London – Manchester United’s loss is Real Sociedad’s gain, according to midfielder Esteban Granero, who believes David Moyes can emulate former manager John Toshack and become a fan favourite at the Basque Country club.
Moyes joined the struggling Spanish side last month looking to rebuild a reputation badly damaged by an ill-fated 10-month spell at Old Trafford where he replaced retired Alex Ferguson.
Toshack also arrived for the first of three spells at the northern Spain club with something to prove after an underwhelming one-year reign at Portuguese side Sporting.
He won the King’s Cup in 1987 and endeared himself to the club’s fans for coining a new brand of “Spanglish”, literally translating English phrases into Spanish with comic effect.
Moyes has already been teased for saying “uno, dos, tres, cuatro” in Spanish at a recent news conference and was pictured mistakenly shouting “Stefano” to Granero in his first game in charge.
“Toshack was a legend because of what he achieved, not because of the phrases but they added to the legend,” Granero said in an interview in the Independent.
“Aside from the excellent translator (Moyes) has alongside him, there are five or six players who speak English and our goalkeeper Enaut Zubikarai has just started with an English teacher, too.
“Harry’s [Redknapp, Granero’s manager at Queens Park Rangers in 2013] London accent made him tougher for me to understand than David.”
When Moyes was confirmed as their new manager Granero phoned close friend Juan Mata, who Moyes brought to Old Trafford for a then club record transfer fee of 37.1 million pounds ($61.22 million) in January.
“Juan spoke very highly of him,” Granero added.
“We all know what the big clubs are like - the criticism comes quickly and the coach always pays. But their loss is now our gain.”
Sociedad finished fourth in La Liga in 2012-13 and seventh last season but have struggled so far in this campaign, winning only three of 14 league games to sit 15th.
But Granero, a La Liga winner at Real Madrid in 2012, believes Moyes can lead the side back to the Champions League.
“That is the challenge. The president wants it and I think the coach has come for that. We achieved it last season and we want it again. We know we have to go one step at a time but we have to be confident and ambitious.” – Reuters