David Moyes made a fatal mistake on day one at Manchester United that led Patrice Evra to ask Sir Alex Ferguson for help
Patrice Evra has revealed the huge mistake former Manchester United manager David Moyes made on his first day at the club.
And it was a mistake that even had Evra desperately asking retired Sir Alex Ferguson for help.
Moyes became the coach of Man United in 2013, having previously coached at Everton and Preston North End.
He took over from the best of all time Fergusonwho had made the decision to retire the previous season.
And while following in Ferguson's footsteps was never going to be an easy task, Moyes He was fired just 10 months after taking office.
Ferguson had won his 13th Premier League title with the club in his final season.
By contrast, when Moyes was sacked, Manchester United were seventh in the Premier League this season.
They were guaranteed to fail to qualify for the Champions League for the first time since 1995 and finish outside the top three for the first time in Premier League history.
But perhaps Moyes' fate was sealed from the moment he arrived at the club.
Evra, who had been present for five of Ferguson's Premier League triumphs, believed Moyes could well have been doomed from the start because of one big mistake.
Speaking to Sky Bet Stay with football In a podcast, he explained where Moyes had gone so wrong.
“His biggest mistake was in his first speech to the team,” he said. “He said we already knew how to win and he wanted our help to win trophies, which surprised the whole team.”
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“He made quite a few mistakes which annoyed the players, so there were a few occasions when I went to Sir Alex Ferguson's house and asked him to speak to Moyes because he was upsetting a lot of the players.”
Evra went on to explain how his relationship with Moyes had evolved during his time at the club and how the club's poor performances had been the fault of more than just the manager at the time.
“When he first became a coach, I didn't have a good relationship with him,” he continued. “Because there was talk that he wanted to sign Leighton Baines, without even seeing me play well.”
“However, one day we were training and he came up to me and apologised for the rumours about Baines. I think he expected me to be angry with him. But I didn't because bringing competition to Manchester United was a good thing.
“When Moyes left the club, I told the players to stop blaming Moyes for our performances, but we were not good and that was because we feared Sir Alex Ferguson.
“For me, it doesn't matter who comes into the club, whether it's the club doctor or the chef, I would fight for him and support him because I'm fighting for the badge and for the fans.
“In the end you can have a good relationship with the coach, but you don't fight for him, you fight for the fans and the badge.”
And Evra was not the only former Red Devil to acknowledge flaws in the way Moyes had run the team during his brief time at the club.
Former England captain Wayne Rooney He had been managed by Moyes not only at Manchester United but also at Everton before.
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He joined Evra on the podcast and explained where he thinks his former manager went wrong.
“The biggest thing for me was that I wasn't the same person at United as I was at Everton,” Rooney said.
“He never felt he could be in control like he was at Everton and unfortunately he was always going to struggle at a club like Manchester United.”
Of course, Moyes has since gone on to hold a variety of other managerial roles, including most recently as manager of West Ham.
And perhaps his experience at Manchester United taught him well.
He enjoyed far more success at West Ham than he did at Manchester United, most notably winning the UEFA Conference League with the club in 2023.
Now, after parting ways with the club at the end of the 2022/23 season, he will take over A new and exciting role as technical advisor to UEFA, alongside none other than Gareth Southgate.
