Football
Richard Jolly, ESPN.com writer 9y

David Moyes reveals Manchester United regret over short manager stint

David Moyes has told FourFourTwo he would have radically altered his approach to managing Manchester United if he had known his spell at Old Trafford would be so brief.

The Scot was given a six-year contract when he replaced the retiring Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013 and said he took a long-term view in his debut season at the club.

But Moyes was dismissed in April 2014 with United seventh in the Premier League after a disappointing campaign.

He said: "When I took the job, Sir Alex made me well aware of what was required and what was needed. He was a big support to me. But if I knew that I was only going to have 10 months and not six years, I would have approached the whole job differently. I felt I deserved more time."

The former Everton manager, who is now in charge of Real Sociedad, was granted a substantial transfer budget at Old Trafford but only bought two senior players -- Marouane Fellaini for 27.5 million pounds and Juan Mata for a then-club record 37.1 million pounds.

Moyes had also bought Fellaini for Everton for a club-record fee of 15 million pounds but denied saying the Belgian ranked among his best buys.

He added: "I don't think I've said Marouane Fellaini was one of my greatest signings. He was one of many good signings who were part of a very good Everton team. Now he's showing the Manchester United supporters how good a player he is."

Moyes also insisted he did not state United should aspire to be like Manchester City, explaining: "I'd never say that. I may have said that we aspired to play like one of the teams at the top when we weren't at the top, but I'd never say that Manchester United should aspire to be like Manchester City. I don't think that's something any United fan would aspire to."

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