Javier Hernandez did not pull any punches when assessing David Moyes’s ill-fated reign as Manchester United manager.
Hernandez, the LA Galaxy striker who also played for Real Madrid and West Ham, was part of the squad for Moyes’s seven-month spell at Old Trafford – where he had the tough task of replacing Sir Alex Ferguson.
Ferguson guided United to the Premier League title in his final season in charge but things quickly went downhill under Moyes – who is now managing West Ham.
And Hernandez pointed to his ‘stubborn’ nature, in a conversation with former team-mate Rio Ferdinand, as one of the key reasons that he was unable to replicate Ferguson’s success.
‘To be honest, we didn’t have any thing personal – Moyes and myself – but it was a mistake that they took him,’ Hernandez told Ferdinand on The Locker Room.
‘It was a mistake. That was the first mistake that it’s still haunting – not because of him, he’s not a bad manager, but they thought they were going to take the replacement of the boss, of Sir Alex so quick. It’s impossible!
‘Not until now. Even Guardiola and Klopp and Mourinho are not at the level of Sir Alex yet. They’re on the way trying to get there. Or Cruyff, those kinds of managers. They’re not there but they’re trying to achieve that.
‘That changed some United careers that could have been better. Rafael, myself, Welbeck, Fabio, too – a lot of players that we need to go away to play.’
Asked by Ferdinand if he got rid of them too quickly, Hernandez replied: ‘Yeah, definitely.
‘Look, another thing. They brought David Moyes. It’s not about being a good or a bad coach or his ideas – I’m not going to question that.
‘The problem is, I don’t understand how it’s possible that you’re not that humble or not clever enough to maintain or at least half of what you’re succeeding, the way he was doing it because he’s the greatest of all time.’
He added: ‘That’s why he lasted the seven months he lasted. He was so stubborn and he didn’t have that adaptability and that growth acceptance. You need to grow to be in United.’
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