The Betfair Big Interview: Moyes is made for Manchester United says Lee Carsley

15May 2013

England - Premier League

Lee Carsley joined Everton the same week that David Moyes took over at Goodison Park and played nearly 200 games in six years for him. Betfair thought we'd find out from him what Manchester United's players can expect from their new boss Hi Lee. Tell us about how David Moyes will set about taking charge of a new club.

The first thing United's players will find is that he is very organised, very thorough, and very big on standards. The way he trains is key. You train as you play. It was something that was very noticeable straight away. I had actually been bought from Coventry by Walter Smith a week before he got axed. People have always thought I was David's first signing but technically I wasn't. But it was fascinating working with him that year - for the first three or four months he did absolutely everything.

So he's a hands on manager?

He is, and even more so at the start. He took the warm-ups, the training sessions, he organised everything, he made sure everything at the football club was running how he wanted it.

Will he do the same at Old Trafford?

It will be different because you are talking about a club that has just won the Premier League and has years of incredible success behind it. Everton was a club that had been hanging around the wrong end of the table for three or four seasons. I don't think he'll need to go in having meetings to tell people what he wants - but they will know he's the gaffer. There will be no mistake about that. He just has that air about him.

What's his big strength.

I think it is that there are no grey areas. He tells you what he wants done, he keeps it very simple, and you can never misunderstand him. In that respect he is easy to work for because you go with him, or you are out of the club. The teams that he has produced at Everton, and the type of players he has got, he never has any passengers. A lot of our success wasn't down to individuals it was down to a team effort.

Will it be different for him at United with more star players and the egos that sometimes go with them?

He'll be absolutely fine with that. He makes it clear who is boss. If you think about what happened with Marouane Fellaini at Stoke earlier this season, David wasn't frightened to stand up and tell his most important player that what he did was wrong. He did it in public, which was maybe unusual. But trust me he would have done that indoors as well and Fellaini would have been left knowing exactly where he stood with the manager.

He's got a big issue to deal with straight away with Wayne Rooney's transfer request.

He has, but while it will be the first issue with a player it won't be the last. But you have to realise he hasn't got the Manchester United job because he can't handle it, he's got it because he's had experience of dealing with top players. They will end up loving playing for him.

Why do you say that?

Well they have all seen the work ethic Sir Alex Ferguson has had at Manchester United, and they will find that David Moyes has got that in abundance too. He has that same commitment, and the players will realise he is there for them, and 100 per cent committed to what he is trying to do. After that it doesn't matter if you are playing in the Blue Square Premier League or the Barclays Premier League if you have a manager that is 100 per cent behind the players you will play for him. He's quite capable of retaining the title.

Will he keep Rooney?

A lot of it will be down to Wayne. It is no different to any football club, if a player doesn't want to be there generally the club tries to move them on. I think Wayne has been a bit frustrated with how his season has gone, but when you get subbed and a class player is coming on to take your place it is difficult to moan. I think Moyes will actually like that Wayne has been frustrated over not being selected. He wants players who want to play rather than just go along and take their money.

He liked a settled side at Everton. You had one year when you played all 90 minutes of every game in all competitions. Will he change that approach?

I think even at Everton if he'd had a choice he would have liked to have rested people, and gone a bit more horses for courses at times. But we didn't have a massive squad with world class players waiting to come in. I think that is something he will revel in, not something he will struggle with. In fact every obstacle people have come up with things that are different at Manchester United he will take in his stride.

Does that include the Champions League?

Definitely. It is something he's ready for. People might say he hasn't got a great record in Europe, but even getting Everton into Europe was massive. With a bigger squad that can cope with playing twice a week he will be brilliant. He's excellent tactically.

Tell us more

He's big on his stats and ProZone and things like that. He's definitely a manager who has moved with the times and all the advances in sports science. The last season I was at Everton he was just beginning to get all the gizmos into the dressing room, although he didn't overuse stuff. It was just there to point out something important, and then you would keep the detail for going through in the week.

What's he like at half time?

He's very precise and thorough. There's not a lot of waffling. He'll give you three or four points that will make you better and influence the game. He's very calm. All the years I was at Everton and the games I played I can only think of three or four times he lost his rag. I think a lot of that is going out of the game anyway. Modern day players don't react to somebody standing in front and screaming at them.

Yes or no, have United appointed the right man to be their next manager?

Definitely yes. I think he's absolutely right for the job and ready to step into it.

Thanks for your time - and we've a £50 free bet with winnings to go to a favourite charity.

Brilliant. That can go to the Solihull Down Syndrome Support Group, and I'd like to back Carl Froch to beat Mikkel Kessler inside the distance at 3.7