Moyes has been preparing for job his whole life

Posted Friday, July 26, 2013 by The Sun

DAVID MOYES was born to be Manchester United manager.

And now that he is in the hotseat, he has the drive to make it work.

That is the view of Phil Neville, who can offer a unique insight into the man and the task facing him at Old Trafford.

Neville, now first-team coach at United, enjoyed 10 years as a Red Devils player as well as spending eight seasons working under Moyes at Everton.

He said: “David has been preparing for this job all his life and whether it be at Preston or Everton he has, at the back of his mind, always been thinking that one day he wanted to manage the best.

“He has the drive and the determination and already he has the respect of the players.”

A lot of that respect has come from Moyes’ work on the training ground which has been intense on the tour of Australia and the Far East.

Neville, 36, said: “That is his strength — out on the training field when he is coaching the team.

“As a young coach, you can learn a massive amount from his sessions. The players have said that the structure and the way each session has a theme has challenged them.

“David is very hands-on and likes to do a lot of the coaching.

“It is not just about stamping his own style, but it is continuing the style we have got and that United demand while adding his own touches to it as well.”

And if the United players think the days of the hairdryer are over, they can think again.

Neville, who will be in the dugout for today’s game against Cerezo Osaka, said: “He is from that part of Glasgow where they tell the truth and say it how it is.

Moyes has been preparing for job his whole life

“So if you are doing well he will tell you, if you are doing bad he will tell you — he won’t sugar-coat anything. But he has a humble, human side as well which most Glaswegians have.”

Neville can hardly hide his excitement at being employed by United on the training pitch.

He said: “It seemed like this was fate in a way — David got the United job and I came back home.

“I can’t wait for the first game. I am like a kid at Christmas, everything is new, everything is brilliant and my life has totally changed.

“The couple of days before pre- season when I knew I was coming back were probably the proudest days of my career.

“To finish my playing career and automatically go into a job like this has been perfect for me.

“I always felt when I started coaching I would be worried and nervous.

“But from the minute I walked into the training ground it just felt right. Even walking out on to the training ground and seeing and meeting the players felt right.

“Eight years ago, I thought I would come back but the longer it went on the more I thought maybe I wouldn’t. The turning point was when the gaffer got the job.”

But does he not miss playing after such a long and illustrious career which brought six titles, three FA Cups and a Champions League medal with United?

He said: “Some people come to the end of their career and are quite sad. And after announcing my retirement, every day people were saying ‘Are you sure you are OK?’

“I was actually really happy. It wasn’t the stress and pressure, I’d just had enough, my body couldn’t take any more.

“I wasn’t sick of the preparation but my body couldn’t take the preparation that was required for me to play at the top level.”

Moyes not only took Neville with him to United but wisely appointed Ryan Giggs (left), 39, as a player-coach.

As much as Moyes is looking to stamp his mark on the club, he wants continuity from people who have experienced some of the greatest years United have enjoyed.

Neville said: “I had worked so close to him and I knew more than anyone what it was like to be involved at this football club.

“He knew he’d be blown away by the experience of being at United and being the United manager.

“At United now, we have experienced coaches and then we have me and Ryan who are the younger ones. We are the ones who will continue the Manchester United legacy.

“Ryan has experience of United and I have experience of United and of the manager — so we’ll try to knit that together.

“To be honest, had I finished my career at United and gone straight into coaching here, it would have been a bit difficult.

“But I have been away, so they see me differently. They now see me as a coach, there has been a clean break. Also, when you have the staff kit, it doesn’t give you extra power but it gives you that extra bit of responsibility and respect.”

Neville will always have the respect of the United faithful.

And with his second coming he is determined that the man who is now boss will quickly earn the same.