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Matt Le Tissier Column - United Players Have To Look At Themselves

This week Matt Le Tissier considers just why David Moyes failed at Old Trafford and where some of the blame should be attached.

Some Manchester United players need to take a long, hard look at themselves following David Moyes’ departure from Old Trafford.

I think there are probably a few of them that maybe need to ask themselves: "Did I do enough I possibly could to help the manager out?”

But I also think there are players there that aren’t the players they once were.

That was maybe what Moyes was refering to in terms of the clear-out he was talking about in the summer and the re-building job that had to be done.

He didn’t see the best of Ferdinand, Vidic and Evra and, maybe to a certain extent, Van Persie, who had his injury problems and Carrick who hasn’t been up to his usual standards.

There were just too many players there that have not done themselves justice in terms of consistency this season.

But having said that I always felt that managers should get a bit of a longer crack at the job.

I don’t think people realise sometimes what a big job it is to manage a football club.

And how long it takes to try and get a team together to try and play a different way from the previous manager.

I think people are a little impatient but, in truth, it has been a pretty horrific season and the owners felt they couldn’t see any sign of improvement after ten months.

But it was always going to be a pretty thankless task and the person who replaced the manager who replaced Sir Alex Ferguson was always going to have a far easier job.

I see Louis van Gaal has thrown his hat into the ring and he’s the only one to have done that while others shy away from it.

Usually, in these cases, managers often say they are not interested until something firm is put in front of them.

You must not always believe the rejections especially from managers who are at the sharp end of their seasons.

Dortmund’s Jurgen Flopp, for instance, has apparently ruled himself out but he’s got a German Cup Final coming up.

He’s not going to say "Oh yes, I would love that Manchester United job” when he’s got to prepare his team for such an important game.

There will be a lot of posturing, a lot of quotes and a lot of people denying they are in for it.

Until there’s a formal offer in place you never know what everyone is thinking.

I do feel for David Moyes because he spent 10 or 11 years building his reputation at Everton and in the space of ten months it gets wiped to oblivion.

I hope people don’t forget what he did at Goodison Park before he took on the almost impossible task of trying to carry on Sir Alex’s work.

Read more of Matt's blogs and comments at the Goalden Goals website

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