore, has no excuses for underperforming. How he uses them is what will prove whether he was the right man to fill the large void left by his great compatriot.