A Tale of Two Davids

 

Remember when David De Gea turned up between the sticks for Manchester United? Of course you do. We all do. We all recall the regular horror shows we were subjected to in those first few months, as he was bullied and buffeted by bulging-veined opponents who preyed upon his glaring weaknesses and painful weediness. The memories of his hands, flapping inconsequentially through thin-air, still cause us to shudder. The cruel image of his anguished expression, as he turned his comically bum-fluffed face from his position, prone on the turf, to watch,impotently as the ball travelled beyond him and into his net, remain etched on our mind's eye.

This poor boy (for he was but a boy, back then), in a foreign land, amongst a crowd of strangers, thrust into the full, unforgiving glare of one of world football's biggest clubs. Each week, nay, each day, brought fresh, brutal scrutiny from the country's media, who circled like hungry sharks, twitching with unconcealed glee at the tantalising prospect of another error, then converging on him in a savage feeding frenzy when one was made.

Even many of the club's fans began to harbour doubts about his suitability to the role. Some vociferously voiced these concerns, while others whispered their fears in hushed tones in the pubs and bars of the city.

We'd seen it all before, of course. Who can forget such pretenders to the throne as Fabien Barthez and Mark Bosnich, not to mention the ludicrous Massimo Taibi? They had all tried, and failed, to replace the irreplaceable Peter Schmeichel. De Gea, for his part, was charged with the unenviable task of taking over from another United legend, the magnificent, serial Champions League finalist, Edwin van der Sar. Such a challenge would cause the knees of a far older, more experienced man, to knock and buckle under the weight, let alone one so raw.

Like De Gea, David Moyes is discovering, the hard way, what it means to replace a retired United legend. Only he is replacing Sir Alex Ferguson, arguably the United legend.

So far, Moyes has had a rocky ride. When he put pen to paper during those heady days of early summer, it must have seemed like all his footballing dreams had come true. He must have had visions of unending success, trophy-laden Mays, and limitless transfer funds. 

Then came the fixture list, and his ill-advised descent into conspiracy-mode. Followed by the most farcical transfer window escapades in United fans' collective living memory.

This would all have been swiftly forgotten had it not been for a series of drab performances, including a whimpering loss at Anfield, a 0-0 draw at home to Chelsea so mind-numbing it led one to question the very point of life itself, culminating in a deeply humiliating thrashing at the hands of United's noisy, and worryingly stronger, fitter, quicker, more skilful neighbours.

Cast in the light of all of this, Moyes has begun to lose some of his authority, at least in the eyes of the fans. He's seemed to visibly shrink in physical stature, taking on the air of a supply teacher who's frightened to make a wrong move for fear of the class descending into anarchy, subconsciously  apologising, in both his body language and his words, for not being Fergie.

After United's 1-0 League Cup victory over Liverpool on Wednesday night, he even informed the gathered press that people had been 'telling' him about Javier Hernàndez's qualities as a poacher of goals and tormentor of defences, as if he'd discovered the player  in an Old Trafford broom cupboard, covered in dust, a relic from a bygone age, and was unsure who he was or what was to be done with him.

 

David Moyes needs to realise that he is no longer manager of Everton, where it is, perhaps, acceptable to line up against the 'big boys' with play-it-safe, reliable grafters in the hope of grinding out backs-to-the-wall, bruising stalemates. He needs to 'bulk up' and grow into his new role, and remember that he was hand-picked by Sir Alex himself.

Just as a young Spaniard by the name of  David De Gea has done so admirably since those early days of his Manchester United career.