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Manchester United were one of the most successful club sides in Europe in the last two decades. But that success came to a standstill after Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure. The legend had won every possible trophy in his 26 years stint at Old Trafford. Following the departure of Ron Atkinson, Fergie focused on the club’s youth system and made some great bargains to eventually land back the league title after a 26 year drought. After that, the Red Devils never looked back and won 13 Premier League titles, 5 FA Cups and 2 Champions League and the club got back to the glory days as it was under Sir Matt Busby.
It was understandably a huge task for anyone to fill in the shoes of the great manager. David Moyes came in with his 15 years of managerial experience at Everton and Preston North End. In his brief span as a manager of the most successful English club, Moyes has had a few highs, but a lot of lows.
United fan’s chagrin for the revamped Manchester United under Moyes include:
i. Old Trafford didn’t seem like the fortress, it was for over a decade. It’s the worst home league record in last ten years and also United are bound to end the campaign with their lowest ever points tally in the Premier League.
ii. The 3-time European champions suffered three defeats in a row since 2001 under the new regime.
iii. United are bound to miss the Champions League spot after featuring in 3 finals in the last 7 years.
iv. United had never lost to Swansea at home until January 2014.
v. Sir Alex had never lost to Newcastle and West Brom at Old Trafford. Man United lost their first game at home against Newcastle and West Brom since 1972 and 1978 respectively.
vi. For the first time ever since 1984, United suffered a loss at the hands of Stoke City.
vii. Since the inception of the Premier League, the Merseyside giants Liverpool and the city rivals Manchester City had not won against United in both home and away matches.
viii. Conceded their first ever goal in the first minute at home in the Premier League.
ix. Everton won their first match at United’s home since 1992.
x. Olympiakos became the first Greek team ever to defeat Manchester United, although it was taken care of in the next leg.
xi. United hadn’t lost these many games in the last 3 complete seasons altogether, under Ferguson.
Some highs:
i. The club’s transfer record was broken to bring in one of the most talented midfielders in the world. The signing of Juan Mata was an interesting development in the league.
ii. Rooney signed a new contract and pledged his future to United. He also scored a wonder goal, which was pure quality and instinct.
iii. Adnan Januzaj was brought in to the first team, who was instantly recognized as a potential world class player.
iv. The 5-0 thrashing of Bayer Leverkusen away from home.
v. The FA Community Shield [after defeating Wigan] was the first silverware for David Moyes.
vi. The win against Arsenal in November gave fans something to cheer about.
Founder and editor of Footiecentral. A voracious reader who loves reading anything and everything related to the history of football. He’s an ardent supporter of Manchester United and rarely misses a match.