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Manchester United legend Robin Van Persie was full of praise for his former boss David Moyes and opened up about the West Ham manager’s difficult reign at Old Trafford.
Moyes was chosen to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson at United following his retirement in 2013 after a twenty-six year spell at the club.
But Moyes’ stay in Manchester would be short lived, as numerous poor performances and shocking results saw the Scot sacked after only ten months in charge.
United finished the 2013/14 season in 7th place having accumulated only 64 points and losing a total of 12 games.
The two men spoke during BT Sport’s post match coverage of West Ham’s Europa Conference League semi-final win over AZ Alkmaar on Thursday night.
“I’m really pleased for David Moyes,” Van Persie explained. “I worked under him for a year, he’s a fantastic person and a fantastic coach as well.”
The Dutchman arrived at Old Trafford in the summer of 2012 and cited working for Ferguson as one of the big reasons he made the switch from Arsenal.
Van Persie also expressed his disappointment following Ferguson’s decision to retire at the end of his debut season and unexpectedly having to play for another manager.
“It was difficult for him at Manchester United,” Van Persie said of Moyes. “But I’m really pleased for him because he loves the game. He’s a really good coach.”
Since leaving United a decade ago, Moyes has gone on to achieve relative success with West Ham, guiding the Hammers to a pair of top seven finishes in four seasons and the experience of regular European competition.
The striker scored 17 goals during Moyes’ ill-fated campaign, including a hat-trick in the Champions League last 16 tie as United came back to beat Olympiacos.
“Robin scored me a hat-trick when we beat Olympiacos,” Moyes recalled fondly. “One of my main feats was to get Man Utd to the quarter-final of the Champions League, which is probably not good enough for Man Utd but still not a bad place to get to.”
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