UNITED From Fergie, to Moyes, to Giggsy

Over time, certain teams develop a signature way of going about things. That way may not always be foolproof but it defines everything about the team, from the fans to the staff and of course, the players. As long as a club embraces it's DNA with pride, fans don't complain about losing finals against Barcelona in a game where parking the bus could have changed things. In a setting like that, it is a pretty big problem when a manager tries to change the very ethos of a team. And that is why David Moyes, regardless of all the “needing time” arguments, had to go.
When Sir Alex Ferguson retired after a glittering 26 years with Manchester United, very few of us were under the impression that the next manager would pick up where Sir Alex had left. Most of us set our sights on fourth or may be third place. We were being realistic.
Everyone stood behind David Moyes from the start. After all, he was hand-picked by Sir Alex -- The Chosen One. In his very first press conference he talked about the need to radically rebuild the squad. This was a team that had won the league by 11 points but still, understandable. And a few conferences into the season, he said that the team was behind the others. Did a Manchester United manager just concede that the title was beyond them?
You can prove on paper that the title was indeed beyond United. But that isn't where the problem lies. A club that was taught to fight to the very last nanosecond of injury time to salvage a Champions League final was never meant to just concede things. And worst of all, it was never meant to go to Greece and play like Olympiakos were the second coming of Johan Cruyff's dream team.
Paragraphs can be written about what went wrong. And of course every little mistake mattered but what mattered most was the recurring tendency to force feed a negative approach to a team that was used to simply going for it -- a team that kept Stretford End shaking to its core just like it did, after a long, long time, against Norwich.
It was an emotional moment when the Class of '92, led by one of the most iconic characters the club has produced, prepared the team for the game. And in some ways the first half failed to live up to the expectations we all had. But then Wayne Rooney had one of his special moments. And the flood gates opened.
It is said that a single moment of genius from Eric Cantona against Arsenal in 1993 heralded in an era of dominance for Manchester United over the English game. It was déjà vu again as Rooney's second set the world alight as wave after wave of classic United play offered every last thing that had defined the Ferguson era. This proved one thing. All of it was there. The club had shortcomings, yes, but the crux of it was still there. All we needed was someone who knew how United did it.  
That said, Ryan Giggs probably isn't the man for the job. Ideals are good but experience is important. With a few seasons of work as an assistant, he may very well be the man but not right now.
Right now, optimism is back, hope is back and for a club that should have been the last team to lack it. Belief is back even though we failed hard against Sunderland. For now it's crucial to finish the season on a high. The summer will have lots of changes. Thankfully, it looks like the DNA of the team will survive through it.