Rio Ferdinand, when the topic of David Moyes’ ill-fated nine month spell in charge of Manchester United was brought up, was keen to put to bed a couple of those ‘old wives’ tales’.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s doomed successor did not, Rio Ferdinand confirms, show he and fellow centre-half Nemanja Vidic a video showcase of Phil Jagielka, dispelling a rumour that had followed David Moyes around like a bad smell throughout much of his career post-Old Trafford.
“That didn’t happen, no,” Ferdinand tells The Overlap’s Stick to Football podcast when those infamous Jagielka claims were brought up.
There are, however, a few very real moments which stick in the mind of the 2008 Champions League winner when discussing why Moyes’ reign unravelled so spectacularly, a Manchester United side still containing Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs, Patrice Evra, David de Gea, Vidic and co going from first to seventh in the space of just one season.
Read more: Who is Rio Ferdinand? Inside the life of the legendary Man Utd centre-back turned pro podcaster
Manchester United struggled under David Moyes
“Two moments happened, probably three (that knocked my confidence in Moyes),” Ferdinand recalls.
“One of the moments, I remember getting on a plane (during the pre-season tour) and seeing the manager sprawled out on the chair, dishevelled.
“‘Big club this, isn’t it?’ is what he said to me. And I thought, oh…”
“A kit launch at Everton is at Goodison, on the pitch. A kit launch at Man United is like a worldwide tour. I thought; ‘OK, I might have thought he’d known that before’.”
A common phrase that often appeared in conjunction with Moyes during that 2013/14 campaign was that the job was simply ‘too big for him’. That he lacked the gravitas and the awareness required of what was expected at a club where the manager did not just pick the team but operated as the face of a global brand.
Ferdinand also believes that the now-West Ham boss Moyes, rather than adapting to Man United, tried to translate his Everton approach to a team who were used to focusing on themselves on the training pitch rather than fearing the qualities of the opposition.
‘We’d never done that at Man United’
“We played against Liverpool and Chelsea,” the former England international adds. “And I remember, in the training session, we were setting up to stop (Eden) Hazard and (Philippe) Coutinho.
“And (Moyes) put a box in the area where they play in, and the players are looking at each other thinking ‘we don’t set up to stop individuals’. We had never done that at Man United. (Lionel) Messi, we didn’t even have a massive plan for him! Should have done!
“Those two games made be think, ‘wow, we are setting up with a defeatist mentality’. A big difference to what a title-winning team was last season. That was one of the things that I think the players were, not against him, (but) it gives you a question mark in your head.
“And that question mark is a big thing within a squad.”
Moyes should have taken a leaf out of Ferguson’s book
Man United would draw 0-0 with Chelsea before losing 1-0 to a Daniel Sturridge goal at Anfield.
In his final point, Ferdinand also feels that Moyes would have benefitted from taking a leaf out of Ferguson’s playbook, the Scot tending to distance himself from sections of the squad in a move that always threatened to undermine his popularity in the dressing room.
“Remember what the boss (Ferguson) used to do, on a Friday night at the hotel or on a Saturday morning before a game? You knew someone was getting told they were not playing,” Ferdinand adds.
“I remember David Moyes saying ‘I don’t do that. I’m not explaining myself to anybody. If you want to come and see me, see me on Monday’.
“It’s a squad game. The squad wins you everything. You’ve got to take care of those other guys who are on the periphery of the team.”