Man Utd boss David Moyes has Champions League doubts

[Iron]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/24321712

'To win the Champions League, you need five or six world-class players. ... We've not got that yet.'

Nice one!

That's just what the team needed their manager to say in public when morale is at rock bottom!

Sir Alex took Aberdeen to European Cup victory, but Moyes thinks it can't be done with Manchester United. Says it all...

Jeff

[fortfield]

Aberdeen won the European Cup Winners Cup not the European Cup

What Moyes really means he's not a good enough manager to make what good players he has at his disposal into world class players. Classic case of a manager getting his excuses in early for when/if they get dumped out the Champions league

[pdupre1961]

Sir Alex took Aberdeen to European Cup victory, but Moyes thinks it can't be done with Manchester United. Says it all...

Jeff

Bless him.

It was the European Cup Winners Cup, and you'll find even West Ham won that.

[Iron]

Bless him.

Aw, thanks!

I love being referred to in the third person in a conversation I'm part of!

It was the European Cup Winners Cup, and you'll find even West Ham won that.

Well, he beat Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Tottenham to win the second most pretigious trophy in Europe.

But in your world, where Lionel Messi should really be playing for West Ham, that probably doesn't count for much!

Jeff

[steven1976]

To be fair, moyes has a point Jeff.

[Iron]

We are far from being the favorites, but we have a decent chance, and that's the message that Moyes should be hammering home.

But to publicly say that his team are six world class players short of being able to win the CL, he risks damaging team morale. What is effectively doing is saying to the world, 'I have a second tier team'. When you already have a demoralized team, that's not a smart thing to do.

Jeff

To be fair, moyes has a point Jeff.

[steven1976]

Who are the 5 world class players id be asking?

[Iron]

Who are the 5 world class players id be asking?

I'm sure the players will be wondering that themselves, thinking, 'Am I one of the first team players who the boss doesn't regard as world class?'.

Van Persie and Vidic are definitely world class IMHO.

Ashley Young, Rooney, Valencia and Hernandez - maybe.

Ferdinand - Used to be, but no more.

Not sure if any of the others could be described as world class.

Jeff

[oscar123]

Ashley Young?!!! Do you watch much football Jeff?

[Iron]

Here's a view on Young from someone who does watch a lot of football - Martin O'Neill (from the Telegraph in Dec 2008):

Asked if [he] deserves to be described in the same company as the Barcelona playmaker [Lionel Messi], and Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo, O'Neill replied: "Yes. In my opinion. I see a lot of games in Europe, I watch a lot of football, and you see a lot of players in the game who are very functional. Some are decent, some are more than decent and some are very, very good. And then you have the players who are absolutely exceptional. And [he] is absolutely exceptional."

[oscar123]

I think the clue is in the date Jeff.

I wasn't a bad player myself in 2008!

[superfrank]

MON was talking the price up.

Young is a world class diver, that's all - he lacks the desire to be a great player and is a bit lightweight. He is also mainly very poor for England.

[Iron]

Two years ago, Fergie was willing to pay somewhere between £15 and £20 million for Young, so he can't have been that bad then either!

Oh, I forgot to mention Nani in the list of potentially world class players.

BTW, I think this article makes an interesting point about Moyes.

Moyes’ phobia of maverick players costing United big games - http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/pau ... 09645.html

The impression I get of Moyes is that he's very negative in his attitude, and he needs to realize the tactics needed to keep Everton in the top half of the table aren't the tactics needed to win United trophies...

I think the clue is in the date Jeff.

I wasn't a bad player myself in 2008!

[Iron]

Aberdeen won the European Cup Winners Cup not the European Cup

True. Still no mean achievement with Aberdeen though.

What Moyes really means he's not a good enough manager to make what good players he has at his disposal into world class players. Classic case of a manager getting his excuses in early for when/if they get dumped out the Champions league

Yep.

And you don't even necessarily need world class players to win the CL. It's also about playing with a system that works, and playing with grit, determination and desire.

Fergie is on the board at United, so hopefully he will be giving Moyes the old hair dryer treatment and sorting things out behind the scenes!

Jeff

[Online Trader]

Here's a view on Young from someone who does watch a lot of football - Martin O'Neill (from the Telegraph in Dec 2008):

Asked if [he] deserves to be described in the same company as the Barcelona playmaker [Lionel Messi], and Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo, O'Neill replied: "Yes. In my opinion. I see a lot of games in Europe, I watch a lot of football, and you see a lot of players in the game who are very functional. Some are decent, some are more than decent and some are very, very good. And then you have the players who are absolutely exceptional. And [he] is absolutely exceptional."

Ah yes Jeff, the same astute MON who sold Gary Cahill for £5 Million, left Villa when he could have a load more money to spend and went on to be sacked by.... oh yes Sunderland