LONDON (AFP) - Manchester United's assistant coach Steve Round has defended the club's new manager David Moyes by insisting that he is ready for the challenge of life at Old Trafford.
Moyes succeeded the legendary Alex Ferguson in July but has endured a difficult start to his time at United, picking up only four points from his first three league games and missing out on several transfer targets.
But Round, who followed Moyes to United from Everton, believes the 50-year-old Scot has the necessary attributes to turn his time with the 20-time English champions into a success.
"Without a doubt, David was ready for this job," he told regional newspaper the Manchester Evening News.
"He has an incredible desire to succeed. He now has the stature and presence to move to a club like this. I really do believe he will be a big success.
"Now I have been in this club and environment I can understand why Sir Alex and the board appointed him - to keep that continuity, work ethic, drive and feeling about the club going.
"It was very important to them and I can understand now that I have been here and lived it. They were made for each other."
Moyes' only major signing during the transfer window was Belgian midfielder Marouane Fellaini, who arrived from Everton for a fee of £27.5 million (S$55.1 million).
Although mooted moves for Barcelona's Cesc Fabregas, Thiago Alcantara, who joined Bayern Munich from the Spanish champions, and Bilbao's Ander Herrera failed to materialise, Round feels Fellaini will prove his worth.
"We wanted someone who could give us strength in the middle of midfield and allow one or two of the others to play," he said.
"Technically, he is excellent. His chest control is arguably one of the best in the world. His feet are really good. He is aggressive, tackles and has great fitness stats.
"He is one of the highest runners in matches. He will regularly do over 12 kilometres a game.
"He doesn't have the same range of long passing as Michael Carrick, but the way he keeps the ball and his short passing is very good.
"When you are building a squad to compete on all fronts you don't want every single player to be the same. You want options and differences.
"Marouane can sit in front of the defence, go box to box and drop off the front man. He is ready for this step-up."
