David Moyes Underestimated Manchester United Job Says Rene Meulensteen

David Moyes' failure at Manchester United was linked to underestimating the challenge of managing the Old Trafford club, according to ex-first team coach Rene Meulensteen.

Moyes was sacked 10 months into his tenure at the club after replacing Sir Alex Ferguson; with United set for their worst ever finish in the Premier League era.

The Scot joined from Everton in the summer after 11 years at Goodison Park, but Meulensteen – who was deemed surplus to requirements upon Ferguson's departure – says Moyes didn't appreciate the demands of leading one of the world's biggest clubs.

"It was very quick when the club came out and said David Moyes was going to take over and from then the normal thing is to see how things evolve," Meulensteen told Sky Sports.

"I think he underestimated [the job] and ignored a lot of the advice from people who were there from not only myself but from [former United assistants] Eric Steele and Mike Phelan.

"At the end of the day it comes down to three things, the media, how you pick your teams and what you do on the training pitch. When I was there these were the golden rules we followed."

The ex-Fulham boss added: "Plenty of chats and meetings had taken place, not only with me but with other members of staff and it soon became clear to me that David wanted a different sort of role with his people.

"I looked at it with my way and said 'hold on a minute I could be an obstruction rather than a help' and these are the things that we discussed. The last thing I wanted was create a situation where he was not given the best possible chance. I held David with the highest regard."

"We did discuss that [me staying] but I knew he was keen on bringing his own people in. I kept asking what sort of role is there for me?"

Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal is expected to be confirmed as United's new manager next week prior to the start of preparations for the World Cup finals.

Interim United boss Ryan Giggs could well be offloaded as part of the move but Meulensteen feels the Dutchman has the pedigree to takeover.

"I can obviously see why the club are looking at someone like Louis van Gaal because e's got an outstanding pedigree, he's been in the game a long, long time, he's an experienced manager, he's got as strong philosophy of how he wants to play," he added. "There is no reason why that can't work.

"They need to make sure that whoever is the man that comes in respect the culture of the club and making sure he builds the best possible platform to get united back to where they belong."