Former Manchester United coach René Meulensteen has claimed David Moyes failed because he didn’t realise that leaving Everton for United was like ‘going from a yacht to a cruise liner’.
Meulensteen was forced to leave Old Trafford when Moyes took over from Sir Alex Ferguson last summer, as the Scot cleared out the backroom staff to bring in his own men, against the advice of his predecessor.
The Dutchman said Ferguson’s successor only had himself to blame because he had ‘under-estimated’ the size of the job at Old Trafford and ignored crucial advice.
The former first-team coach said he gave Moyes some advice of his own, but it was ultimately dismissed by the former Everton manager.
“Don’t forget David was a respected manager in the Premier League who worked for 11 years at Everton in a very good way,” Meulensteen told US radio station SiriusXM.
“But I did warn him: ‘Do you realise, after everything at Everton, you’re going from a yacht to a cruise liner? That’s how big the difference will be.’ It’s not just necessarily the work on the pitch.
“It’s everything that surrounds Manchester United, the players, the performances, the pressure, the style, the identity.
“I think he’s underestimated that and unfortunately it’s cost him his position.”
Meulensteen said Moyes’s decision to bring in so many coaching staff from Everton ultimately forced his hand and persuaded him to leave the club.
“It became very evident to me after a few meetings with David Moyes that he wanted to bring in his own people and do it his own way,” he added.
“I felt very strongly that things would change dramatically for myself and the position I held so I didn’t feel there was a good foundation to carry on.
“David ignored the solid advice given to him by many of the staff in place at the time and opted to put his own plans in place, which he’s entitled to do but it backfired on him a little bit.”
Meulensteen said it was ‘too crazy for words’ that Moyes had overseen such a sharp demise in a short space of time, taking a championship winning team down to seventh place in the league.
“You have to look at a club like Manchester United and the job David Moyes took on as the exception and the rule,” Meulensteen said.
“United are a very successful team with many successful years behind them. The strategies in place worked.
“But David ignored the advice that was given to him by many of the staff in place at the time.”
Meulensteen said Moyes was in an envious position, walking into a successful regime that had been built by Sir Alex Ferguson over 26 years, only to ignore the sum of its parts.
“One of the massive qualities Sir Alex Ferguson had was to surround himself with experienced people but, more importantly to delegate to them,” he said.
“You can only do that if you can trust those people around you, and Sir Alex Ferguson did that. It created a lot of time and space for him on a daily basis.
“I’ve been part of the Manchester United backroom staff under Sir Alex Ferguson in the last five years that has proven to be the most successful period in the club’s history.
“To now have a really poor season, dropping to seventh in the league table, out of the Champions League suddenly after so many years of constant success, that’s probably why the decision has been made.”
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