Following the World Cup 2006, the view of Owen Hargreaves in England shifted, much to the annoyance of Sir Alex Ferguson. He had been trying to land Hargreaves for some time and new that his impressive performances on the biggest football stage was only going to make Bayern Munich less reluctant to sell him and push the transfer fee up.
His club fought long and hard for him although finally settled for a £17m transfer fee, which meant Owen got to join the only team he wanted to play for.
“At first they didn’t want to sell me, but I made it clear, my intentions, and I’m glad they accepted this summer and it went through with the transfer I asked them to do,” Hargreaves said upon signing for us. “United have, such a fabulous history of players. To be part of this kind of club is a dream come true.”
Sadly, Hargreaves’ United career has been plagued with injuries, which have resulted in having operations on both of his knees. Ferguson recently revealed that he would be back in September, much to the delight of our fans.
Understandably, the German press were hoping they would get to see Hargreaves back in the Allianz, but Fergie had to let them down at the press conference in Munich today.
“He won’t be playing,” Ferguson said. “He’s still in America, actually. We were hoping he’d join us here but he’s still undergoing his rehabilitation. Remember, it was a major operation in both knees. He’ll come back once he’s fully fit but we won’t be rushing him.”
Man Utd News 24/7
Bad news we need him back asap he’s our only midfielder with a nasty streak in him and we could do with that esp against the top teams.
well they shouldn’t rush him back. I’d rather them keep him out until Christmas than bring him back early
OH would be such a boost to our squad. He is back by September right? So he is going to miss the Arsenal and City game? I hope he makes a quicker recovery
Because we need that kind of dominance in the middle.
i’m no doctor but im sure theres no cure for tendonitis of the knee so is this going to cure it or just heel it for the time being untill he starts playing again not trying to put a negative on it but i think hargreaves is awesome and would love to see him pull on that red shirt again!!!
Get well soon Hargo (but not too soon), we need you!!!
he was available on a free back in 2005
clj7 is right. Patience is the key in his case.
I hope he recovers fully. He will be like a new signing.
manutdslagger1999, well, we missed out on that opportunity, huh? great point you make. no, actually it means nothing.
Hopefully this will spell the end of Hargreaves injury nightmare.
Having read Paul McGrath’s autobiography I wonder do Utd’s medical staff go overboard with their treatment. McGrath spent a huge amount of time on the treatment table as the meds tried to get to the bottom of his knee issues, they tried everything & he missed loads of games. He went on to Villa where he did very little training but took part in most games, his knees still gave him trouble but he could manage the pain & get on with things.
McGrath was different mind you, his telepathic reading of the game was astounding. He’d walk to a spot on the pitch where 30 seconds later the action would arrive and he’d intercept play.
Back on topic, can’t wait to see OH back in action, he’s a fantastic player and can help us out in the middle, right-wing and right-back.
sanj I know you are bitter because my comments you do not like on certain players. Back to this topic that is one of the clubs weaknesses not snapping up players when they are cheap and saving a fortune. Remember you take in the debt and united cannot afford to waste money on players who are crippled. Hargreaves because of injuries is one of fergies mistakes paying way too much for a player who now is worth nothing now. When someone like yaya toure or mascherano would have been a better option.
re: manutdchampions2008
Not sure I’m with you there mate. Ole – bargain, Schmikes – bargain, Cantona – bargain, Sheringham – bargain, VdS – bargain, Vidic – bargain, Evra – bargain, Ronaldo bought for £12m, sold for £80m – bargain. Sure we make mistakes and yes its so easy in hindsight to say Fergie could have bought certain players earlier in their careers. That’s life. Get over it and move on.
As for Hargreaves, his performance in the 2008 Champions League final alone was worth a shedload of anybody’s money.
exiledred yes I agree the club will get some bargains but there were the obvious ones that we could have signed. Like Hargreaves we all know even aguero back in 2006 his price tag was 18 million. there was ribery back in 2007 who cost 18 million, and Ashley young went for 9 million now Aston villa want 30 million. You look at those 2 they cost a fortune now.
I look at yaya toure who would have solved all our problems in DM. Carrick was available at 3 million in 2004. Look at lessana diarra when arsenals were willing to sell for 2 million. The club now seem to now thinking down that road that’s why Owen has gone for a free being smarter in the market and not getting involved in OTT buys. Come next may owens price maybe 17 million again because of goals he may get.
I miss him so much!!! the best DM in the world!
As for Hargreaves, I can’t wait for the guy to come back. What a player. Can you imagine having a mid with Carrick, Hargreaves and Fletcher. And still having Scholes, Giggs, Ando and Gibbo, not to mention the wingers?
@manutdchampions2008
Well, I guess you could say this to all teams. There’s always someone who could have snapped up a deal on a player who was cheaper then. It’s like saying that’s one of Real’s problems. They bought Kaka for almost 60 million, Ronaldo for 80, Benzema for 42, and on…
@manutdchampions2008, you know how many teams thought maybe ronnie wasn’t good enough? Arsenal, Liverpool, Madrid among others when he was 15-16. Hindsight is always 20/20!
manutdslagger2009, you should be the manager of chief executive of united since you clearly can see the future.
i also enjoyed how you think hargreaves is worth ‘nothing’ now. oh nevermind, you can see into the future and you saw that hargreaves will never play again.
hahahaha.. manutdslagger2009…. mate please shut up.. u r talking rubbish..
no wait, on second thought, u are bringing out the best replies. Keep it up
It doesn’t look like he’ll be back anytime soon… shame
“manutdslagger1999″. Love it.
We need this player (or a player of his ilk) .. asap!
Utd need to be more of a powerhorse in midfield to wham Liverpool and some of the Euro sides (Barca really) … if we can get Hargy back as we hope in September .. build him up to proper fitness I firmly believe Utd are going to crush a number of teams in and out of the top 4!! Come on the Reds!!!
Sad that Hargreaves is not ready yet, but people should stop panicking. We have a very good midfield even without him. Fletcher has stepped up and i expect him to get better, Carrick is always so underated yet he brings so much balance to the side. People still doubt him yet 3 titles and two europian finals in a row in which he played all the big games should have ended the debate. Ando needs to score,otherwise ok giggs is a legend. We will win the league, its europe that am worried about
He’s still in America? His specialist is in Colorado somewhere isn’t he? I’m only two states over… I reckon I can take a weekend and pop down to the clinic and maybe get a glimpse of Hargo. How awesome would that be?
And yes, I have one of those “I’ll let Hargreaves shag my missus” shirts. She’d kill me if I actually wore one to meet him haha
Looking forward to seeing Owen back. Wish him well.
@unitedstatesofmancunia
yup, dr. steadman in colorado. i’m in new york, so if you need some company in your trip to colorado, let me know.
sanj that is a fact. who really would even pay a penny for hargreaves no one and could united get their money back for hargreaves no. I am bringing up points because one day united are not going to be able to spend big and it is important united have a squad that says we will not need to spend. hargreaves fletcher scholes anderson carrick are ok players nothings pecial about them. roy keane alone is worth all of those midfielders combined.
i love keane but keane wasnt a goal scorer like scholes or a passer like carrick so how was he all them midfielders combined he was a great player but that statement is just wrong well in my eyes anyway.
Manutdchampions, u are talking absolute bollocks today. Get a grip man. You are disrespecting probably the best man united midfielder of all time,by Keane’s own admission,in Scholes. Midfield is not played in Keano’s style alone, hell we haven’t had a ‘Keane’ for years now but reached 3 champions league semis in a row and two finals. That should tell u something
manutdslagger, it is a fact that you say absolutely nothing positive about the team. seriously, stop supporting them and watch old replays of matches from 10 years ago. it is not 1999 anymore, it is 2009. keane is not a united player anymore, neither is cole, yorke, etc. get behind the squad, or f*ck off.
“scholes is an ok player”
-micheal aka manutdslagger
anyone who says that knows nothing about football.
“Paul Scholes is my favourite player. He epitomises the spirit of Manchester United and everything that is good about football.”
-Sir Bobby Charlton
is he wrong too, micheal?
sanj scholes is now an ok player he has almost lost his legs. scholes of 2003 that was an awesome player.
I said the scholes of today is an ok player not paul scholes in his prime. he is stil teqnically the best in UK and up there with zidane has one of the best in the business. there is a difference of the scholes of 2000 and the scholes of 2009.
i am having nightmares about carrick going missing a la barca and scouse, anderson continuing the way he is going, scholes and giggs no longer being able to save them…
and on the wings a nani who fails to step up, tosic being still too young to have any consistent impact, park being the hardworking yet non-world class winger that he is, valencia failing to settle under the expectation…
leaving rooney and a still disinterested berbatov starved of the ball
both m. owen and owen hargreaves injured all season…
vidic and ferdiniand being left exposed more often… (ahhh torres, eto, RONALDO noooo..)
van der sar continuing with his shocking kick outs and beginning to let standards slip, foster being too unsteady…
although i say this to myself every year and most years i’m thankfully wrong.
never let me manage a football team
Whatever you say, micheal.
If Pipo Inzaghi was born offside, then SAF was born with footballs for testicles. His patience rivals his genius when it comes to nurturing players and that includes rehabilitating players.
@manutdchampions2008
So… What is your point? Zidane is worth nothing now since he is retired.
- Our point is, why are you slating the club? Yes we have missed out on quite a few players, but the same can be said of alot of clubs missed out on Edwards, Charlton, Best, Keane, Scholes, Giggs, Irwin, Cantona, Schmeichel, Beckham, Solskjear, Sheringham, Cole, Yorke, Rooney, Van Nistelrooy, Ronaldo & many more
- How about this, Liverpool missed out on all the above players, + Pele, Maradona, Beckenbaer, Cryuff, Van Basten, Di Stefano, Platini, Baggio, Zidane, Ronaldo9, Rivaldo, Figo, Ronaldinho, Kaka, Zidane, etc,
- And how many of the above lists actually played for Real Madrid?
- To conclude, manutdchampions2008, if you think missing out on players is something you cannot accept, I suggest you go play Championship Manager
I agree with sanj, manutdchampions2008 is an idiot. He never has anything positive to say about the United team. You slag off Anderson, Fletcher and Carrick and say that none of them are Keane’s equal. Mate, Roy Maurice Keane is why I am such a football nut and although these players may not be his equal, they have taken this club to two consecutive champions league finals. No matter what they do next, their names are in the history books forever. This could also be the midfield that wins the league four times in a row for the first time in more than a century of football in this country. How about some respect where it’s due?
That’s asking too much from the likes of you though. You were slagging off Fergie in another post. What a twat.
Really fear for Hargo with the length of time he’s been out. I wish him the best but I honestly wonder if we will ever see the same player we remember after two major operations to his knees. Mentally and physically nearly one and half years away from top flight has got to have some impact. Ahh well, hope for the best i guess, though i wish SAF would look for some alternatives. We have all that cash and you can never have too many Defensive midfielders especially given Fletcher, Gibson and Carrick aren’t best suited for that position (although Fletcher has done a great job covering for Hargo).
Get well soon Owen, we have sorely missed you…
Owen, I will wait for you forever!
manutdchampions2008 – you don’t appear to be winning any popularity contests on here but I’m going to stick with this and try and educate you
You list Ribery, Aguero and Toure as “missed” players. I presume you have some inside knowledge that suggests that these players would want to come to Utd. From what i’ve witnessed over the years, Utd find it very hard to compete with Madrid and Barca for foreign world-class stars. I don’t think they were missed. We either didn’t want them or they didn’t want to come.
Lessana Diarra was passed from Chelsea to Arsenal to Pompey and then Madrid within 2 years. If Diarra was that good, why would chelsea and arsenal both release him? I think he has an attitude problem and Fergie is very careful about the players he wants to integrate into the sqaud.
When Carrick left Wham I didn’t think he had what it took to succeed at the highest level. Maybe Fergie felt the same. Maybe Fergie felt the players we had would do the job. Do we even know that Carrick wanted to join Utd? Carrick developed at tottingham, Fergie acknowledged his “mistake” and went back for him. If anything I admire him even more for doing so.
So anyway pal, just take a breath before you comment, think about what Sir Alex has done for this club and all of us lucky fans, and maybe refrain from slagging off the most successful club manager in British football…..
You know it makes sense
Hargraves will definately be back. Cant wait to see the free-kick specialist in the red shirt again.
Fletcher is MORE than capable. Why don’t people see it? Even on MUTV when they discuss midfielders his name never even crops up. Cracking player.
King Eric: Fletcher’s capable, but if he’s injured or suspended we have no body else to cover him. Gibson doesn’t dominate the middle, Carrick isn’t as mobile or assertive either…and lets face it even Fletcher isn’t the ideal player for that position. He’s been great as a utility player and stop gap but there will always be a question of his quality against the truly top teams.
That’s when he plays best,Devilton,in the big games!
Gutted for the boy but we still have Fletcherinho and Gibson. Better still John O’Shea can play there if needs be. Wouldn’t mind a cheeky bid for Gattuso. AC are a shambles at the mo and Gattuso has that nasty side to him
Gutted – but hopefully he will be fully fit for the back end of the season when it really matters.
Devilton – I have to disagree mate. First off I think Gibbo will flourish this season and make one of those central midfield spots his own. As for Fletch, like theboogeyman says he is ALWAYS at his best against the top teams. Think Rentboys past few seasons, Champions league quarters and semis etc.
Fletcher a stop gap? Not at all, he was one of our best players last season and I really wish he got the credit he deserves. It baffles me actually how everyone bigs up Ando. What has he done that Fletcher hasn’t?
i fell sorry for this english version of gattuso, only with a great free kick ability on him…classy dmf
King Eric – well isn’t it obvious – he has a sexier name, a dread locks and he shoots like my 3 year old daughter
*feel sory
still think that united missed a trick when they didnt sign palacious from wigan, he wouldve done the hargreaves job quite well. and for £11 it would have been a bargain…
Yea Hargreaves was a great signing oh he is injured again keep the delusions coming there were better players with value for money than hargreaves.
exiledred ribery went to bayern, torres went to liverpool aguero went to atletico madrid. You saying those 3 clubs are a better attraction than united. If so then we should question the size of man utd. Because bayern liverpol atletico are nowhere near as big as united. Fletcher is actually uniteds best midfielder. And by the way Anderson is very much out of position he is not a CM player. Carrick is ok he is not up here with lampard gerrard essien alonzo mascherano. People hate my comments because I do not rate berbatov that is why, and perhaps this current team is not as great has many think they are I have seen better united teams playing better football, like the 93 team 94 team the 99 and 2000 sides.
Football has changed since the 90s. It used to be a team game but now its a squad game. The 94 side would probably destroy any other team out there, but this squad has won a lot of trophies, gone to consecutive CL finals and won 3 consecutive league titles with possibly a historic fourth on the way. So the current squad is every bit as good as United fans think. No one here has a problem with someone having a different opinion. But I find your attitude towards the team and the manager disrespectful. No matter how you feel, at the end of the day as a supporter you are supposed to SUPPORT your team. I don’t think you slagging off the team and the manager at every opportunity is supporting the team. That is my problem with you and I’m sure lots of people have the same problem. No one likes a whinger.
A lot of the players mentioned such as Carrick, Hargreaves and Young were not ready to move to United. Carrick would have disappeared if he moved here from West Ham, he needed to develop his game first. To do that you need to play games and he wouldn’t have got enough at United. As for Torres, we tried many times for him but he didn’t want to move from Atletico. The reason he went to Liverpool is coz of all the spaniards there. Aguero wasn’t and probably still isn’t ready to move to United. Ribery had played for 7 clubs in 7 years before he moved to United. That’s the kind of record that makes you unwilling to take a punt on him. He was overpriced at 25 million euros in 2007 and anything above 30 million euros is too high a price for him now. Don’t forget he has had enough injury problems at Bayern.
20legend- spot on. it would be ridiculous for us to have a problem with you merely because you don’t rate berbatov. every single post of manutdslagger2009 is negative and ‘we should have signed _____’ or ‘we should have done this’, etc. etc. 20legend has it totally nailed on the head when he says we find your attitude disrespectful. if you are only going to slag off our current squad, then go ‘support’ another team. it is 2009, it doesn’t matter if our squad is better or worse than any previous squads. it is what it is, get behind them, or f*ck off. as 20legend said, ‘nobody likes a whinger.’
manchesterunited2008 – I never said that Utd werent as big as other clubs. Its just that foreign players don’t see Utd the way most British-born players do. That’s life – something to do with the rain and a diet of fish, chips and mushy peas. Personally I don’t see the problem but maybe I’m biased…
I hadn’t picked up on your dislike of Berba but the guy is quality mate. Fergie’s admitted that we haven’t yet played to his strengths and I sincerely hope Berba gets to prove a whole bunch of people wrong this season. I just think people need to accept him for his obvious qualities and not moan about the fact that he doesn’t want to run around like a headless chicken. Remember that Cantona was actually told by Fergie *not* to tackle. Now I’m not compring Berba to Eric but it takes all sorts of players to make a great team/squad.
At the end of the day though it’s all about how your convey your opinion. In the same way that when I’m at OT I hate to hear people around me criticsing the players. It doesn’t help so why do it? Go home and moan at the wife, kids, cat – whatever. But ultimately support your team. There’ll be people on this conference who’ve even cheered for Ralphie Milne. Trust me when I say that took some doing
i stand corrected, ‘no one likes a whinger.’ wouldn’t want to misquote.
I’m a massive fan of Hargreaves but I think we should plan for life without Owen. He’s now out till xmas! Hasn’t played for a year and a half and will take a month minimum to really get match fit. We can forget seeing Hargreaves at anywhere near his best this season.
Tendinitis isn’t an injury it’s a disease which can never be fixed just managed. I love Owen but you just wonder why we paid nearly £20M for a player with Tendinitis.
Fletcher has done well and is a decent replacement but I wouldn’t be surprised if we now see Fergie get the cheque book out. We need a true DM to allow Anderson (although an offensive player, played holding mid ever since arriving at OT!!) and Carrick to get fwd and score more goals! Trust me we need them to without CR7′s goals.
Know everyone has mentioned him but De Rossi would be a great addition.
this is my full thoughts on the current team.
exiledred the reason why I am unhappy because in the future I do not see this team really dominating the game or winning many trophies when the midfield and attack the balance and strength is not right if players do not improve. To be honest since the 07/08 season the team does not have a lot of goals in them. The midfield is very poor indeed, it lacks the dominating CM that will play week in week out like keane did.
Also there is no one to take scholes mantle and giggs, Carrick Fletcher Anderson do not dominate games like when united had keane scholes and butt in their prime. Anderson is not CM player he made his name has a second striker at gremio and porto he is way out of position, Hargreaves who knows when he will be back. Scholes is almost at the end of his career. And that leaves us with only 2 really what I call proper midfield players who can consistently play week in week out in Fletcher and Carrick.
On the wide areas who is rampaging on the wings and putting the fear into defences like ronaldo done along with sharpe kanchelskis and giggs in their pomp. Tosic Valencia they have a lot to prove if they are good enough. Park I am sorry is not good enough for united we are talking united here, giggs no longer a wide player and the French winger united just signed was sent on loan because he was that bad.
Upfront Rooney and berbatov are too similar, it is the same has gerrard lampard the mix is not right. None of them runs the channels bebatov does not get in behind defences, and Rooney is the same, Rooney is at his best when he is playing second striker we have seen that for England. Rooney has suffered playing with link up players. Cantona always had a striker that would fit his style, that’s why cantona has always played brilliantly because he has played with that out an out striker like andy cole and sparky. Rooney needs that type of forward if we are going to see the best of him again. That’s why Ferdinand and vidic work so well to different types of forwards.
Bash me people that’s the real truth on the midfield and attack the balance is not right.
let me resay that.That’s why Ferdinand and vidic work so well to different types of defenders.
Manutdslagger1999 – You are becoming a joke mate frankly, how fucking negative can you be? Is there any player you like? Are you even a United fan and not a dipper. How come you posting in the middle of the game? Did you even see Valencia play tonight? The lad looks quality. As for saying this team won’t win trophies, aside from Ronaldo and Tevez who we have replaced with a better striker in Owen it is the same team that has won the last 3 titles and been in 2 Champions League Finals. Disgraceful from a “supporter” in my opinion.
King Eric yea I saw it but still without ronaldo the team overall lacks goals especially in tight games
Enough said, manutdchampions2008 knows best and he is even better than Sir Alex. To manutdchampions2008, triple champion is too easy, getting to 2 CL final is also a piece of cake considering what a weak squad we have. So lets nominate manutdchampions2008 to be our next manager, he has an eagle eye for talent and reckons we will be able to sign the Fifa Player of the Year 2020 now on a cheap. We will never miss out on another World Player of the Year ever again with manutdchampions2008 in charge. One day manutdchampions2008 will surpass the likes of Ferguson, Busby & Shankley as the greatest manager of all time, with an eye for talent that far surpasses any scout in the world
manutdchampions2008 – some good points in there but I’m still scratching my head to think why we’ve managed to win 3 titles on the spin and reached 2 back-2-back CL finals with such a poor midfield?!!? Yes we got outplayed in this year’s CL final but we were without arguably our best midfielder. Let’s see Barca without their best midfielder: Iniesta or Xavi…..
Fletch has come on so much that I often wonder whether we’d rate him more if he was a foreigner and we’d spent £20m on him. His work-rate is phenomenal and he’s adding that box-to-box aspect to his game of late. His distribution is improving and he’s even getting the odd goal. Remember he’s only 25 – his best days are still ahead of him.
I think the only midfield player out there who would interest me right now is Essien – or a fully-fit Hargreaves
I’m guessing your a “glass is half-empty” kind of guy right?
HAHAHAHAHA fantastic, marq. and king eric, i think you’re right, he must be a dipper.
i cannot wait for the team to do well this season, only for micheal/manutdslagger1999 to return as a new name, only to spit the same drivel and continue his whingefest.