When David Moyes was sacked by Manchester United in April, few would have predicted Real Sociedad would be his next destination.
On the face of it, a Basque club appointing a dour Scotsman who doesn’t speak the language and had never previously worked abroad was a strange decision, especially when a more obvious and much cheaper candidate was readily available in the form of former Real Betis boss Pepe Mel.
So why and how did it happen?
The catalyst for the appointment was the determination of La Real president Jokin Aperribay, who made it his mission to convince Moyes to take over at the Anoeta ever since he reluctantly dispensed with the services of predecessor Jagoba Arrasate a few weeks ago.
“The biggest reason I’ve chosen Sociedad is the persistence of the president,” admitted Moyes.
“The president was so determined he wanted me to come here, he gave me great belief in what he’s doing.”
Moyes is well-known for his refusal to rush into big decisions, but his initial reaction of intrigued scepticism eventually gave way to outright enthusiasm to relaunch his career largely away from the glare of the British media – or, as he put it: “This opportunity is the right one for me and my learning… and my family.”
To understand Aperribay’s unshakeable determination to land Moyes, we have to go back to the end of April, the time of Moyes’ departure from Old Trafford and his sudden availability in the managerial marketplace.
Back then, Aperribay had just handed a new contract to rookie coach Arrasate, who had overcome a poor start to his first campaign in charge and led the team through a promising second half of the season.
However, not everybody was convinced.
Even though he was a fellow Basque and one of their own, many Sociedad fans had never been won over by Arrasate’s credentials, and a final day defeat against Villarreal was met by a barrage of whistles towards the coach – even though his team had reached the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey and qualified for the Europa League by finishing seventh, bringing two consecutive seasons of European football to the Anoeta for the first time since 1989.
Arrasate’s problem was his lack of experience and inability to exude authority.
He only played at a low level and was a primary school teacher until 2010, when he joined the club’s youth coaching ranks and then became number two to previous boss Philippe Montanier.
He was subsequently elevated to the managerial role in an attempt to maintain continuity after Montanier opted to return to his native France by joining Rennes in the summer of 2013.
But Arrasate was young (35 at the time of his appointment), inexperienced and, for all his intelligence, his understanding of the club’s values and his undoubted commitment to the cause, he came across as a soft touch.
Those concerns, indeed, nearly prevented him from being offered the job at all, with Argentine Tata Martino being the club’s first choice but rejecting their overtures in order to later join Barcelona.
Arrasate never looked like possessing the necessary leadership skills or strength of character to prove a long-term success.
His weaknesses were translated to the pitch, where the team lacked the discipline, consistency and rugged determination to suggest they could solidify a position in the top half.
Although at times they played superbly – beating Barcelona 3-1 in February – on other occasions they rolled over and surrendered.
Two words used often in Spanish football analysis are ‘serious’ and ‘personality’: although there was no doubting the talent within the Sociedad ranks, they often lacked those two qualities.
Aperribay, however, liked Arrasate and wanted to give him more time, so he maintained public support for the inexperienced manager.
But when the new campaign started in disappointing fashion, with La Real dumped out of the Europa League in the qualifying round against Krasnodar and struggling in La Liga, the young manager’s days were numbered.
Even their one triumph at the start of the season – a remarkable come-from-behind 4-2 victory over Real Madrid – only served to further undermine him: How can the same team that thrashes Madrid then lose to previously winless Almeria in their next home game?
The buck had to stop with the manager and Aperribay made his decision after a dispiriting and very badly received 1-0 home defeat against Malaga.
When it came to identifying a successor, Aperribay immediately knew that he needed to find everything that had been lacking in the previous manager.
Whereas Arrasate was thoughtful, unassertive and inexperienced, the president wanted his new boss to be a strong and determined old hand.
Experience would be crucial, as would be the ability to instil a coherent and consistent style of play: it would be someone ‘serious’ and with ‘personality’.
Simply being an intelligent and hard-working Basque who grasped the club’s philosophy would not be enough.
As another contrast to Arrasate, Aperribay was keen to recruit someone of standing and reputation – a manager of “prestige” was his preferred term: someone who would provide a serious boost to the club’s profile in their never-ending quest to snatch some of the local, national and international limelight away from their bigger and more glamorous near neighbours, Athletic Bilbao.
It didn’t take long for Aperribay to settle upon the man he wanted – an experienced, well-known, disciplinarian who, furthermore, was available.
La Real’s president had come to know Moyes over the previous 12 months, initially when his club faced Manchester United in the group stages of the Champions League, and was impressed by the Scotsman’s poise, focused demeanour and the steely determination with which he was confronting his tough task with the Red Devils.
They bumped into each other again in August, when Moyes and his brother Kenny, who acts as his agent, attended La Real’s Europa League meeting with Aberdeen at Pittodrie, and by then Moyes was firmly in Aperribay’s mind as a potential future manager.
Aperribay was also attracted to Moyes because of what he had achieved at Everton, seeing significant parallels between the Merseysiders and his club: they are both long-established top-flight clubs with a strong regional identity, operating on a reasonable but limited budget, and Aperribay believes the Scot can, in time, turn La Real into regular top-six finishers, just like at Everton.
Judging from the early impressions of the players, Moyes is already succeeding in bringing to his new club the precise qualities that were previously lacking.
Commenting on the squad’s first few days of training under their new boss, midfielder Markel Bergara said: “Training has been very intense. He has come here with a lot of enthusiasm and very clear ideas.
He knows what he wants from us and he’s looking for a defined style of play with a lot of intensity.”
And as an indirect but telling of Arrasate’s failings, Bergara added: “He has told us that he wants us to be compact, strong and stand up to our opponents.”
Those words from one of the team’s most senior players will be music to the ears of president Aperribay, who hired Moyes precisely because he is intense, determined and possesses a stated commitment to instilling a consistent and rigorous style of play.
Saying it, however, is one thing. Now comes the hard part: getting the team to do it on the pitch.
