Outgoing captain Nemanja Vidic has insisted that David Moyes's reign as Manchester United manager did not fail because the players stopped trying for him.
Moyes was sacked 10 months after being named Sir Alex Ferguson's successor, with seventh-placed United in the midst of their worst ever Premier League season.
Allegations of the players undermining the Scot and disagreeing with his methods have since surfaced, but Vidic has stressed that, while arguments happened between squad members, they never disrespected Moyes and were with him until the end of his tenure.
"There is no question over any of the players. They did everything that was asked of them," he told BBC Sport. "Sometimes you do things well, sometimes you don't. But the desire was there.
"They tried really hard. From the first day until the last you didn't hear any player say anything bad about the training. That shows the players have respect for the manager.
"The players did argue among ourselves. But we were arguing to get better. When you have bad times, people show they care. It hurts but we could say those things to each other because we have been together for so long. We had some hard moments in the dressing room but we never argued with the manager or his assistants. Never."
Netherlands boss Louis van Gaal is expected to be confirmed as the new United boss, but he will not have Vidic in his ranks next season, with the Serbian having agreed to join Inter Milan on a free transfer.
Joe Fish
