David Moyes’ Manchester United return with Sunderland set to rake up memories of his shattered Old Trafford dreams
Moyes and Black Cats face Red Devils on Boxing Day
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IT is going to be a tough walk for David Moyes on Boxing Day.
To think at one time it was a dream to leave the Old Trafford dressing room, go down the tunnel and along the touchline to the dugout.
Behind him, as he waved to the South Stand, would hang a banner declaring he was The Chosen One.
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Moyes believed he would be, and for the long term too, having signed a six-year contract.
But eight months after a huge welcome on his home debut as United boss against Chelsea he was alone, running around the Carrington training ground at 5am having had a sleepless night.
News had broken the day before that he was going to be sacked and he was struggling to take it all in.
The irony will not be lost on the Scot that he will again be up against Jose Mourinho on Monday, his opposite number on the day he was welcomed at the Theatre of Dreams in August 2013.
Mourinho had just returned to Chelsea but coveted the United job and many fans wish the club had gone for him then.
In hindsight, was Moyes all that bad as the Red Devils boss given the circumstances? He reached the Champions League quarter-finals, League Cup semis and United scored four goals or more six times.
Given the torment of Louis van Gaal’s reign and until recently Mourinho’s, the enormity of the task of replacing Sir Alex Ferguson has become more evident.
As Moyes inherited a team that had just won the title, it was presumed he had been handed a golden ticket.
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But it is now acknowledged that was an ageing team too, with the likes of Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic and Ryan Giggs all coming to the end of their careers. Robin van Persie’s best days were behind him and he never gave the same effort after Fergie left.
Of the 18-man squad for Sir Alex’s final game in May 2013, just four are left.
Moyes knew he had a huge job on and said he needed time. LVG said the same, as has Mourinho.
There was a drop in the intensity levels around the whole club in the wake of Sir Alex’s retirement. Many, however, were prepared to let Moyes carry the can.
Marouane Fellaini was his only high-profile summer buy and he landed Juan Mata from Chelsea in January 2014, paying a total of £64.6million for the pair.
But £400m has been spent since then under LVG and Mourinho and only now do we see signs of United getting back on track.
When friends phoned him on that Sunday afternoon in April 2014 to say news had broken he was on his way, he could not take it in.
He could not get hold of Ferguson, the man who anointed him his successor, while executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward sent a message to say they should meet the next morning.
His short period with Real Sociedad helped rehabilitate him.
He has another big job on his hands at Sunderland, although the pressure is to stay in the Prem, not win it.
Moyes should not worry about the reception he will receive on Boxing Day.
It will be a good one.
Because 2½ years on and with United standing a place above where he left them, people now acknowledge the size of the job he had on.
One Van Gaal could not get to grips with and one Mourinho is just starting to.