This David Moyes piece is from Robbie Dunne.
Much to the dismay of Arsenal fans and to the delight of the media, Arsene Wenger bought nobody this summer. He didn’t as much as put his hand in his pocket as the talk of his inadequacies as a football manager filled up the majority of newspaper reports.
Then they went and lost to Aston Villa on opening day on their home turf and the fickle minds of twitter and beyond went to work and had a field day. There were memes and tweets about the Frenchman’s inability or at least unwillingness to spend.
On the back of two decent wins for the Gunners, talk has taken a backseat to more pressing issues (like Moyes unwillingness to buy) but it’s only a matter of time before it kicks off again. What we forget to remember or simply don’t know is that Wenger holds a degree in Economics and is one of the most insightful and intelligent coaches in the world, yet our only solution for him is to buy somebody? Not a specific target for specific reasons, just somebody, anybody.
Just like David Moyes at Manchester United, nobody is quite sure who they want but they want someone and they want him fast.
It struck me when reading a more balanced article online recently that Moyes is not in the business of merely satisfying your taste buds momentarily. Moyes is trying to build a well balanced diet here for the foreseeable future that is both good for the players and good for his environment. A quick handshake and a 20 million fee is not going to cut it for such a forward thinker. He is looking for players that A) are good enough for United B) suited for the rigors of the premier league and C) value for money.
Value for money, you say? Yes and despite the statement that there is “no budget”, one day in maybe 3 or 5 or 10 years, Moyes will have to go and use this same kitty to buy a right back or a holding midfielder only to come up short 5 million because he went and bought Bebe’s younger brother due to pressure from the fans in 2013. And we’ll be singing “Where’s your money gone?”
Moyes is building a legacy and not some team laden with individual talent lacking in chemistry so much so that we’ll be taking lessons from Breaking Bad’s Walter White. It will be sustainable and although it might not result in a Premier League trophy in May of this year (although it might), it will outline his intent and the laying down of his marker as the kind of guy who won’t be bullied into overpaying or buying players he doesn’t truly believe will help the greater good of Manchester United Football Club and when he is retiring in 25 years and we are all in tears and suffering from “Scotsman’s Departure Part 2”, we will look back at the beginning of his reign and thank our lucky stars that he had the cajones to stick to his guns, rely on his team of scouts and instincts as a manager and save the club’s money for a rainy day.
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