Red Rants |
| Moyes poised for defensive shake-up Posted: 13 Jan 2014 01:30 AM PST
While things are predictably and expectedly quiet on the arrival front, the exit door at Old Trafford could see many faces walking through it between the next two weeks and, more importantly, in June.
While some of the players expected to leave Old Trafford have been stealing a living at the club for years – yes, that’s Anderson we’re talking about – other have been fantastic servants to the club but, with age and fitness issues slowly catching up with them, it’d probably best for all the parties involved if they departed the club sooner rather than later. Patrice Evra is arguably the player closer to leave United, with the French left-back widely reported to be heading home to France at the end of the season when his contract expires at the end of the season. While Evra’s commitment to the club and attacking prowess remain unquestioned and unquestionable, the 33-year-old Frenchman has become a defensive liability and last David Moyes personally informed him that he intended to bring in competition for the left-back position – possibly in the shape of Leighton Baines or Luke Shaw – given that Alexander Buttner’s defensive limits have been brutally exposed this season. With Evra open to consider his options, Nemanja Vidic could follow suit, after his agent last week said that ”At the moment, I would rule out an extension with Manchester United.” Vida has attracted interest from Napoli, Juventus and Barcelona, while Rio Ferdinand, the man who partnered Vidic in the middle of United’s defence for so long, looks to be heading away from the club at the end of the season, after losing his spot in the starting XI and with offers likely to arrive on his table sooner rather than later.  David Moyes in Italy yesterday, watching Cagliari vs Juventus. With three defenders poised to leave, David Moyes is not only in the market for a left-back, but also for a central defender which could explain why the United manager was spotted in Cagliari yesterday, as the home side took on Juventus in Serie A. Cagliari’s Davide Astori has been impressive in the last two seasons and his performances have earned him a place in the Italy side, but the more optimistic of Reds must have hoped Moyes traveled to Sardinia yesterday to keep an eye on one of Juventus’ midfielders. With Paul Pogba linked with a possible return to Old Trafford and Arturo Vidal and Claudio Marchisio also on the pitch, Moyes must have been reminded how much of a luxury it is to be able to field such quality midfielders and while neither Pogba nor Vidal are expected to be leaving Italy anytime soon given that they’ve both penned new deals with Juventus, Marchisio could be a slightly easier target for United. Phil Neville, meanwhile, traveled to Spain to keep an eye on Rayo Vallecano’s midfielder Saul – a star of Spain U21 – and on his teammate Alex Galvez, a defender who’s also attracted interest from Borussia Dortmund. |
| Posted: 13 Jan 2014 12:00 AM PST
The Brazilian defender leapt to defend in his manager, after United avoided a fourth-consecutive defeat in all competitions by beating Swansea 2-0 on Saturday, thus picking up their first win of 2014.
Despite the remarkable improvements United showed in the second half on Saturday, the win places them in seventh spot on the table, five points adrift of a Champions League spot and, should Arsenal clinch three points at Villa Park tonight, United will find themselves 11 points behind the league leaders. Rafael, however, believes David Moyes shouldn’t be blamed for the lack of consistency and results. "I don't know why everyone is looking at the manager," said the United full-back in an interview with the Mirror. "It's the players who have to do the job on the pitch. "We've spoken about it a lot. We have to show our quality. People are saying United don't have a good squad. We have to show that is not true. “We have to be consistent. We have been up and down a lot. To win a title or to get in the top four we have to play every game like we did in this one. To have three losses in a row – and two of them at Old Trafford – is not normal,” continued the Brazilian defender. "We are together. We knew there would be a change. The manager had just left after 27 years. It was always going to be hard. "We have to take the mentality David Moyes has given us and use it on the pitch. It's quite a big difference. David Moyes has a strong mentality. He is doing his own job. We have to use that in a positive way. "We are the ones who have to take the responsibility, like we did in the second half against Swansea." |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Red Rants To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment