By LEWIS STEELE, FOOTBALL REPORTER
Published: 17:30 EST, 23 November 2025 | Updated: 17:30 EST, 23 November 2025
David Moyes says he always knew Manchester United would not be fixed quickly when he took over at Old Trafford, with the 20-time champions of England not winning a league title since Sir Alex Ferguson retired.
Many expected Moyes, who is now back at the club he left for United in Everton, to continue a legacy of winning in Manchester but he was sacked midway through his first season with the club struggling in seventh place.
But the Everton boss, who takes his side to Old Trafford on Monday, has admitted: ‘I always thought when I took the job that it wouldn't be able to be fixed quickly. I saw that not long after I went in that it was going to take a bit of time.
‘I think also you have to remember that it was not just to do with the strength of United. It was to do with the strength of other teams - Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal were all incredibly strong teams.
‘They were all rebuilding and bringing in more all the time. So I think that those clubs played as big a part in it as anyone else - that their quality had risen or was rising all the time.’
Moyes, whose Everton side won their last game and have designs on a top-half push this season, insists that many people tell him with hindsight that he should have been given more time at United.
David Moyes says he knew Man United would not be fixed quickly when he took over in 2013
Moyes replaced the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson (pictured above after United's won their last Premier League title in 2013) but the Scot was sacked during his first season in April 2014
After 11 successful years at Goodison Park, the Scotsman had to earn back his reputation after his damaging spell at Old Trafford, with him since managing Real Sociedad, Sunderland, West Ham (twice) and now a return to Everton.
He added: ‘I don't know if I've ever heard anybody really come out and say it directly (that he needed more time). I've had plenty of people say it to me… plenty of supporters say it to me, and plenty of journalists say it to me.
‘But I think that really at the time it just probably wasn't right and it didn't work for different reasons. I wish it had worked. But it didn't work at the time and that's it. In a way, it's gone now. It feels so far away in the distance.’
Everton, meanwhile, are confident of triggering an extension in the contract of midfielder James Garner. The 24-year-old, once of United, sees his deal run out in the summer but it is understood there is a clause to extend that by another year.
Midfielder Merlin Rohl is a fresh injury worry for the Toffees with the German, a summer signing from Freiburg, having a hernia operation last week. He is set to miss a few weeks of action.