Moyes bemoans 'schoolboy' defending

David Moyes criticised Manchester United for their “schoolboy” defending as they quickly surrendered their advantage against Bayern Munich to crash out of the Champions League.

Patrice Evra’s stunning opening goal in the second leg of their quarterfinal in Munich put United 1-0 up on the night and offered a brief glimpse of a place in the last four, only for Pep Guardiola’s side to level the tie just 22 seconds after the restart.

Bayern then kicked on to claim a 3-1 win -- 4-2 on aggregate -- and when asked where he felt the game had been lost, Moyes was quick to reflect on the Red Devils' inability to hold onto their lead.

“When you are a schoolboy, you get told make sure once you score you don’t concede right away, and we conceded too quickly,” he told Sky Sports. “It was always going to be a tough night and after we got the first goal, we always needed to give ourselves five or 10 minutes to stop them getting the ball. But from the kick-off, they went up the other end and scored.

“I don’t know if it was a bit of concentration, but we had enough experience on the pitch tonight to make sure they shouldn’t have done it.

“We made it difficult for them and tactically we tried to stifle them as much as we could. I thought for long periods, we did that, but if you concede right after you score, that makes it difficult.”

Despite his obvious disappointment, Moyes was pleased with his side’s display that ensured United went out of the Champions League with their pride intact.

“We didn’t do an awful lot wrong,” he said. “I thought the players played ever so well. I was really pleased with their performance, but just a couple of small errors have probably cost us in the end.

“I never thought we were out of the game. I always felt we were in with a chance and when it was 2-1, we only needed to score one more goal. The third goal obviously killed us, but I felt there was a bit of bad luck in that goal.

“They are a really good side, they showed it. They have players who can play in different positions and in a different way, but I thought we did what we had to do.”

Moyes went on to insist his side’s likely absence from next season’s Champions League will not affect their hopes of signing big name players this summer.

“We’ve not got Champions League football, that’s the way it looks, but hopefully it won’t be far away,” he said. “Hopefully it will be just one year the way we are going to rebuild.

“Our focus now is getting a team that makes sure we are back in this competition because it’s a great competition, we have really enjoyed it. There is no shame in going out of the quarterfinals to Bayern Munich because they are a good side. It shows the qualities we have got. 

“We will regroup and start building towards being back in the competition again. My job is just to get on and do the job. I’ve found everyone at the club very good. Again, my focus is having a side that gets us back into the Champions League. That is my focus now.

“The club are looking to spend the right money on the right players if they are available and it has nothing to do with Champions League football.

“Any player we have quietly discussed with are more than happy to join Manchester United. I think the ones who someone might have quietly had a word in their ears, they have all been keen to come. They know this is a short thing, not a long thing and they are all happy to join such a great club.”