David Moyes insists that his position is not in jeopardy as Manchester United look to recover from their North West derby mauling against Olympiakos tomorrow night.
The Reds were thoroughly outplayed in the 3-0 defeat against Liverpool at Old Trafford on Sunday, succumbing to their traditional rivals at home for only the third time in ten years.
However, despite the back pages being rife with speculation and the looming prospect of elimination from the Champions League, Moyes believes his job is secure.
“My future has not changed one bit,” he said. “I’ve got a great job. I know exactly the direction I want to go in. We know we have put ourselves in a poor position but we have belief.
“When you lose in the fashion we did to one of our biggest rivals, there’s always a lot of disappointment.
“The biggest assurance is they [the board] will let me get on with the job. We never discuss it [the future]. I have a six-year contract. This club does not work on short-term vision, it works on a long-term vision.”
United go into the match trailing Olympiakos by two goals – a deficit that the club has not overturned since beating Barcelona 3-0 in 1984.
But even with history being against him, Moyes is confident that, despite recent performances, tomorrow night the United faithful will have something to shout about.
“The support inside Old Trafford has been phenomenal,” he said. “The first thing I mentioned to the players is we need to start giving something back. We need to work together to make it a night to be remembered. We will leave nothing behind.
“The most important thing right now is to get the Olympiakos game played. If we can get past them, it’d be a massive lift for us. We’ve got a lot of belief and we have to make it show by playing well in the game.
“It was always going to be a big week with Liverpool and Olympiakos. As soon as it [the Liverpool match] was over, we were focused on this game. It’s the only thing that matters now.”
However, the 50-year-old’s bullish stance is in stark contrast to an apparent rising tide of unrest in southwest Manchester.
Rumours of a rift with veteran player and coach Ryan Giggs surfaced yesterday, which the club quickly denied, while it is reported that Robin van Persie may be considering jumping ship in the summer.
On-field matters are no better – Sunday’s defeat bought the Reds their eighth loss in 14 games, having won just four.
Regardless, Sir Alex Ferguson’s successor has faith in his players’ collective and individual talent to force a reversal of fortune.
“I think Manchester United is the biggest club in the world.” said Moyes. “It might not feel like that today, but this club has had great success in the past and will do again in the future. It will rise again.
“I see the players every day, the qualities they show me. I think they know they can play better, I don’t think any of them are questioning that. I’ve got belief in the players. We’ll try and make that happen tomorrow night.”
Juan Mata – who is cup-tied for the Olympiakos clash – yesterday expressed his disappointment with the Liverpool loss and issued an apology to United fans on his blog.
It was a sentiment that was echoed by vice-captain Patrice Evra, who today vowed that he and his teammates would give everything against the Greek champions.
“When you win, you win together and when you lose, you lose together,” he said.
“It’s been a difficult season for everyone because we’re not used to losing. We know we had a bad game in the first leg. Even a three-year-old Manchester United fan would be hurting by our performance, but in life you have a second chance and we will have one tomorrow night.
“We will fight and make sure all the fans will be proud of us after the game.”
Image courtesy of Sky Sports via YouTube, with thanks.
