David Moyes’s bid to rejuvenate his coaching career in La Liga after being fired by Manchester United just seven months into his contract at Old Trafford ended in a shamble following his dismissal at Real Sociedad.
The Spanish outfit sacked the Scotsman’ manager following the defeat at Las Palmas which left his side levitates just above the relegation position has been delineated the door virtually one year after been named as Real Sociedad manager.
The former Everton and Manchester United boss, whose contract ran until the end of this season, was considered a doubt by some critics in Spain due to his limited knowledge of La Liga and inability to speak Spanish language.
During his spell at Manchester United, he began the season by taking over from Sir Alex Ferguson, who retired after 27 years in charge. Despite winning the Community Shield, Man United was struggling in the Premier League and endured some of their worst results. In January, The Red Devils were knocked out of their two domestic cup competitions, eliminated from the FA Cup at the first impediment with a loss to Swansea City, as well as the semi-finals of the League Cup being defeated on penalties by Sunderland.
Man United won 17 games, losing 11games with 57points and sit in 7th position before Ryan Giggs took over as interim manager.
At Sociedad, the 52-year old tctician led the club from the 15th position to 12th-placed finish last season, with the hope of improvement in the new season, although his side defeated Barcelona 1-0 in January, but that was not enough for the club to compete in Europe competition, which they aspire for.
Under Moyes, Real Sociedad lost six games and managed to win 2 of their 11 league matches, which saw the club, sit in 16th position and with 18 points behind league leaders Barcelona with 27 points.
Initially, the appointment of Moyes in replacing Jagoba Arrasate a year ago prompted enthusiasm in San Sebastian, especially when his first two months in charge yielded a creditable draw in the all-important local derby against Athletic Bilbao, and a questionable home victory over Barcelona.
But the early bout of positivity gradually subsided into indifference and by the end of last season, La Real finished in 12th position, the jury was still out.
Fears that the team was destined for another season of struggle – despite a significant summer spending in the transfer market – were further heightened by a mundane start to the new season, which saw the team draw their first two games 0-0 and then lose 1-0 at Real Betis.
Starting the season without a single goal in 270 minutes was not exactly the way to get the fans happy, and a 3-2 home defeat against Espanyol further put Moyes under more pressure.
Whatever complaints Moyes may have about his time in Spain, insufficient backing from his board in the transfer market cannot be one of them.
Considering the size of the club and their relative lack of resources, Real Sociedad spent heavily in the summer to put the most expensive squad in the club’s history at Moyes’s disposal.
The biggest signing was midfielder Asier Illarramendi, who was brought back home from Real Madrid after a disappointing seasons at the Bernabeu for a club record fee of about £12m.
Another big money signing was Brazilian striker Jonathas, who had impressed last season with Elche, while the arrival of Portuguese winger Bruma on loan from Galatasaray was another addition.
The club’s board also secured the services of young Argentine goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli, 23, who had spent the previous season on loan at the Anoeta and attracted serious interest from Valencia.
The team’s failure to progress despite such a heavy spending is likely to have been a major factor in the club’s decision to pathways with the former Everton manager.
After a poor and disappointing result at Old trfford and Real Sociedad, the former Everton boss should play caution in finding his next coaching role, though the task of finding a comfortable coaching job will not have been aided by his brief and unsuccessful time in Spain.
Anthony Nlebem & Shitu Alaka
