When David Moyes took over at Manchester United, he was ‘the chosen one’. Hand picked as he had been by the incumbent Sir Alex Ferguson, he was in nationality, background and demeanor a mini-me version of his predecessor.
In making their selection, as they had undoubtedly earned the right to do, United laughed in the face of contemporary thinking about managerial recruitment. No aging proven winners for them (think Scolari, Hiddink or Capello), no young guns looking to revolutionise the game (Guardiola, Martinez or Rogers) no academic-looking foreigners (Wenger, Houllier or Magath), nor even former players who already knew the club and had tasted glory it’s glory (Giggs, Robson or Solskjaer).
The obvious choice for some had been biding his time, waiting for Ferguson to retire. Taking every opportunity to ingratiate himself with the fans, owners and particularly with Ferguson, Jose Mourinho waited. Using the press brilliantly to state his case for him, he spoke publically time and again of his boredom at Real Madrid and proved time and again that he was an irresistible winning force. English football fans and media alike, though loathed to admit it, had missed him and were yearning for the Special One’s return.
Various accounts have Mourinho incredulous and in tears when Moyes was appointed at Old Trafford. All that was left was for the Portuguese to become the ‘happy’ one at Stamford Bridge, an appointment made, without mere coincidence after United had publicised their decision.
Moyes had struggled for years to guide Everton to a Premier League season where they would finish above United. In his first season at Old Trafford he finally achieved it. By United’s extraordinary modern-day standards, the 2013/14 season has been an unmitigated disaster. Their only moderate success being to reach the quarter finals of the Champions League, outdoing other British clubs, with the ironic exception of Mourinho’s Chelsea.
United fans are polarised on Moyes’ future. But a vociferous (airborne) section are very clear in their assessment that he should go and as quickly as possible
But if Mourinho was the right answer for United in mid-2013, perhaps Moyes is finally the answer for them in mid-2014.
United have failed to qualify for next season’s Champions League; they have a plethora of aging or mediocre players than need clearing out; and a sizeable number of world class players who need recruiting.
These three problems are interlinked. No Champions League football means there is no big-stage carrot to dangle in front of the world’s best players when they make their way home after the World Cup in Brazil. Furthermore, no Champions League money means that the heavily-leveraged club won’t necessarily have the funds to acquire those players even if they want to come. This all means that fixing the club’s woes could take longer than a year. The worst-case but quite possible scenario, is that United might now spiral into a Liverpool-like 25-year decline.
Having no money and no Champions League isn’t something Mourinho has had to cope with for quite a while. His ability to work with cash and prominence is his strength. The ‘small-club’ problems that United face now is the situation Moyes has excelled in. Keeping the Scot at the helm seems, for the first time in months, to be a sensible call.
Either that or hire Roberto Martinez.
– SD
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