Tactical Changes David Moyes Should Make at Manchester United

The assessment of David Moyes' first few months at Manchester United can be described as many different things.

"A success" is certainly not one of them.

As United languish 15 points behind Chelsea, who sit proudly at the top of the Premier League, thoughts turn to the reasonings behind the club's catastrophic collapse.

Life was always going to be hard after Sir Alex Ferguson, something United supporters have known would be the case for years. But how does a championship-winning squad go from the best in England to also-rans in what truly amounts to only weeks?

The injuries have been brutal for Moyes and United and have definitely played a major part in the club slipping down the English pecking order, but all teams have their biblical injury crises and have to get on with it.

Before Christmas, I think it was fair to say that Moyes was "cutting his teeth." United went almost two months unbeaten in the league leading up to Dec. 4., when they then failed and lost to a confident Everton team at Old Trafford.

Michael Regan/Getty Images

Since that day, things have never really been the same: United have only won six of a possible 12 Premier League matches, losing to Newcastle and Tottenham at the Theatre of Dreams—or Nightmares, whatever you prefer—and away at Chelsea and Stoke. 

However, United did score 19 times during those 12 games, which, given the injuries, is hardly the form of a team with no future.

Since Christmas, there has been a very basic approach to tactics from Moyes.

Before that benchmark Everton defeat, Moyes had been playing a brave game. Almost too brave, some would say.

He attempted to change matches early. Defenders were brought off for attackers, and despite the sketchy form, many of the Old Trafford crowd were happy with what they were witnessing. 

That has all gone now, though, evaporated into the ether. 

Moyes has reverted back to a 4-4-2 style. A classic approach to a classical problem: When you are losing, you go back to basics. 

However, this switch in thinking has definitely weakened the manager's standing and the club's position in the race for the Champions League. 

Credit: WhoScored.com

Websites such as WhoScored.com will tell you that United have more often than not set up to play 4-2-3-1 in most games. However, the post-match heatmaps show players reverting to 4-4-2. 

Is this Moyes losing his bottle, knowing the formation he should be playing but not being brave enough to see the directive through?

Let us take Juan Mata as the primary example:

Credit: Squawka.com

On his debut for United against Cardiff,  Mata had a quite beautiful heatmap—if there is indeed such a thing. The wizard's presence was evenly distributed around the pitch. You could see the freedom he was offered.

He was playing the role that made him Chelsea's Player of the Year for two years running. 

Then United travelled to Stoke and Mata's heatmap became quite different. He was restricted to the right wing, having to both protect his full-back and make advances.

This is not the Spaniard's game.

The game turned into a bit of a scrap, as the heavens opened and a torrent of rain fell, but United seemed set up to fail on the night due to poor tactics. 

Mark Hughes wanted a war and Moyes gave it to him. You do not tactically set up to give Stoke City a war. It is foolish.

Credit: Squawka.com

United lost the match at Stoke.

Third and finally, we see Mata's influence for the match at Old Trafford against Fulham, which ended in a dramatic 2-2 draw. 

As United faced up to a desperate defeat, Mata was asked to come from a wide position.

This is not beyond the player's comprehension, but with the way United play, always wanting to cross the ball from wide, is this fully utilising the Spanish international's skill set?

I do not believe so. 

Credit: Squawka.com

The key here is how Moyes uses players.

Fans will say that surely he is just adapting the team tactically to whoever the opponent is. They will say that surely Mata playing wide is no bad thing. 

However, the issue is Moyes' consistency with those tactics and how he is implementing them.

Also, do the best teams really change their fundamental tactics when they play clubs such as Cardiff, Stoke and Fulham?

Should Mata be playing three different roles against inferior teams? Is this what Arsenal does? Is this what Manchester City does?

Four times the answer is "No." 

Jon Super/Associated Press

This suggests that Moyes does not know his best team, that he does not know where his players should play and that he is not tactically confident enough.

4-2-3-1 is the correct formation for this squad. He clearly recognises this with his selections, but then it changes through the games as they run.

Again, it could be pointed out that United's lack of success in the last few months has forced Moyes to make changes during matches, but if his tactics are to do one thing, only to then change 45 minutes later, then this is the manager's fault.

Moyes' only choice is to bed his tactics in and reject 4-4-2.

If he feels that 4-2-3-1 is the future of the club, he has to stick his neck on the block and get the team playing the formation every week for 90 full minutes. 

4-4-2 is a reactive formation, not a proactive one, and this is reflected in United's performances and results.

Moyes does not have long to get this right. If he thinks playing Mata out wide will solve anything soon, he is mistaken.

Ultimately, it is tactics that will lose the Scotsman his job, because poor tactics mean poor results.

He is the only one that can give this team direction. If he fails to do this now, then United will have a new manager in the summer.