David Moyes worked with some of the greatest players he’s seen during his almost 10-month reign as Manchester United manager.
Although David Moyes is widely viewed as a failure from his time at Manchester United, nobody can take away the fact that he’s had a remarkable coaching career and succeeded at other clubs.
Moyes didn’t get the desired results at Old Trafford after taking over a United side that had been crowned Premier League champions the previous season. The notable players in the squad at the time were David de Gea, Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra, Michael Carrick, Antonio Valencia, Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie.
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That meant Moyes had a dressing room full of world-class players, even though some of them were past their best.
It means Moyes got to see up close the standards these players were used to, although many of them would likely argue that those standards dropped significantly following Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement.
Nemanja Vidic holds arms up to thank Manchester United fans.
Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images
David Moyes hails Man Utd legend Nemanja Vidic as the best
There is no denying that United had an ageing defence under Moyes.
Vidic, Ferdinand and Evra were past their best and would eventually leave the club in the following summer.
But that doesn’t take anything away from Moyes’ experience as he got to watch world-class players up close. These defenders were far superior to Phil Jagielka or Leighton Baines, whom he trusted for many years in defence at Everton.
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Speaking on the PLZ Football Podcast, Moyes said: “I know, I’m trying to think though.
“Probably, and I only had him for a short period, you talked about Vidic was probably the best centre-half. I only got up close to him for a short period. He was an amazing centre-half at that time.”
In 2008, Vidic was one of the best centre-backs in Europe, along with Ferdinand, as United won the Champions League.
The former Serbia international was the type of defender who would put his head where many wouldn’t risk putting their foot.
Nemanja Vidic shared embarrassing David Moyes anecdote
Back in 2016, Vidic recalled the moment Moyes made him watch videos of Jagielka.
Vidic had a tough spell at United following Ferguson’s decision to retire.
The Serb’s performances dipped, and he eventually joined Inter Milan as a free agent.
In a Q&A with FourFourTwo, Vidic previously revealed that Moyes showed him and Ferdinand videos of Jagielka.
When asked how he felt at that moment, Vidic replied: “[Pauses] Players don’t always like what managers say to them. That’s normal – it even happened with Fergie.
“The sad thing for me wasn’t any specific incident; it was that with David as manager and me as captain, we didn’t do well.
“As a team we wanted to prove people wrong after Fergie went and we’d hoped to be better – we were not.
“We all lost and must share the responsibility and guilt, David as manager and me as captain.”