There’ll be days like this, says Moyes

David Moyes never thought replacing Alex Ferguson as Manchester United manager was going to be easy and warned the transition may be a lengthy one.

Sunday’s 4-1 defeat at Manchester City has brought an even sharper focus on Moyes than already existed following his appointment as Ferguson’s successor in the summer.

Various reasons have been put forward for the scale of United’s defeat at the Etihad Stadium, which is terms of its one-sided nature had more in common with the 5-1 drubbing Ferguson’s team sustained at City’s hands in 1989 rather than the hiding suffered at Old Trafford two years ago, when the visitors scored three in stoppage time.

But it did seem to be the day when long-held reservations about United’s squad were exposed.

And Moyes knows the six-year contract he was handed when he left Everton in May took that reshaping into account.

“I don’t think it was ever going to be the case that it was going to be easy and smooth after Alex,” said Moyes.

“There was always going to be days like this and there might well be more days like this.

“It was always going to be tough following such a great manager with a great team and I think people with real football knowledge will know there are probably some changes to be made.

“It is not going to be made in one fell swoop. It is going to be done in time.

“That is why the Manchester United board realised the job that needed to be done was a long-term one.”

It was said to Moyes at various stages of the summer that nothing could quite prepare him for life at United.

That has been brought into sharp focus by the reaction to Sunday’s defeat, that has swung sharply between understanding and sympathetic to outright hostility.

“I thought I was (prepared) but obviously when you come here then I realise maybe I wasn’t,” said Moyes.

Moyes insists he is still enjoying the club and, bizarrely, victory over Liverpool in the Capital One Cup third round at Old Trafford tonight would mean he has enjoyed the best start to his tenure of any United manager since Matt Busby.

Not that there was much consolation to be gained in such spurious facts in the immediate aftermath of the City debacle.

“Yeah, it did,” said Moyes, when asked if the manner of defeat had shocked him.

“But when you’re a football manager for the length of time I have been you are always going to have shocks.”

For his part, Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers accepts he may have made some unpopular decisions but insists it is all for the good of the club.

Despite guiding Liverpool to victory in each of their first three league games Rodgers’ judgement has continued to be questioned in some quarters.

Letting established goalkeeper Jose Reina go out on loan to Napoli this summer was greeted with incredulity by some, although his replacement Simon Mignolet’s early performances have gone some way to assuaging doubts.

But Rodgers insists he is only concerned with the long-term future of the club and will continue to make the calls he feels are necessary to win.

“I know I can sleep at night knowing I will do the very best for the supporters and the club,” he said.

“Sometimes, especially at the beginning of something which is delicate and difficult, you’ll make decisions which are maybe unpopular.

“But I want to be the one who steers the club back in the direction it should be going in and that is not easy.”

While some of his other decisions may have been questioned the stance Rodgers took over Luis Suarez this summer, with the player openly criticising his manager and the club for reneging on a deal to allow him to leave for a Champions League side, was praised.

Backed by principal owner John Henry, Rodgers remained steadfast the Uruguay international would not be leaving, even though he had caused plenty of headaches for the manager.

And Rodgers will be looking for some sort of payback from the 26-year-old on his return tonight.

“Now he comes back we are getting a £50-60million striker back in the team and that is exciting for us,” he added.

“This is a player who can come in and make a difference for us.

“All you can do now is judge him by his performances on the field. The measure for Luis now is on the field.”