Primera Liga in focus: Deprived of Everton and Man United luxuries, what went wrong for David Moyes

Andy Mitten

David Moyes lasted just under one year at Real Sociedad, during which he turned down offers to manage back in England because he was serious about succeeding in Spain.

He would have loved to have spent five hours a day learning Spanish, like Carlos Puyol is doing now with English while living in New York, but learning a language takes time and time is not something top-flight football managers have a lot of.

Moyes’s priority was helping Sociedad avoid relegation last season and doing it with a group of players he did not know, including an expensively acquired goalscorer who did not score goals.

Alfreo Finnbogason had been bought for a near club record fee in July 2014, and Moyes was expected to work wonders with the Icelandic striker.

Moyes managed to beat Barcelona at the start of 2015; the high mark during his year in the Basque Country. Even then, he conceded that his side had been fortuitous.

The former Everton and Manchester United manager wanted to make changes: To the training ground; the unpopular running track around the pitch which kills the atmosphere in the Anoeta; the team coach which did not even have a facility to prepare food. Most importantly, he wanted to make changes to the players so he could improve the team. But Moyes was told that he could not do too much too soon. His club did not land a single one of his January transfer targets.

Moyes was used to the luxurious facilities of the Premier League bubble, but he only wanted to raise the standard of facilities in his new home. He would have to do it bit by bit, with the time he was promised.

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Moyes did sufficiently well last term, taking Sociedad from 17th to 12th, but the club’s fans wanted his side to push for a European place this season.

That is understandable; football fans always want their team to push on. Given their history Sociedad fans were no different, more so when they saw Asier Illarramendi return as the club’s most expensive signing.

Yet Moyes was still straitjacketed into using ageing veterans and promoting locally reared youngsters. He struggled to recruit from Britain, the market he knows best, because money was a problem at the San Sebastian club.

He also had to work with a sporting director, Loren, for the first time, someone who considers it their job to sign the players; someone who also wants control.

Sociedad needed a striker; they got Jonathas from Elche. On paper it looked a good signing; he scored 14 goals last season. Technically, though, Jonathas was not La Liga standard. Jonathas has scored one goal so far.

As for pushing for a European place – at the expense of who? Three are all but taken by Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico. Then there is a much-improved Villarreal, Sevilla, Valencia and a far-better resourced Athletic Bilbao.

Nobody can pretend that Sociedad did well this season under Moyes. No home wins in five games, only two league wins from 11. No team have scored fewer goals at home than their four, either.

Moyes had a loyal president who knew he did not speak Spanish or know Spanish football and the players well. Moyes was on the road watching matches, building up his local knowledge plenty, but the roads in Spain are a lot longer than in England.

Scouting players was not in his remit and his family life all but ceased, bar the odd easyJet flight from Bilbao to Manchester, as he watched matches in Irun or Eibar.

Moyes knows that football is a results business and that he forfeited his job in Manchester because he lost too many games. The same was true in the Basque country.

Has a previously highly rated manager become a bad manager after two firings in 18 months? He is determined to prove otherwise after an unhappy ending in Spain.

Halilovic loan move suits all

Alen Halilovic is one of the brightest young prospects at Barcelona, yet even with the Catalans’ transfer ban – and it was assumed that his signing from Dynamo Zagreb had instigated the Fifa ban - the 19-year-old Croatian attacking midfielder could not see how he would get regular football at Camp Nou this season.

With Barcelona B relegated to Spain’s regional third tier – no level for a young international footballer – Halilovic faced a dilemma to sit on the bench at Camp Nou, play third division football or try to go out on loan. There were no shortage of suitors, with Premier League club West Ham United and Bundesliga side Hamburg making enquiries.

His coach Luis Enrique had an idea and called his friend and former teammate Abelardo, now in charge of Sporting Gijon, the team Enrique grew up supporting. Both coaches were born in Gijon and played for Sporting, Barca and Spain.

Sporting, freshly promoted back to La Liga, were delighted to add the Croat to their young squad and he has been integral to their solid start back in the Spanish top flight, impressing for the Asturians just like the young Enrique once did.

Halilovic, whose transfer to Barca was entirely legal, is versatile and has played as a central attacking midfielder, on the right wing and as a second striker. Showing the hallmarks of a Barcelona player, he moves the ball quickly between defence and attack, exploiting space in the opponents’ lines. He can dribble and dodge a tackle, he can turn quickly, press, and run for 90 minutes.

The player who made his senior debuts for both Dynamo Zagreb and the Croatia national team in 2013 age 16 has scored twice in La Liga, his goals coming in two of their three wins so far, against Espanyol and Malaga.

His strike against the Catalans curled into the goal from outside the area, while he started the move which led to him finishing his second goal against Malaga.

Working harder on the pitch than on his Twitter account where he has made a solitary tweet, the Croat has also made three assists, though he could not add to those totals in the 1-0 defeat at Atletico Madrid on Sunday.

Atletico’s goal came in the 92nd minute from Antoine Griezmann after Halilovic’s goalkeeping teammate Ivan Cuellar had frustrated Atletico so much that the home fans began to whistle coach Diego Simeone.

Voted Sporting’s Player of the Month for October, Halilovic’s loan move is working for all parties. Sporting hope that more decisive goals will help keep them up.

Player of the week - Neymar (Barcelona)

Neymar was superb for Barcelona against Villarreal, his second goal in a 3-0 win the best since he moved to Spain. Inaki Williams was again outstanding as Athletic Bilbao continued their winning run with a 2-1 victory over mid-table Espanyol. Williams scored the Basques’ first goal, his first for the club at San Mames, as Athletic stayed in eighth place having picked up more points in the past five matches than any team in Spain.

Game of the week - Spain v England

Spain against England in an international friendly in Alicante on Friday. The two sides will be weighing each other up ahead of Euro 2016, with Spain aiming next summer to win the tournament for a third successive time, while England’s expectations will be lower after their disappointing World Cup campaign last year when they failed to get out of the group stage.

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