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Filling the shoes of a legend was something that David Moyes knew would be tough. But going from a season where the Red Devils won the Premiere League with ease, to not even being in the top 5 of the table wasn’t what United supporters had in mind.
Sir Alex Ferguson left his post telling supporters their only job now is to stand by their new manager.
Moyes on the other had has the job of steering arguably the most known sports team in the world back to the top.
His first campaign has been a struggle…by Manchester United standards anyways. United had an early exit from FA Cup and lost at home for the first time to Newcastle (in 41 Years), West Brom (in 35 Years), Everton (in 21 Years) and Swansea (first win ever at Old Trafford). The only thing keeping supporters sane is the Champions League run the Reds have somehow strung together. Starting with a stunning 3-0 (3-2 aggregate) victory in Old Trafford over Olympiakos to send United to the quarterfinals.
Ferguson, who chose Moyes as his replacement, is trying to calm any concerns fans have. “They will be all right. It's early days and there have been a lot of changes,” he said. “He needs time. I was there for 27 years, so with a new manager, it takes time. But they'll be OK."
Moyes not too long ago was dealing with rumors of Robin Van Persie returning to his former club, Arsenal, but then the Dutch striker turned into the club's hero after a 3 goal performance which catapulted United into the UCL quarterfinals. Some say his hat-trick rescued Moyes, but rescued or not, Moyes will be without RVP for the next 4-6 weeks, and will have to find a new hero for his club.
Since the victory in Champions League, United has wins over West Ham and Aston Villa, with a 0-3 drubbing courtesy of Manchester City sandwiched inbetween. Unhappy supporters created a banner that flew over Old Trafford during their match vs Aston Villa that said "WRONG ONE, MOYES OUT", mocking the "CHOSEN ONE" banner that was flown the day Moyes was hired.
After a promising 1-1 tie against Bayern Munich in the first leg of the UCL quarterfinals, Moyes and his club found themseleves up 1-0 on the road in the second leg. But the Red Devils failed to build off of Patrice Evra's wonder strike and Bayern went on to shred the Man U back line with three straight goals all within a 10 minute span of eachother.
Moyes must now motivate his team to finish the season strong even though they have nothing left to play for. If Moyes can't build a sliver of hope in the remaining four games of the season, he will surely go through a full offseason of supporters and media wondering if he actually is the "wrong one".
Update (April 21, 2014): Sources within Man U say Moyes is likely to be sacked after 2-0 loss to Everton.
