News

The big news in sport over the last week has been the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson, the manager of Manchester United. We’ve been here before – Ferguson announced his retirement at the start of 2002 only to perform a U-turn at the end of the season – but this time it’s for realsies. Ferguson’s successor, Everton manager David Moyes, has already been confirmed.

To its detractors, Man Utd has become synonymous with favourable refereeing decisions; arrogant, bandwagon-jumping fans; and a frustrating ability to keep winning things year after year. Inseparable from all of this has been the gum-chewing, purple-faced Ferguson, a man adored by Man Utd fans and grudgingly respected by all others.

When Ferguson arrived at Man Utd in 1986, the club had not won the league in 20 years. After a slow start, he won the inaugural Premier League in the 1992-3 season, setting off a two-decade era of Man Utd dominance. The club has now won 13 league titles under Ferguson’s management (five in the last seven seasons), as well as five FA Cups, four League Cups, two Champions League titles, and the Club World Cup.

So it’s farewell to the greatest manager of the modern era. The big question now is how Moyes will fare in the role. Long considered the frontrunner to take charge after Ferguson, Moyes has been the manager of Everton for 11 years. During that period, the club has consistently punched above its weight, finishing in the top seven on seven occasions and recently supplanting Liverpool as Merseyside’s top club.

Moyes therefore has plenty of Premier League experience and, at 50, is still relatively young. The main reservation, however, is his lack of experience running a big club. Everton operates with a small stadium, a limited budget, and an owner looking to sell rather than invest. Bigger clubs regularly snap up Everton’s top players, recent examples including Mikel Arteta and Jack Rodwell.

In contrast, Manchester United has huge revenues, huge debt, and huge players on huge wages. The pressures on the manager are, correspondingly, huge. Ferguson was famous for his strict man-management and his principle that no player was bigger than the club. He had no problem with letting star players leave – Jaap Stam, David Beckham, Roy Keane, Cristiano Ronaldo – when their egos grew too large. Now it appears that Wayne Rooney, whose career began under Moyes but whom the latter ended up suing over remarks in Rooney’s autobiography, wants to move away from Man Utd (Bayern Munich seems the most likely destination). How Moyes deals with this situation will be his first big test.

So what can we expect from Moyes? Expect him to strengthen Man Utd’s midfield, long identified as the club’s main weakness. His selections will likely be prudent and youth-oriented. Everton’s star midfielder, Marouane Fellaini, would seem an obvious choice to follow Moyes to his new club. Ryan Giggs, who is now 39 and has played his entire career under Ferguson, is unlikely to feature prominently, but Moyes will look to get the most out of Michael Carrick after the latter’s impressive 2012-3 season. Finally, expect less injury time and less gum-chewing.