Former Manchester United manager David Moyes has moved to set the record straight over the some of the claims about his shortlived Old Trafford reign, which ended after just seven unsuccessful months.
In an interview with FourFourTwo magazine, Moyes confirmed that he had taken chips off the Old Trafford menu, a move that angered some players including defender Rio Ferdinand, because he was concerned that some of the squad were overweight.
But he rejected another claim in Ferdinand's autobiography, that United were made to train in a public park, ahead of their Champions League quarter-final second-leg defeat against Bayern in the Allianz Arena, reports the Daily Telegraph.
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"Yes, I did ban chips," Moyes said. "It was because a couple of players were overweight and I didn't think chips were good for their diet." Asked about Ferdinand's park claim he said: "We went to prepare on the morning of the game as we would always do. It wasn't in a public park."
In the interview he also denied saying United should "aspire" to be more like local rivals City. "I may have said that we aspired to play like one of the teams at the top when we weren't at the top, but I'd never say that Manchester United should aspire to be like Manchester City," he said. "I don't think that's something any United fan would aspire to."
Moyes also spoke about his new role as manager of Real Sociedad in Spain's La Liga, reports The Guardian. "There are things to be learned from Spain," he said. "Such as the way the players look after themselves and their diet. There's much more salad and fresh fish here, which can only be good."
He said that the food available in San Sebastian was "superb" but bemoaned the absence of decent tea-making facilities. He said his assistant Billy McKinley had been forced to procure his own kettle so they could have a cuppa after training.
