Moyes wise to trust us old boys says Manchester United stalwart Rio Ferdinand
Moyes wise to trust us old boys says Manchester United stalwart Rio Ferdinand
"The manager is going to try to implement parts of his own
style, but he’s not silly - he knows he’s coming into a title-winning
team"
United front: Moyes has been picking the brains of the champions' old sweats
Matthew Peters
Rio Ferdinand says Manchester United’s core of experienced players
will help David Moyes make a winning start to his Old Trafford reign.
Moyes
has canvassed the likes of Ferdinand, Ryan Giggs and Michael Carrick in
the four weeks since he succeeded Sir Alex Ferguson as the champions' manager, drawing on their insight to help him settle in to his new role.
And
Ferdinand said the decision by Moyes to look to the established members
of the squad he inherited from now-retired Fergie showed the
50-year-old has an open mind and is willing to do whatever it takes to
maintain the club’s success.
“I just look at it as if I was taking the job on,” Ferdinand said in Hong Kong, after the final game of United’s pre-season tour of the Far East and Australia.
“Would
you lean on players who have been here for many years, for their
experience and to ask questions and to better yourself? Of course you
would. You’d do the same in any job.
“But I think the manager is
fortunate he’s got someone like Giggsy, among others, like myself and
Carrick, who have been here for many years and know the fabric of the
club.
“If there’s anything we can pass on, with our experiences,
to help him to become a better manager and to help us win more trophies,
then that’s fantastic.
“Winning the league last season, I don’t
think that’s going to change massively from this season, in terms of the
way we play and things like that.
“The new manager is going to
try to implement parts of his own style into our team, but he’s not
silly - he knows he’s coming into a championship-winning team.
“I think it’s still too early to talk about stuff like that [comparing Moyes and Ferguson].
“The
manager before was a one-off, there won’t be anyone like him ever
again, and you can’t expect anyone to fill his boots exactly the same
way.
“And with this manager, you’ve got to give him time and hopefully he is at a club where he will get that.”
One
of the features of Ferguson’s reign was his willingness to give young
players a chance and Moyes followed that blueprint on tour, giving
exposure to the likes of Jesse Lingard, Adnan Januzaj, Michael Keane,
Ben Amos and Wilfried Zaha. All acquitted themselves well during United's five-game, three-week trip, in particular Januzaj and Lingard.
Zaha,
a £15million January signing from Crystal Palace who was loaned back to
the Londoners, did enough to suggest he could play a key role in the
first-team this season.
“The best part of the tour has been seeing
the young lads come through,” said Ferdinand. “Obviously, fitness is
the most important thing, but the young lads have come through and shown
they have the right qualities.
“If you asked anyone else in the
club they’d tell you the same thing about Jesse - that he’s a great
little player. On the last tour he was one of our best players, but it
didn’t work out for him last season.
“This season it remains to be
seen, but he couldn’t have done any more to put himself in the shop
window in terms of the manager.
“Obviously, Zaha came with a big
price-tag for a young player, but he’s come in here, he’s got a great
personality and he’s fitted in straight away.
“You can see he has the potential to become a really good player and this is the best place to do that.” Red hot: Young Jesse Lingard has impressed on United's tour
Brendon Thorne
United have yet to make a signing under Moyes, but Ferdinand is not concerned:
“We’re
confident. If we had to go into the new season with the players we’ve
got now, I’d be more than confident of doing well and winning trophies,
but if the manager can add to that and chooses to add to that, then
great. But that remains to be seen.”
United take on AIK Stockholm
in Sweden next Tuesday, where Wayne Rooney is expected to make his
much-anticipated comeback fom injury, before Ferdinand’s testimonial
against Sevilla at Old Trafford three days later.
Although the
testimonial is to honour Ferdinand’s 11 years of service to United, the
34-year-old defender acknowledged it as another vital chance for Moyes
to give players some vital game-time ahead of the new season.
“It’s
a bit of both,” said Ferdinand. “The manager wants it to be a proper
game, with players getting some vital minutes in, but it’s an honour for
me to have been able to play for this club for so many years.
“To be granted a testimonial is something I’m very proud of. Hopefully I can share it and enjoy it with the fans.
“You just don’t imagine it, getting a testimonial. You don’t look that far ahead.
As
a football player, you just think about the next game. It sounds
boring, but it’s true - you never imagine yourself in those shoes.
“Just
like with winning trophies. When you first go into the United
changing-room in your first season and you see Giggsy’s got five, six or
seven trophies, you think, ‘I’d love to be there one day’ but you don’t
know - you might only get one or two, and that’s it.
“So to have won as much as I have has been incredible.”
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