What is the solution?
In my opinion Moyes is the right man for the job, he needs time and backing from the club, which I have no doubt he will get thankfully. Sir Alex Ferguson picked him for a reason, and supporters need to get behind him, just as the great man himself asked us to. In the short term, ensuring Champions League football for next season is an absolute priority. For the sake of the players and the fans it may well be worth Moyes coming out and saying what we all know, which is that the title will be leaving the club at the end of the season, probably across Manchester.
Then we can concentrate on realistic ambitions for this season, which come in the form of the League Cup (hopefully a turn around at Old Trafford), the Champions League, and 4th place in the Premier League. Obviously the squad needs strengthening in key areas, with a top quality young left back (like Southampton’s Luke Shaw for example) and a dominating central midfielder (possibly Marco Verratti from PSG) being top of the shopping list. A marquee signing in January could well be what the club needs, not so much for the production of the player on the pitch, but also for the huge lift it would give to the fans and the players, much as Ozil has at Arsenal.
Great players make others play better, and the German is providing a perfect example of this in London. I would like to see Moyes build around youth as well, because there is no doubt that there is a whole host of exciting talent at the club, with Januzaj, Zaha, Powell, Jones, Smalling and Welbeck being the obvious ones, and that is without touching the outstanding talents in our successful U21 team from last year. Make it David Moyes’ team, not SAF’s and build for next year. The sooner he does that, and the fans accept it, the better for the club.