After the travails of Old Trafford, David Moyes feels vindicated by his move to Real Sociedad, where he has overseen a steady revival in a welcoming atmosphere • Moyes at Manchester United one year on: was it as bad as we thought?

The sun is setting over San Sebastián, where David Moyes is out for an evening stroll alongside the river Urumea towards the sea as it winds through the elegant narrow streets of the old town where endless bars are piled high with pintxos, Basque-style tapas nailed to bread with cocktail sticks. “Aupa, Moyes!” people say as he passes along a route he follows often with his assistant, Billy McKinley. It is late spring, a warm light spreading across the Bay of Biscay. No wonder he is smiling.

So what was it that first attracted Moyes to the most beautiful city in Spain, the country’s culinary capital with its perfect beaches, elegant architecture, stunning scenery, international film festival and more Michelin stars per capita than anywhere in Europe? The football, of course.

Moyes joined Real Sociedad in November, eventually convinced by the persistence of the president, Jokin Aperribay. The decision was not easy for a man seeking to rebuild a reputation constructed over a decade at Everton and damaged in a matter of months at Manchester United: la Real were in the relegation zone, having won once in 10 games. But Moyes watched them beat Atlético Madrid, taking over the next day. On Saturday night they visit the Camp Nou, the risk long averted.

“I think it was a brave decision,” Moyes says. “I turned down Premier League jobs; I didn’t think they were right. I would never have left Everton if it hadn’t been Manchester United. I was [supposed to be] there six years and you think United give managers time. I’d worked incredibly hard to get to the top and it was taken away from me very quickly. I didn’t want the disappointment to last. I had to take a step back and climb up again. I wanted somewhere I’d be allowed to work, where I could enjoy football again.”

Witnessing him on the training pitch at Zubieta, calling out instructions mostly in English, occasionally in Spanish, it is clear he is enjoying it. There are things that must change, significant structural shifts, but Moyes sees progress and insists he is staying. “The president’s message was: ‘We badly want you, the players want you. It’s big for us,’” he says. “I saw potential to build. It was a gamble but it was the right time. I wasn’t going to sit about for six months. I wanted to work abroad, learn a new language, new football.”

Somewhere in the back of his mind it had always been a possibility. He tells the story of a letter he wrote to Bobby Robson at Barcelona in 1996-97: “His reply said: ‘You’re very welcome to come out. We’d love to see you but I might lose my job so I might not be here.’ I kept the letter; that’s how managers should treat people. It wasn’t typed. It wasn’t written by the secretary. It was from Sir Bobby, handwritten.” Moyes pauses … “And he did lose his job.”

“I admired him going to Spain, Terry Venables too. There’s a reluctance to take British managers, [a sense] we don’t travel well. I often wondered ‘why don’t we export more managers?’.”

Perhaps part of the answer is revealed by Moyes’s experience. He presents difficulties as enriching but they are real and others prefer to avoid them. A language barrier, a different approach, even the times change. His first game kicked off at 10pm and before a cup match against Real Oviedo he noted: “I wouldn’t bring my kids.” Spaniards agreed.

Moyes arrived alone, McKinley joining later. He still lives in the grand Maria Cristina hotel, constructed in 1912. He is looking for a home but the hotel’s so nice that he jokes: “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.” He is taking Spanish lessons and he has Erik Bretos as his assistant and translator, while some players speak English. But even those who do not speak English understand when it matters: “A bollocking in any language sounds the same,” Moyes says. “A couple of times I’ve raised my voice, been stern and they’ve responded. Erik knows the message is getting across. He’s not getting down every ‘f word’.”

Referees understand too; some gestures are universal. When Moyes “wore” imaginary glasses against Villarreal, he was sent off. Hopping over the fence, he sat in the stands and a nearby fan offered him a crisp. He took one. Here is the big question: what flavour were they? Moyes laughs. “You know, I can’t remember. Wotsits or something.” A discussion begins, settling eventually on Cheetos, while corn seeds are identified as the next offering, which he turned down. “If the decisions were right I’d have apologised but they weren’t,” he continues. “And you have to watch from somewhere, but I didn’t know the ground well, so jumping over the fence was natural.”

The fans loved it. “Supporters want someone who’s with them,” Moyes says. “Every night I go out, they’re respectful. They want pictures. They say ‘good luck’, ‘well done’ … they understand.” His reaction that night was seen as somehow British and, while that may be double-edged, the Basque Country’s football culture has a British feel: that was part of the mutual attraction.

“I’d like an energetic style, more ‘British’, and they want that, but the ball’s in play less here. The game’s constantly stopping, so it’s harder to get that intensity. Players go down and referees allow it. With our British stiff upper lip we see that differently. You want contact,” Moyes says. “[Lionel] Messi’s the best example. Messi gets kicked by everybody and he gets up and carries on. Doesn’t scream, doesn’t fake injury. Others do.”

“Look,” Moyes adds, “I’m not the guru coming here telling people what to do, absolutely not. It’s just an opinion. I know I have to adapt. Can we play a ‘British’ style? I hope so. I want to play fast, the ball moving, energy. But if you can’t, you change. I may think differently in six months.”

Moyes is still learning, not least about his own players. He’s been impressed by Rubén Pardo and Iñigo Martínez, telling the latter that his central defenders have a happy habit of becoming internationals. He describes Carlos Vela as a “great talent,” “entertaining”, and a “good boy who works with a smile,” – a “soloist who can make things happen” and who “could be one of Europe’s best players if he gets into really top shape.”

He adds: “Vela makes such a difference.” When he’s there, that is. The Mexican is top scorer but has started only 20 of 35 league games. Others have gone. “Two years ago, la Real finished fourth,” Moyes explains. “Asier Illaramendi went [to Real Madrid], they finished seventh. This year there’s no Antoine Griezmann [who went to Atlético Madrid, scoring 22 league goals] and no Claudio Bravo [who joined Barcelona]. If someone said we’d have Illaramendi, Griezmann and Bravo playing tomorrow, you’d say: ‘oh, boy’. I need to find players who can help us return to that level. We don’t need 10, but we certainly need two, three, four.”

Where from? Moyes is attending as many games as possible, discovering players he knew little about before: Villarreal’s Bruno Sorriano and Ander Iturraspe at Athletic Bilbao stand out. He is at a disadvantage in the Spanish market because knowledge takes time and mechanisms are different but he may have an advantage recruiting from England, drawing on his Everton experience. He is proud of the structure built at Goodison, one he hopes to emulate in Spain.

“I want new analysts. We have a chief scout; I would like another. I’d like scouts in different countries,” he says. “I’ve started to put the [recruitment] process in place and, in time, that will help. That costs but long term it’s cost-saving. The TV money changes soon and I’d like us to be ready so that if we do have money to spend we have a process in place. The president’s in favour and so is the sporting director.”

Moyes talks about watching Joseph Yobo at Marseille, getting Tim Cahill, Andy Johnson and Phil Jagielka from the Championship, writing 24 reports on Joleon Lescott before eventually signing him, endless drives to Molineux. He remembers sitting alongside Harry Redknapp, chasing the same player, describes Nigel Martyn as his best signing and recalls going to Croatia to watch Vedran Corluka and returning saying: “My goodness, I’ve seen a wee boy called Modric and he’s fantastic ... like Billy Bremner.”

“You don’t always get what you want but you work at it,” he says. “I’ve told the president I want three or four players. I’m looking at the English market, players out of contract, boys under 23, people I can get for little money. I’m a bit of a threat [to other teams] now because I can go there and bring players to Spain. I’m looking at loans too. I’d like to keep my [limited] money for one player, maybe two, but maybe bulk up [the squad] with one or two [loans or free transfers]. And because la Real has a British tradition I hope it won’t be outrageous if two or three British players end up here.”

He hopes they will be as welcome as his evening stroll reveals him to have been. Despite the limitations, and inheriting an unfit squad, supporters see improvement. In 24 league games they have won eight, drawn 10 and lost six, climbing to 11th. Among those wins is one over Barcelona, their opponents tonight. That was a turning point for Luis Enrique’s side who have won 16, drawn 1 and lost 1 since, winning 27 in 29 in all competitions. They must win again to remain top.

“They are on another planet, a level above everyone. It’s hard to get the ball and you can’t help but be amazed by Andrés Iniesta,” Moyes says. Barcelona also have Luis Suárez, the man who performed a celebratory dive in front of him during the Merseyside derby. Moyes took it well. “Fair play to him. If we’d scored in the last minute I might have become the first manager ever to dive in front of a player,” he says with a laugh. “Suárez gives them a No9 and doesn’t get enough credit for his work rate.” Then there is Messi. “He plays virtually every game … Maybe he’s due a rest,” Moyes jokes.

“But our style is to try to win.” For Barcelona it is huge, for Madrid too, but for la Real not winning would not matter greatly. Safety was effectively secured with a 3-1 victory over Córdoba eight matches ago and Moyes’s sights are set beyond this weekend: on planning, building, recruiting. This makes recent reports of interest from Newcastle and West Ham surprising for some and concerning in San Sebastián. Could Moyes really be leaving? The response is unequivocal: “No.”

“There’s always speculation but I’m here to do the job,” he says. “I’m going to be here. I want to try to get everything in place so we can be at our best for the start of next season. I don’t think we need masses and masses but there are improvements I’d like to make, things I want to change. Small things that will help. And if we do that …”

If they can do that, this place really would be perfect. The sun slips down behind the Igeldo hill overlooking the Concha beach. “I’ll be here,” David Moyes says. “I’m not going anywhere.”