Manchester United Talk/Gossip/Rumours - 2013/14

Press Association Sport was granted a one-to-one interview with David Moyes in Hong Kong, and here's what the new Man United manager had to say...

Question: Gary Neville said your appointment was a victory for sanity because United were looking long-term. Is that how you see it?

"I think hopefully it will inspire more coaches in our country to think there is a route through to one of the big clubs. It has been very difficult in recent seasons for a British coach to get close to one of the big jobs.

But I also had to earn my time. I coached and managed in the Premier League for 11 years at Everton. I was promoted through the divisions in the lower leagues with Preston. I had to earn my stripes to get myself to this level. During that journey were lots of trips abroad, lots of conferences and coaching seminars to try and develop as a coach.

Now, some chairmen take quick, instant decisions on people who maybe have had a year's success and give them a job. Mine was a different route. Mine had to be a long, slow progression and, hopefully, improvement. I hope there was a little bit of commonsense in the decision.

Manchester United have always tended to choose slightly differently than other clubs. They always look for longevity and stability. They are not a club that chops and changes its manager regularly. For that reason, it was more pleasing when I got offered the job because you know they are a club that is looking for someone who tends to stay around for quite a while."

Question: They have stood alone in terms of the wider dimension of bringing people through. Nevertheless the top four have gone more down the foreign route. Does that put even more expectation on your shoulders? A lot of British coaches hope you succeed because then they might get a chance?

"The people we have introduced to the Premier League have been great. Arsene Wenger has been great for Arsenal. Rafael Benitez had a really successful spell at Liverpool and did well at Chelsea in his short spell. Jose Mourinho has been great in the work he did at Chelsea and what he has done everywhere else since. We have had some really top foreign coaches in the country which we all benefit from; our players, our coaches over here because we get to see them and how they work and the things they do.

I don't think we should say we are not having them (overseas coaches) because they are good. It would be great if we could export more British coaches to other countries, say for example Portugal, Spain or Germany. That would be great for our development of coaches. As well as us bringing in foreign coaches, we could send some of ours out to work in foreign countries."

Question: When you were a player at Dunfermline, you used to drive over the border to watch matches on your day off. Were you thinking about being a coach even then?

"I was always thinking about being involved in football. I never thought I would be fortunate enough to be a manager, certainly at the level I have been managing at."

Question: But you give yourself the best chance by doing things like that.

"I worked really hard. By the World Cup in France I had only just been appointed manager at Preston. I had to ask the PFA to fund me because I wanted to go to the World Cup to study. I wrote to all of the countries to ask if I could go and watch training. The only country who replied and said yes was Craig Brown with Scotland - and I was Scottish and had already been at all their courses.

I had some tickets for some games, but not enough. But I hired a small car. I was given some funding by the PFA. I wasn't earning enough. In the end I drove round and had to sleep in the car a few nights. That is the kind of thing I did to try and find some more knowledge."

Question: That is very self-motivated. It would have been easy just to watch it on TV.

"I wanted to try and learn. I watched Craig Brown. I sat in the stand and watched him taking the sessions for Scotland. I had known him for years. I always think it is important to watch and learn and try to get better and improve. I am no different now. I am always out there looking. When I was younger I went to see AC Milan train. I stood at the side watching training at AC Milan and I never thought anything of it. Wind forward and the day Carlo Ancelotti got sacked we beat Chelsea at Goodison (in 2011). Carlo was in the corridor. I saw him and stood and talked to him. He said 'I have lost my job and David, I am going to come and watch you training now'. It showed me even he had recognised I had been at training at AC Milan at that time. I took what he said as a big compliment."

Question: I am not a brilliant watcher of training sessions but I can see you are enthused by running the sessions. There is a buzz about you that players feed off.

"I think my enthusiasm to try and make training as real as the games, having imagination and the pictures you see. I think my style has evolved. Certainly my management style, in the way you handle players now compared to 15 years ago, has changed. It changes by the level of player you have. But your coaching style and how you work is continually evolving. You change with the level of player you have, you change with the standard. You change with the quality. It means you have to think differently about the work you are giving players in the sessions you are giving them. Hopefully that would be the way I would continually try to self-improve."

Question: Is there a core to coaching, from Drumchapel to Manchester United, even though you are clearly dealing with better players?

"There are still core values. There are still standards you want, which are basic at any level of football - discipline, punctuality, level of intensity in a training session. Those things do not change."

Question: How long will it take to get to know the United players? You have not even met Javier Hernandez and Antonio Valencia yet.

"To come to a club like Manchester United and suddenly know everybody and how it works. You have to remember, there are very few people at this club who will have outseen the old manager. It is all new to them as well. As a manager you don't get given time. Time isn't something you can ask for. All you can ever do is hope people have commonsense and see where you are trying to go and what you are trying to do."

Question: The people who appointed you need to show that.

"And they have. That is their approach."

Question: Are they strong? You get lots of opinions from everywhere about everything, transfers for instance, and people are impatient.

"Ideally, you would get your signings done early. It is better if you can do that. But for different reasons it has not been possible to get them done at this moment in time. But I am confident we will get them done."

Question: There is immediate opinion on everything. Judgment is very quick.

"If you win one game folk will think you are good. If you lose one folk will think you are rubbish. You hope there is a little bit of sense and people understand where you are going. It is a big job. It is a new job. It will take time, as it would for anybody else. In a way, we are as much preparing for next year as we are this year at Manchester United. This club is always preparing for the future. We are looking at targets we hope to sign in a year's time, not necessarily just this year."

Question: It might be easier next year because you have had a year to look at them.

"This club will always be looking in the future and looking to where it is going to be and where it is going to be in years to come."

Question: You had to work within a budget at Everton. Now you are at the very top end and see the money Monaco and PSG have spent. It is a lot. You have to compete with that.

"That is not something Manchester United are frightened of. Manchester United are more than happy to compete with all of the teams. There has been a change in the dynamic because of PSG coming on the scene recently. That has altered things. But Manchester United will always compete.

One thing it has got is the history. It has got the name. It has got the success. Players do want to be connected to that and one day say they have played for Manchester United. That is a big pull for any player."

RasTa wrote: »

http://forzaitalianfootball.com/2013/07/juventus-plan-swoop-for-manchester-united-starlet/?

Feck off Juve

homerjay2005 wrote: »

this...it sickens to see so many fans abuse him, he is the most under appreciated player at the club. nani on form, is our 3rd best player after RVP and Rooney.

sadly, most of the people i hear abusing him at games appear to be Irish people, which gives me the impression that too many United fans listen to Eamon Dunphy.

Him and Zaha swapping flanks and on form, would be unreal.its vital we keep him.

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Nathan Ellington with Crewe now.

That lad was a beast at Youth level. Never really showed the promise he should have.

homerjay2005 wrote: »

did this news conference happen in barcelona or was it more rubbish!?

expected to come online this evening and see the fabregas saga over.

homerjay2005 wrote: »

Tom Mcdermotts predictions (as it stands) for the league this season...



being honest, outside of here, right now i think the majority of football fans would agree with this.

would people be happy if United finished 3rd?

where do ye expect us to finish? without a world class CM, i think we will finish 3rd. with a world class CM signing, i think we will win the league.

in saying that, another RVP style signing and keeping nani and Rooney, will do us also.

Blatter wrote: »

What does it say that Cesc hasn't come out yet to quash the talk, yet 4 or 5 of his teammates have found the time to have a say on it?

Maybe it's because he's only back from holiday, it'll be interesting to see if he says anything in the next few days. You would have expected him to quash everything by now if he really did have no interest in going, unless he's playing Barca for a new contract.