Considering how disappointing Manchester United have looked this season, all fingers are usually pointed at David Moyes and the club’s transfer market dealings in the offseason. As the defense still looks like a dysfunctional unit that needs sorting out, the failure to bring in Ezequiel Garay from Benfica looks like another opportunity missed and handled badly.

The Argentina centre back has been a transfer target for Alex Ferguson over the last two or three seasons, hoping he will be one of the players that replaces the Vidic-Ferdinand duo, which has gotten older without having suitable replacements. Jonny Evans, Chris Smalling, Phil Jones. They’re all young and have a chance to take over one day, but it seems that United refuse to play without one of their veterans in the middle, and having Garay, who has also played for Real Madrid in the past, would have helped them handle that transition.

According to Garay, the moment Moyes became Manchester United’s manager, the deal was off. He was expecting the club to make a move for him during the summer, but that was Alex Ferguson’s plan. Moyes? Not so much, he had other ideas on how to fix whatever it was United needed fixing.

I believed I was going to join Manchester United in the summer and the deal was nearly closed, but finally Benfica did not accept the offer. I believe the exit of Ferguson has influenced the deal. Moyes did not believe in me as much but that’s not a problem. I am happy at Benfica and have a lot of dreams and ambitions for this season. Now I only think about the present which is Benfica but it’s never possible to discard anything in the future.

Even though David Moyes was picked by Alex Ferguson to be his successor, it doesn’t mean he brought in a yes man. He changed the back room staff with his own men, and doesn’t do exactly what Alex Ferguson would have done. For better and for worse, Moyes has his own opinion and view on how to march Manchester United forward in the next few years, although so far he seems busier making excuses for his own decisions, the players he has or those he didn’t sign, hoping to get out of the early season slump.

Was Garay a better player than what Manchester United have now? No evidence makes it a completely speculative suggestion, but he’s probably better than Ferdinand is right now, and possibly better than Vidic. He isn’t someone who is going to play for 10 more years, but United signings a top centre back who is in his prime is also making some sort of statement the club has failed to do outside the Premier League in recent years.

It’s going to take some more time to see if Moyes knows what he’s doing, or was this just one huge mistake. The voices the internet enables to be heard that call for his firing come mostly from international fans. The support for Moyes is alive and well when it’s Manchester United fans that actually go to matches. However, at some point, if the current ability doesn’t improve, and the results continue to fluctuate between the semi-satisfying to utterly disappointing, that strong support will begin to erode as well.