The beginning of the David Moyes era was the dominant storyline for Manchester United today. Well, that and the Wayne Rooney saga. (The fact that Rooney didn’t enter the game until well into the second half, and didn’t celebrate with his team on their third goal only made people talk more about the disgruntled stryker).
However, Moyes taking over after the reign of Sir Alex Ferguson for 26 1/2 years is probably a bigger story than the possible transfer of Rooney. Moyes went out there and led United to defend their Premier League title.
And he delivered the goods (a resounding 4-1 defeat of Swansea) exactly as needed.
Had Moyes and United instead fallen flat today, the wheels of negativity would have started spinning.
NBC Sports Group’s Premier League announcer Robbie Earle summed up the pressure on Manchester United and manager David Moyes today:
“They lose today at Swansea, the media will start, Jose Mourinho will start, and the whole of the football world will be saying, it’s not quite the same. And that’s the pressure that’s on David Moyes and his team to get off to a good start. It’s a huge day because the eyes of the football world are on David Moyes and how he starts his reign as Manchester United manager.”
Moyes had to start things off with a big bang because he such tremendous shoes to fill. He led a team that was solid in both the back and the midfield, and just plain got the job done up front. The next task for him will be how he handles the Rooney issue. The eyes of the world are on Wayne Rooney- his body language, his perceived attitudes, all of his actions, even the minutia will be scrutinized. He’s been with the team 10 years, and we know he’s malcontent for many reasons, one of which is the fact he can’t play his favorite position of center-back.
But today David Moyes performed like a first rate manager.
Commentator Robbie Mustoe gave a great summary of the ability of Manchester United to win in multiple ways:
“If there’s one thing we’ve learned with Manchester United over the years, it’s that they can win in many different ways. They can boss games with possession and win, and they can also go – in big games in the Champions League – and still win without much possession. You just get a dense of the quality they’ve got, van Persie and then the assist from Valencia on the right side just shows you that even though they weren’t playing great, they’re two-nil up.”
Paul M. Banks is the owner of The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. An analyst for 95.7 The Fan, he also writes on Chicago sports media for Chicago Now. President Obama follows him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)