Seemingly not a week goes by without another challenge being heaped onto the plate of beleaguered Manchester United boss David Moyes.
Yet the latest issue for him to address is one his track record suggests he is more than adequately qualified to deal with.
Defensive lynchpin and club captain Nemanja Vidic’s decision to leave Old Trafford doesn’t really come as a surprise to anyone and Moyes will have been aware the Serb was likely to move on for some time.
At 32 he is well placed for one final big payday with a host of clubs, notably Internazionale, looking to take him away from the Premier League.
He could even end up signing a three-year deal and, given his age, there’s no way that sort of extension – and the security that comes with it – would have been forthcoming from the club he has served since 2006.
Vidic’s form has dipped this season, while his former defensive partner Rio Ferdinand has barely featured and is probably doing more harm than good with the occasional snipe from the shadows.
With both men on their way out this summer, Moyes has the task of rebuilding United’s backline and his pedigree in recruiting and honing central defenders bodes well.
Everton’s defensive stinginess was the bedrock of his success at Goodison Park. Moyes, himself a former centre-back, was able to spot potential and develop defenders with a large degree of success.
He had the odd Per Kroldrup-shaped calamity, but you need only need look at Phil Jagielka and Joleon Lescott to see Moyes’ skill in recruiting defenders and his prowess as a defensive coach.
Lescott improved no end under his tutelage and if he has anyone to thank for the Premier League winner’s medal he trousered at Manchester City, then it is Moyes.
Jagielka, meanwhile, arrived from relegated Sheffield United as an unheralded utility man and now heads to the World Cup this summer established at the heart of England’s defence.
That should bode well for the likes of Jonny Evans and particularly Chris Smalling and Phil Jones, who have the talent to develop into fine centre-halves.
The experiment of playing Jones in midfield has to end and if he and United’s other existing defenders are joined by one, perhaps two quality additions in the summer, then the exit of Vidic, and Ferdinand, might not be so keenly felt.
