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Former Manchester United boss David Moyes has claimed that getting his former side to work harder will be one of incoming head coach Ruben Amorim’s biggest and most important challenges.
The Red Devils have endured a very poor start to the season which quickly dashed any optimism from a relatively successful summer window of signings.
The poor results and performances eventually cost Erik ten Hag his job at the end of October and he was swiftly replaced by Sporting Lisbon’s Amorim.
United have a multitude of issues to fix as they find themselves 13th in the Premier League table and 15th in the Europa League standings.
Speaking to Sky Sports podcast Stick to Football, former United manager David Moyes highlighted exactly the job Amorim will be up against when he takes over the reins in just a matter of days.
The former West Ham United manager praised the talent in the squad but claimed there is one outstanding problem to fix.
Speaking on the podcast he claimed, “I actually think Manchester United have got really, really talented players. But I think the point you made, Jill, about work rate – that would be the first thing.”
This was on full show last night as apart from Amad Diallo, the rest of United’s players put in a rather lethargic effort against Greek side PAOK in the Europa League.
Luckily from a United perspective two moments of individual brilliance and just enough professionalism got the job done for the Red Devils, who ran out 2-0 winners, but it was hardly a performance that will get Amorim’s pulse racing, at least for the right reasons.
Moyes also laid into some of United’s current players and said the situation is an entirely different one to what he faced in 2013, as he was taking over the champions of England.
“I think at the moment, players might be looking now and saying, ‘Hey by the way, if we don’t step up…’. The manager might be coming from a stronger position because these players are going to have to actually step up.”
He also asserted that the players should take more responsibility for their own failings and stop being so content to continuously let managers take the fall for their own poor performances.
“It’s not always calling the players out, but I see it a little bit where I think the players are quite happy to hide behind managers at the moment, let the managers take the hit.”
“I could do with some of them coming out and saying, ‘By the way, I know I’m not quite at it at the moment, I’m not playing well enough just now’. We’re not getting much of that.”
While Moyes certainly did not get it right during his time at Old Trafford, these comments will resonate with a lot of United fans given the state of the team at present.