Comparison between Brendan Rodgers' and David Moyes' first seasons in charge: Part 1

Cesc Fabregas still interesting Manchester United?

The public pursuit of Fabregas and Thiago Alcantara failed miserably with the former staying at Barcelona and the latter departing for Bayern Munich. Meanwhile, Rooney was also courted by Mourinho and Wenger adding to the pressure on Moyes. Ander Herrera was also pursued but his high price tag and Bilbao’s refusal to allow him to leave added to the frustration of United fans.

Moyes had a chance to buy Fellaini earlier in the window but he wanted a double deal with Everton for both Baines and Fellaini. Everton refused to budge and United squandered the chance to get Fellaini at £ 23 million and instead had to cough up an additional four million pounds due to their inefficiency. United though did not suffer from similar exits as Liverpool and were ultimately able to add Fellaini in place of the retires Scholes to their title winning squad.

The first half of the season and the perennial injury problems

Liverpool were out of the reckoning for the top four given their disastrous start but then things began to look up slowly and steadily. Their primary target for the season was to finish as high up as they can. 25 points accrued in the first 19 games certainly did not help matters. Injury to key players such as Lucas, Kelly, Borini and Johnson also did not aid Rodgers.

Rodgers was still not sure of what his best team was or even what his best midfield combination was. Losses to Tottenham, Stoke and draws against Everton and Chelsea continued to put pressure on Rodgers due to a miserable points per game ratio. Allen and Sahin faded after impressing in the early part of the campaign and Liverpool were finding it hard to score goals as expected and things were continuing to grow difficult for Rodgers. Suso and Sterling played well but could not affect the goals scored column.

At the halfway point of the season, United had picked up some pace. Inspite of losses against Everton and Newcastle and draws against Tottenham and Cardiff, United found themselves just 8 points shy of the Premier League pole position! It was a commendable achievement presided over by Moyes, inspite of the flak he had received till then, considering the injuries that had blighted United’s season.

Key players such as Rooney, Van Persie, Vidic, Ferdinand, Evans, Fletcher all had been out injured for some time until that point. Progress to the group stages of the Champions League coupled with being just 2 points off Liverpool who occupied the fourth position had bought some hope back that Ferguson had indeed chosen the correct one. It was expected that United would finally begin their assault to the title by a strong showing in the second half of the season as was common with the Everton team under Moyes!

To read the second part of the article, click here.