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MUFC's First Weekend With Moyes in Charge

The opening kick of the 2013/14 season has come and gone, and Manchester United’s first game under David Moyes was a tough test against a strong Swansea side, with two competitive games already under their belt. I’m not going to lie, I was incredibly skeptical going into the game, as I felt the pressure would be too high following Sir Alex’s retirement and the lack of new signings. Swansea were also looking like challenging the top six this year, based on last season’s form and their quality new additions, including 30-goal striker Wilfried Bony for a club record fee. My stance was that a draw would be a good result away at the Liberty Stadium.  How wrong could I have been?

As I sat down to watch the game, I felt incredibly nervous. These nerves were heightened by the inclusion of club legend Ryan Giggs as a second striker in the starting line up. I thought that was a strange choice, given that Wayne Rooney and Shinji Kagawa were on the bench, plus Danny Welbeck was playing in midfield, meaning there were several perhaps more obvious options available.

For the first twenty minutes, Swansea were utterly dominant. Their packed midfield controlled the game, but could not create any real chances. Star striker Michu did, however, create a great opportunity for himself on the volley that David De Gea steered out for a corner. Michu then put a free header wide from the very same corner. Then, on around the half hour mark, the game spun very quickly on its head. Ryan Giggs scooped a pass that floated for what seemed like an eternity after taking a deflection, before landing perfectly on Robin van Persie’s chest in the Swansea box. The Dutchman then improvised incredibly to put a bicycle kick into Michel Vorm’s goal on his weaker right foot. I was ecstatic to see the ball fly in as the pressure had been taken off and you could see the same ecstasy in David Moyes’ Dance on the touch line.

Surely it could not get better? Pretty much instantly after the restart, the ball was back in Utd’s hands on the left hand side of the Swansea box. Van Persie jumped up for the header but the ball made its way out to Valencia on the right of the goal. He expertly steered the ball along the ground to Danny Welbeck, who tapped in from two yards to equal his tally from the previous season. The score line was the same as the sides went in for the half time break.

The second half was more even than the Swansea dominated first. The ball was kept mainly in the middle of the park, with little created by either side, although Van Persie shot wide when through on goal under pressure from the Swansea defence. Wayne Rooney made his eagerly awaited appearance with around half an hour to go, replacing Ryan Giggs in the number 10 role. Little over ten minutes later, he passed to Van Persie who by-passed several challenges before smashing home a glorious strike from outside the box on his beautiful left foot to make it 3-0. New Swansea frontman Bony, caressed in a fine consolation goal for Swansea not long after he had missed a glaring opportunity before Danny Welbeck piled on the misery deep into injury time with an unbelievable chip over Vorm to double his haul from the previous year in just one game.

It was a superb game for all of us Utd fans as it gave us assurances that this season will not be as bad as first thought. Our current team looks like it can still compete under Moyes’ management, with some tinkering of course. With several new signings rumoured to be in negotiation, our side could improve further, good news ahead of a tough run of games against top sides like Chelsea. Marouane Fellaini and Leighton Baines are strongly linked to be reunited with their old manager at Old Trafford, as well as several Real Madrid playmakers.

Although at the moment the side may not be promising any silverware, only a fool would write us off, no matter how good our squad is, because there is an underlying mentality to win at all costs at Utd.  And with Fergie still around along with several of the old guard, that mentality should still be there.

I’m looking forward to the rest of the season. I imagine you are too.

 

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