According to the Mirror, Sir Alex Ferguson has broken his silence on the departure of David Moyes and claimed the job was too big for him.
Fergusin, writing in the updated version of his autobiography, said he could “see the walls squeezing in” on Moyes as his countryman suffered a disastrous 10 months at Old Trafford.
Moyes was hand-picked by Ferguson to succeed United’s most successful manager, took the then champions from first place to seventh, their lowest-ever Premier League finish.
But Ferguson says he is not to blame for United’s decline under Moyes, with many saying that he left Moyes with an ageing team devoid of depth and sufficient quality.
The former manager said:
“Chelsea started the current season as favourites for the title, with a squad that also had six players in their 30s,” said Ferguson. “I don’t hear any grumbles about the age of their group.”
“Antiquated was a bizarre description of the structure I left behind at Manchester United. Have you seen our new training ground?”
Ferguson described that notion as “nonsense” and claimed the reason the former Everton boss failed at United was because he had found it “a massive jump” to move to Old Trafford.
Reflecting on why things went so badly wrong for Moyes Ferguson wrote: “He hadn’t realised just how big United is as a club.”
And Ferguson also claimed Moyes went against United famous tradition by imposing a slower style of play that did not suit the players Ferguson had left behind.
Ferguson wrote: “The reason for playing at speed was that United players had been accustomed to operating that way.
“If the tempo slowed for any reason, I would be into them at half-time: ‘This is not us’, I would say. Playing with speed never hindered our results. It was our way: energy and determination in the last third of the pitch.”
Ferguson revealed he had no input into the decision to sack Moyes on April 22 after a 2-0 defeat at his old club Everton proved the final straw for the United hierarchy.
Despite Moyes claiming Ferguson invited him to his house to tell him he was the next United boss, the latter claimed it was not as straightforward as that, as if to distance himself from the subsequent failure of his successor.
“There appears to be an accepted view out there that there was no process,” wrote Ferguson. “Nonsense. We feel we did everything the right way: quietly, thoroughly, professionally.”
Interestingly, Ferguson claimed he tried to talk Moyes into retaining his former assistant manager Mike Phelan as his No.2 but the advice fell on deaf ears, with a entirely new back room staff installed.
“Maybe David felt that at such a massive club he had to be sure that all corners were covered in terms of his support system,” said Ferguson. “I felt that network was already there, with plenty of great people already in important slots.”
Ferguson said each defeat – United suffered 11 in the Premier League last season –made it more difficult for Moyes to keep his job. Ferguson wrote: “As the results deteriorated, each defeat was a hammer blow to him.
“I could see that in his demeanour. In January we bought Juan Mata and that gave everyone a lift but I could see the walls squeezing in, leaving David with less and less room to breathe.
“I know that feeling from 1989, when we went through a terrible spell. You feel you are being crushed. The results gnawed away at David.
“Nobody could dispute how disappointing the season was. And it cost a man his job.”
Ferguson revealed he held a meeting with Moyes – “just David and me; private” – after United’s 3-0 home defeat to Manchester City.
When Liverpool won by the same scoreline , Ferguson feared United’s fiercest rivals “might have battered us” by an even more humiliating scoreline.
“It’s hard to watch that kind of outcome when Liverpool are the ones dishing out the pain,” said Ferguson. “It was a rough season for a United fan and it was tough for me because I knew there were plenty of good players in our squad.
“They weren’t showing their form – and that seemed to place a huge weight on David’s shoulders.”
Ferguson said he kept a “respectful” distance as the Moyes era unravelled and claimed he never entered the United dressing-room, while also considering the training ground “out of bounds” for him.