“He made quite a few mistakes” - Patrice Evra opens up on the mistakes David Moyes made ‘upset’ Manchester United players
Former Manchester United defender Patrice Evra spoke about his former boss David Moyes' short stint with the Red Devils. In an interview, the Frenchman highlighted the "few mistakes" Moyes made during his time in Manchester.
Moyes replaced Sir Alex Ferguson at the Old Trafford helm in a much publicised move after the Scotsman's retirement in 2013. He signed a six-year deal at the club, with Ferguson personally endorsing the former Everton manager.
Evra experienced the transition from Ferguson to Moyes during his time at Old Trafford. On the Stick to Football podcast, the Frenchman highlighted the mistakes made by the incoming manager.
"He made quite a few mistakes, which made the players upset, so there were a few occasions when I went to Sir Alex Ferguson’s house, asking him to speak with Moyes as he was upsetting quite a few of the players," revealed Evra.
The Frenchman admitted that he thought Moyes was doomed from the start after his first speech left the players confused.
"I didn't have a good relationship with him" - Former Manchester United defender Patrice Evra
David Moyes arrived at Manchester United from Everton, where he had spent 11 seasons, between 2002 and 2013. Although his spell with the Merseyside club was highly respected, he didn't win any trophy there.
That, Evra recalled, was one of the reasons why his first teamtalk didn't go well with the squad.
"His biggest mistake was in his first speech to the squad. He mentioned how we knew how to win already, so he wanted our help to help him win trophies, which raised eyebrows amongst the squad," Evra said.
After signing for United, Moyes wanted left-back Leighton Baines and midfielder Marouane Fellaini to follow him from Goodison Park to Old Trafford.
"When he first became manager, I didn’t have a good relationship with him because there was talk of him wanting to sign Leighton Baines, without even seeing me play properly," admitted Evra.
Although Fellaini was eventually signed by the club, Baines remained at Everton. Moyes tried to calm the situation with Evra after Baines' transfer didn't go through.
"One day we were in training, and he came over to me and apologised for the rumours about Baines, and I think he was expecting me to be upset with him. But I wasn’t because bringing in competition to Manchester United was a good thing," he recalled.
David Moyes' stint at Manchester United ended in just 10 months after a series of underwhelming results, including a 3-0 loss to arch-rivals Liverpool. He was sacked in April 2014 with United seventh in the standings, 13 points behind Arsenal in fourth with four games remaining in the season.