Red Dawn - the new Manchester United

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manc-in-exile

15 years ago

7 months ago

Premium

20 Jun 2013 01:23:10

I had mixed feelings in the summer of 2012. Taking over from Sir Alex Ferguson as manager of Manchester United was a dream come true for a boyhood United fan, but doing so in the aftermath of the club losing the Premier League title to rivals Manchester City was bittersweet. I was given an initial twelve month contract and asked to challenge for the title with a squad boosted by the signings of Shinji Kagawa and Robin Van Persie.

manc-in-exile

15 years ago

7 months ago

Premium

20 Jun 2013 01:24:10

Reclaiming the title would be the priority and we got off to a flyer, beating Stoke City 4-0, Queens Park Rangers 3-1 and West Bromwich Albion 5-0. I was lining the side up in an attacking 4-2-3-1 formation with Wayne Rooney operating behind Van Persie and a deep-lying Michael Carrick pulling the strings in midfield. Rooney would thrive in that position and would finish the season as the league's top goal scorer. We came back to earth with defeats at Swansea City and Newcastle United, and the Champions League campaign began with a home defeat against Juventus. Fortunately our title rivals would also falter and drop points and it was Tottenham Hotspur, spearheaded by the devastating Gareth Bale, that would be Premier League pacesetters. We drew 3-3 with them at White Hart Lane in October, with Johnny Evans scoring a last minute own goal. Our form was inconsistent but a brilliant 2-0 win at Arsenal kept us in the title picture as the season reached the halfway stage. We had also made it through our Champions League group and progressed to the semi-finals on the League Cup.

I made my first signing in January 2013, recruiting Marouane Fellaini for £15m. He replaced Anderson, sold to Benfica for £10m. We comfortably reached Wembley, beating Blackpool 7-2 on aggregate in the League Cup semi-final, but lost 0-2 at Wolves in the FA Cup. We bounced back by winning 2-0 at Anfield which is always satisfying, especially as we had already thrashed them 5-0 at Old Trafford. However, league defeats at West Brom and Norwich City kept the league in the balance, especially as Tottenham claimed a point in a 2-2 draw in February. Indiscipline was also proving to be a problem, with both Fellaini and Rooney getting sent off in this period. Wayne also saw red early on in the League Cup final against Arsenal. We were 0-1 down at the time but we heroically fought back to win 2-1 thanks to a Van Persie free kick and late goal from Antonio Valencia.

An aggregate victory over Montpellier put us in to the last eight of the Champions League where we faced Chelsea. We dominated the first leg at Old Trafford, winning 3-0 and it could have been more. The away leg was much different, we could not live with them in the early stages and conceded twice. Although we tightened things up a late goal took the tie to extra time and Fernando Torres completed a humiliating collapse with the Chelsea winner. The Premier League form had also dipped, a 1-4 reverse at Chelsea in the league was followed by a damaging derby defeat at City. Tottenham were now four points clear with four games left and I knew we needed to win them all to stand a chance of the title. A 1-0 win at Everton was secured despite another Fellaini red card and the same score was enough in a nervy win at West Ham United. Spurs had drawn their two games so both sides were now level, with United top on goal difference. The match against at Arsenal at Old Trafford will rank up there with Sheffield Wednesday '93 in terms of late drama. We controlled most of the game without scoring and just when it looked that vital points were going to be dropped Rooney scrabbled home a winner in the fifth minute of stoppage time. Rooney then scored all the goals as Wigan Athletic were beaten 4-0 on the final day and a twentieth league title was secured on goal difference. In the other competitions Stoke beat Liverpool 2-1 in the FA Cup final and Juventus beat Manchester City on penalties to win the Champions League. Tottenham got the trophy their season deserved by winning the Europa League final against Dynamo Kiev.

manc-in-exile

15 years ago

7 months ago

Premium

20 Jun 2013 01:25:08

Winning the Premier League in my first season meant that the board offered me a new contract up to June 2017. I decided to keep the current backroom staff, though I brought in United legend Gary Neville as a coach. I was also given a transfer budget of £60m and set about improving a squad that was already boosted by the return from loan of Wilfred Zaha and Ángelo Henríquez. The headline signings were that of Gareth Bale from Tottenham for a fee of £35m plus Luis Nani, followed by Robert Lewandowski from Borussia Dortmund for £36m. I also overhauled the left back position, selling Patrice Evra (£10m to Atlético Madrid) and Alexander Büttner (£7m to Southampton) and replacing them with Leighton Baines (£15m) and the exciting young prospect Luke Shaw (£13.5m). The capture of midfielder Thiago Alcântara from Barcelona (£18m) completed my summer recruitment. Having spent a record £118m on new players I had to balance the books and the other players leaving the club were Javier Hernández (£20m to Barcelona), Ashley Young (£9m to Stoke), Federico Macheda (£4.4m to Sampdoria) and Fabio Da Silva (£2.5m to Stoke). It was with a heavy heart that I allowed legends Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes to leave the club, but I felt that this was necessary to free up spaces in the squad. I also sent midfielder Nick Powell out on loan to Fulham to gain some valuable first team experience.

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