I don’t think there is a manager out there who would have been able to do better in time I was given after Sir Alex retired
SCOT LIFTS LID ON UNITED HEARTACHE
Four years ago, the 54-year-old Glaswegian was discovering that the task of succeeding Sir Alex Ferguson as manager of Manchester United was not the dream job it was cracked up to be.
A spell in charge of Real Sociedad followed and also ended with the sack despite Moyes delivering on his brief to keep the Spanish club in La Liga.
And after a season at Sunderland ended in relegation, the man who had once kept Everton punching above their weight for more than a decade decided to walk out of the Stadium of Light after the financial plight of the Wearside club was laid bare.
“Small margins,” is a term that Moyes uses regularly as he looked back on a period of his career that he insists has only made him stronger for the challenges he hopes still await.
It is especially true of his time at Old Trafford – and the claim made recently by Jose Mourinho that United “failed to evolve” in the three years between Ferguson retiring and the arrival of the Portuguese in Manchester.
Moyes said: “Jose has his opinion, but there was always going to be a transitional period after Sir Alex’s time.
“There was a changing of the guard. Not only did I replace Alex, David Gill had also stepped down as chief executive and Ed Woodward came in.
“So it was always going to take time. Yes, I took over the champions, but clubs like Chelsea and Man City spent huge amounts of that money that summer in a bid to overtake us.
“And it was difficult for me to go into Old Trafford and rip up the team that had just ran away with the title.
“Having said that, things would have been a lot different if we had landed our main transfer targets.
“We were in for Gareth Bale (right) and Cesc Fabregas. They were genuine targets, but for one reason or another we didn’t get them over the line. Getting them would have been the perfect start in terms of reshaping the squad I inherited.
“I accept totally that when you are manager of Manchester United, you have to win. I didn’t win enough. But I don’t think there is a manager out there who would have been able to do something better or quicker in the time I was given. It was all about small margins.” The team Moyes left behind when relieved of his duties – four games of his first season remaining – finished seventh. Mourinho’s United were sixth last term. Both men began tenures by lifting the Community Shield. “I always maintained that trophy belonged to Sir Alex because it was his team,” said Moyes.
Mourinho won the Capital One Cup; Moyes’ men were beaten by Sunderland on penalties in the semi-finals.
And while Mourinho also lifted the Europa League, Moyes took United to the Champions League quarter-finals.
During his brief spell, Moyes spent just under £65million on Marouane Fellaini and Juan Mata – two players key to Mourinho. Successor Louis van Gaal splashed almost £315m during his two seasons at the club.
And Mourinho has lavished £260m in three transfer windows – including a world-record fee for Paul Pogba, £75m on Romelu Lukaku, and handing Zlatan Ibrahimovic £367,000 a week.
Moyes is philosophical, and said: “I have no regrets about taking the United job. When you get offered a job like that you take it. When you compare my season to what Jose achieved last season it is about those small margins.
“United were always going to have to go through a difficult time when Alex left. You only have to see how much money they have spent over the last three years just to build a team capable of challenging for the title again to see how difficult the job was.”