A Season In Review

A Season In Review

It was a season none of us could have predicted. After nigh on 27 years of almost constant glory, Sir Alex Ferguson passed on the managerial baton to fellow Glaswegian David Moyes this time last year. Some fans had immediate reservations, with the absence of any trophies on his CV, taking over a squad overflowing with multiple titles and cups was considered cause for a concern. How would these players respond to authority from a man whose career achievements were so inferior to theirs?

Moyes didn't help himself, shunning the opportunity of working with the respected backroom staff already in place and, after failing to attract the marquee names the fans desired, ridiculously scrambling £27 million together in a fit of panic to sign Marouane Fellaini on deadline day. The general feeling, however, as the new season approached was one of positivity, boosted by an exciting pre-season where youngsters Jesse Lingard, Wilfried Zaha and Adnan Januzaj all excelled.

The season began well enough, after a routine 2-0 victory over Wigan in the Community Shield. Manchester United's first league game saw them pick up an outstanding 4-1 away win at Capital One Cup holders Swansea. Looking back, this was probably the peak of our season, we seemed to be playing in much the same way as we did under Fergie, inspiring the ‘Come on David Moyes (play like Fergie’s boys)’ chant so regularly heard coming from the United faithful in the early weeks of the season.

The following 0-0 home draw with Chelsea and 1-0 away defeat to bitter rivals Liverpool did little to dampen expectation, we played reasonably well in both games without creating enough to win them, unfortunately it was a sign of things to come. September saw the crushing 4-1 derby defeat to neighbours 
Manchester City and a demoralising 2-1 home defeat to West Brom in succession. There was no backlash but murmurings of discontent grew louder.

October and November in hindsight were quite good, with the 2-1 away victory at Sunderland while it may have been a poor display but it saw Januzaj announce himself globally with a stunning brace to seal the points for United. Moyes was rightly praised for giving the then 18-year-old his chance. The home draw with Southampton was disappointing but it was followed with a fine display and win away at Fulham and a determined 1-0 victory over high-flying Arsenal. In-between these league games it was coupled with the very good Champions League form United were showing, things started to look up for Moyes.

It didn't last long though as United lost successive home games 1-0, to Everton and Newcastle respectively, in December. The pressure on Moyes doubled, but many fans stuck by him, with Sir Alex's departing words of “Your job now is to stand by your new manager” no doubt ringing in many of our ears. January saw Moyes’ second, and final, dip in to the transfer market. Juan Mata signed making him Manchester United’s record signing at £37 million, while a player of such mercurial quality appeased fans slightly, it didn't address the deficiencies in the team, United needed a commanding midfielder, a centre-back, a left-back and possibly a winger, Moyes however signed another number 10.

For much of the rest of the season, the form wasn't so bad, it was just punctuated with horrendous results here and there, the 2-2 draw at home to Fulham and the 2-0 away defeat to Olympiakos (the worst United performance I've ever seen). The humiliating, tide turning 3-0 successive home defeats to our biggest rivals City and Liverpool last longer in the memory. There were good away wins at Palace, West Brom and West Ham. The tipping point finally came after another abject, passionless performance in a big game as Moyes oversaw a 2-0 defeat on his return to Goodison Park.

His sacking preceded the promotion of club legend Ryan Giggs to player/interim manager. This allowed United’s season to filter out in a bit of an inconsequential haze. United were 7^th, with four games to go and had no chance whatsoever of qualifying for the Champions League. The highlight of these games being the 3-1 win over Hull, with 18-year-old academy graduate James Wilson scoring twice on his professional debut and Januzaj confirming his progress with a virtuoso display. These games have helped the fans to gather excitement for next season, the projected arrival of Louis van Gaal as the new manager, a man with a clear philosophy and a proven track record, has been greeted almost universally positively by United fans.

It would be remiss of me not to finish with a reflection on some of the seasons highlights, it’s a brief reel but in a season of unforeseen lows there have still been some glorious highs. The most satisfying is the emergence of Adnan Januzaj, many of us who watched him at youth level knew he had the talent, but the way he has adapted to the step up will have surprised even his most ardent fans. The form of David de Gea against the backdrop of such a difficult season cannot be ignored, his improvement since that ‘difficult’ first season has been outstanding and he deservedly won both United’s fans and players’ player of the year awards. The best moment of the season was surely the 30 seconds or so of pure euphoria when Patrice Evra scored that wonder goal at the Allianz Arena, the memory burns brightest even though our lead was immediately extinguished by Mario Mandzukic’s equaliser. Finally, the 3-0 return leg victory over Olympiakos was a wonderful night, OT was rocking, van Persie scored a hat-trick and United played with an intensity scarcely seen this season.

So now it’s all over, the season United fans will most readily consign to history, all we can do is look forward to next season. Come on United!