With the World Cup fever all over, David Moyes believes Tom Cleverley can earn himself a place in England’s World Cup squad next summer if he keeps up the level of improvement he has shown at Manchester United in the last couple of weeks.
Though Cleverley had a tough time at the start of the season and, along with Ashley Young, was picked out for criticism after some indifferent performances as United struggled, Moyes believes his contribution was still underestimated.
Moyes said that Cleverley’s played well in the last two games; he has passed the ball well, got himself a goal and might have had another after 30 seconds in the last match (which was against West Ham).
He said that you can see from his stats what exactly he gives the team with his passing and his running. He is definitely playing with more confidence but the whole team needed to step up, not just one player (Cleverley). They have put together a few good results, and Moyes believes that more and more of the players are beginning to perform much better.
Cleverly has a very good spot on the United squad With Michael Carrick and Marouane Fellaini injured, for the Boxing Day early kick-off at Hull.
Moyes also praised Cleverley’s versatility and added. “I think he is the sort of player Roy Hodgson would like to take with him,” he said. “He will need players who can get around people, who are willing to do two or three different jobs, and I’m sure Tom would really like to be part of that.
“We certainly like him a lot. He’s great at the training ground and, for a young lad, he’s quite experienced now.
Moyes stated that sometimes people may have looked at what he (Cleverley) can’t do, rather than what he can do. He said that the player works really hard for the team, he doesn’t give the ball away too often, the only thing they keep telling him is that he needs to score more goals. “He’s been playing quite deep and we are trying to get him a bit further up the pitch now, try and get him into the box more often.” Cleverley’s certainly got the energy and the drive for it.
Moyes also believes that there is no age limit for talent and is said to lower the age limit in the near future. He also went on to say that “Cleverley is not actually all that young, at 24 he is arguably in mid-career”- though 24 is the average age for United side.
“This club has always been renowned for promoting young players, putting them in, giving them a chance,” he said. “It is important to protect young players while they are developing, though there is also a part of the process where you have to say now is the time to stand up and show us what you can do. Here’s your opportunity now take it.
“We are a young team now, Phil Jones is still young, so is Tom, Adnan Januzaj is in the team just now, also Chris Smalling. I’m hoping to add to that as soon as I can and build a really young, powerful team.
For now, the manager is much happier with the way the team is playing. By the end of January though, he’d like to be much closer to the top of the table than they are now. Moyes said that if they want to catch the others, they will obviously need them to make mistakes, but first they have to do their own job right.