If Owen Hargreaves was born a horse he would have long been sent out to stud. But with a lengthy contract and expensive transfer fee to justify, Manchester United has persisted in what looks like an increasingly furlorn attempt to rehabilitate the 29-year-old former Bayern Munich midfielder. The latest comeback lasted just six minutes.
Such is the Canadian-born midfielder’s luck with injuries in recent years that even yesterday’s comeback against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Old Trafford was cut short in cruel circumstances. It was Hargreaves first start for United in more than two years.
Hargreaves began on the right side of midfield against Wolves; the position he played so effectively against Chelsea in the 2008 Champions League final, which was perhaps the last meaningful act in a career that has stagnated since a £17 million move from Bayern Munich.
The comeback was fleeting though. As Hargreaves played an ambitious ball forward he immediately clutched his left buttock; hamstring tweaked and his afternoon’s work over. The midfielder didn’t attempt a return to the pitch, heading instead towards the South West corner of the ground and the sanctuary of the home dressing room.
Perhaps Hargreaves feared the indignant reaction from the bench, perhaps it was simply the embarrassment of yet another false dawn. After all Hargreaves cost £17 million when signed from Bayern in 2007 and with just 26 starts and 13 substitute appearances to his name that’s almost £436,000 per game for the club.
That is to saying nothing of the £70,000 per week wages the 29-year-old has picked up for six minutes and 30 seconds of football in the past two years.
“It was disappointing for Owen, it is just the way things are going for him at the moment,” assistant manager Mike Phelan told Sky Sports yesterday.
“He has made himself available, he has worked extremely hard in the two years that he has been out and he has had his little blips along the way.
“It didn’t work out for him today. It was a risk and that’s the way it goes in football.”
It’s a risk Sir Alex Ferguson was prepared to take with the midfielder, who has undergone two operations at Dr. Richard Steadman’s Denver clinic to cure persistent tendonitis. Then came repeated setbacks, including severe pain after the midfielder’s 30 second cameo at Sunderland last season.
Indeed, Hargreaves has spent months back at Steadman’s clinic this season learning how to run and turn in new ways so to minimise future risk of relapse. But with the midfielder only just recovered from a calf problem the new set-back only adds to the sense of doom surrounding the player’s future.
“We will assess every situation in the next 48 hours and just see where he is at,” added Phelan last night.
“But hopefully it is not what everybody might fear and we will move on with the boy.”
That future is now further clouded in doubt, even if the latest injury is only minor. After all, Hargreaves has not completed a Premier League match since August 2008. Recovery from injury is one step; a return to the Hargreaves of old is quite another.
United miss him of course. Hargreaves’ all-action, high energy style and ability to break up play has only been replicated to some extent by Darren Fletcher’s rise to prominence. Arguably, a fully fit Hargreaves would still walk into the United side. It makes the player’s repeated failure to find fitness all the more frustrating.
With the midfielder out-of-contract in the summer, it seems unlikely Hargreaves will ever make a serious comeback for United, at least not one that involves appearing in two games a week. It is almost inconceivable that the club will offer Hargreaves a new contract in the current circumstances.
United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who last season stated the player owes the club “some service”, could hardly contain his frustration at the latest relapse in Hargreaves’ long recovery.
“I took a gamble with Hargreaves but he’d been training really well and I thought by picking him we’d have a compact midfield with experience,” Ferguson told MUTV.
“But it only lasted a couple of minutes, it was a disaster.”
It’s probably a sentiment the player and fans can agree with. Not that there isn’t considerable sympathy with the player, of course, despite the huge outlay on fee and salary for a player that has offered so little to the club.
At his best Hargreaves was an important addition to United’s midfield options. It is more than two and half years since the former England international was anywhere near his best though.
Indeed, history dictates that fans should not expect Hargreaves to return to the player of old, if he returns at all.
In Gary Neville and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer the club has already experienced two lengthy absences by important players. Neither returned the same.
Ed,you are a bit harsh. Like it is his fault he got injured. You forgot he was playing injured most of 2007-08 (getting injections to his knee) in order to justify the transfer fee. Also you should have questioned MU medical stuff (doesn’t seem to me that they did a great job to protect him). So let’s pray for a miracle because MU has lost a great player (+personality)
It’s not his fault he got injured, but this is sport and sport can be cruel: Like, if you can’t play because you are forever hurt, then you’re not worth having on the books.
Thanks to injuries, Hargo, like rugby’s Jonny Wilkinson at Newcastle, has cost us a fortune for mediocre returns. And while it’s true, like Wilkinson, he may come good again, he will NEVER be the same player again (as Wilko surely isn’t). And he will always be prone to injury (as Wilko currently is; he’s hurt right now). The major difference is Hargo is not Wilko, in that Hargo has no record of service like JW’s, nothing like a comparable status level in football (at one time Wilko was the world’s best rugby player) and so he is essentially a sunk investment. Newcastle at least made sponsorship money out of JW, even when injured, whereas MUFC can’t to do the same with Hargo because his profile is too small.
So get rid of him. He’s of no use. Period.
I agree. I’m long past the stage of feeling sorry for him. The manager should have bitten the bullet and cut the player loose from our books a long, long time ago.
The medical team, the scouts and the manager have a lot to answer for.
The amount of money we invested in buying the player could have gone towards buying someone else. We were also interested in Senna at that time.
Not the player’s fault that he has dodgy knees but he has, without question, turned out to be a complete waste of money.
Big deal. Done to death. No one gives a fuck.
can the club claim on any insurance?
bad buy if not, great player when fit but really disappointing with the injury situation
if he has earnt 70k per week over the last 3 years, he has pretty much made his nest egg
shame though but time to cut losses – im surprised the yanks haven’t tried to shoot him on the quiet
Wouldn’t have thought so on the basis that his knee knack would be classed as a pre-existing condition. In other words, the club should have known about his knees at the time that they bought him.
it would be a good jesture if he donated a portion to charity although donating it to MUST maybe a bit radical
hargo is proper midfielder, in 08 he was excellent and in the final his flexiblity to play at right back and dominate was key. his short range free kicking was so good that he ousted CR
shame, shame, shame as he puts a shift in and pretty much forced himself out of Bayern to fulfill his dreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeem to play for united
am only gutted because he actually really wanted to play for us – i mean real bad, to the point that he told bayern to fuck off
“Neither return the same.”
Not sure about that.
Ole returned in fantastic fashion, scored important goals and was, er, clinical.
But he’s the exception probably.
Agreed.
Some guy called Ruud was out for ages before he came and scored a few goals for us… some guy called Steadman did some stuff to his knee like. Years later he fucked his knee again and saw Steadman, and then he came back and banged some more goals in.
Another reason why players just shouldn’t be paid such ridiculous wages. Hargreaves has always been a good pro, talented, hard working and prepared to play in any position for club and country. At least he’s achieved quite alot in the game up to now, its not so easy just walk away from the game.
its not so easy just walk away from the game!
You have it in a oner Bill.It is easy for them they are millionaires.
We have a buisness to run,you have a passenger.
I knows there is loyalty and backing your employees.
Surely an effecient worker provides you with a return for the wage you provide them with?
Its plain to a blind man, its time to cut and run.
I dont think the Glazer are blind! although we all tip into their charity box.
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I don’t tip into the the cunts charity box!
Do you watch United on the Television? I assume bye your reply you dont go to Old Trafford.
If you see the big picture simply bye subscribing to Sky, MUTV a BBC television licence you are inadvertently feeding the charity.
All is not black and white mate.There are grey area’s also.
no different in the real world – it’s called statutory sick pay and employee sickness insurance.
united are insured, don’t you worry about that.
i feel sorry for the man. many a player’s careers have been devastated by injury. he really should just walk away.
as for united, they knew he was injured when they bought him. they would be stupid not to have some sort of insurance policy for him
it would be nice, if he was like redondo, who gave up his wages at milan while he was injured. but lets face it, none of us would sit around the house after a work injury and not wanna be paid.
What a shame.
I do believe that if he had been fit, we may have retained the Champions League.
Quite a claim
The way people speak about Hargreaves you would be forgiven for thinking he is of Ronaldo’s class
He was never THAT good… he was better out wide than in the midfield, and after 2 years out he isn’t gonna be the same player
my cocks seen more action than hargreaves these past few years
How can United be insured for a player they knew or ought to have known was injured when they signed him?
EVERY player is insured dude, that is why clubs are prepared to pay a player the full term of his contract if he is injured.
For Hargo, they simply pay a higher premium for a known illness or higher risk.
If you smoke, you have to pay more for medical insurance – but you can still get insurance.
If you have cancer you can still get insurance – you pay a lot though and you won’t get covered for death because of the cance but of course you can get cover for an eye-test etc – if the insurers simply refused to insure him, then that would mean that he was terminally fucked. And we would not have bought him.
This is the reason why you here about “x has signed for y for x gazzilion, SUBJECT to a medical”
The medical is for the insurance policy.
Interesting points made on the insurance issue. Good insight – Ed any comments on that?
Bill – From what I’ve been told – although in full disclosure this has been challenged by somebody else – United didn’t actually take out insurance on Hargreaves’ transfer. It isn’t practice for every transfer. This is different to the normal medical or retirement insurance that the PFA requires of all clubs. I don’t believe, if my source is correct, that United is entitled to any compensation on Hargreaves’ fee or wages. There certainly wasn’t anything in the accounts to show United had claimed and given the club amortizes the player’s value he’s worth next to nothing in the books anyway.
Thanks for the info Ed. These kind of scenarios are probably one of the example the Glazers/Gill will roll out to block big money transfers.
Not only has Hargreaves played more than 5 minutes for City in the League Cup, but he’s been box to box, and scored a good goal
…
ffs!
We will look like right cunts if Hargo goes a season injury free
He managed 55 minutes
The plan was to take him off at half time apparently, but they let him have another 10 minutes in the second
Saha – perinially injured for us, plays frequently for Everton
Hargreaves – never played for us, will score against us for City
Steadman is shit.
give us our money back !
he’ll end up at right back ahead of richards who’s crap, like hargreaves
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/sep/22/owen-hargreaves-manchester-united-injury?newsfeed=true
And now he;s starting to talk shit
et tu owen, et tu?
wow
he has really dropped in my eyes
he was happy to take the money week in week out from united – didnt squel to the press then did he
keep the trap shut – 1 game at your new club doesnt mean you have to turn into a tevez mark 2
What a cock!
£17mill to sing him, years of unearned wages… and now he wants to blame the club.
What a classy individual.
Can’t wait to see what United have to say about this.
i don’t give a shit about mouthing off – all he has said is the injections in hindsight fucked me up and although he didn’t want to play because his muscles were fucked, he flet he had too in order to show people he was a pussy.
but what if we fucked him up – in fact, moreover what if we did fucked up Saha, which would be nothing short of criminal.
hargo is fucking history and so is saha but if the cunts go on and keep playing injury free, then we shld at least ask the question why they couldn’t remain fit here but seeming can elsewhere.
go down in my estimation too, fucking cheese nod. keep your trap shut, one game and one goal and the cunt is talking like is roy keane. i’m a big hargo fan but this is a bit cowardly. tit.
Came in to say this after reading Hargreaves’s report on our medical staff
Sir Ryan Giggs? No no no. Sir Paul Scholes say.
And I also remember Saha giving a similar report after he left for Everton
Sir Ryan Giggs? No no no. Sir Paul Scholes say.
It’s a bit hypocritical of you Alf to point out his ‘unearned wages’ when I’m sure you’d prefer players to play for the love of the game first and then the money.
He went to City, and he managed to play 55 mins in 3 weeks, United managed 5 mins in 3 years. He’d obviously be pissed off with our staff!
Sir Ryan Giggs? No no no. Sir Paul Scholes say.
I agree with Danni and Dozer on this. And besides that article does not sound bitter, he is just stating certain hard facts. Hargreaves and Saha are proof that maybe our staff made a couple of dodgy decisions.
Don’t talk like you have any idea how I think…
A week ago, I couldn’t give a shit… Hargreaves was a waste of money the day we bought him… he was a bigger waste of money as the seasons without playing went by… but still I didn’t care.
He joined The Bitters… and still I didn’t care, as I never wanted him in the first place.
But after only one game for a Bitter rival… and he comes out with this bile.
You lot can play it down all you like… but if Hargreaves had just one ounce of class… he would have said nothing… that’s all he had to to do… keep his mouth shut.
Instead… after pocketing millions from the club… that carried his worthless carcass for what?… three years?… he even “hints” at the idea the United let “him” down…
Fuck off, you mop-haired, little spaniel cocksucker.
And United will have more to say about this…
http://www.football365.com/news/21554/7195151/Ferguson-Defends-100-Brilliant-Medics
At great expense, United flew him all over the fuckin world to see the best specialists, available???
Was it their fault as well?
Entirely, unquestionably this…….
edit: Actually, not entirely, as I rated him more than Alf did, but totally the rest.
I assumed his knee was as good as it was going to get, and that his problems were mental
For months/years I remember Fergie saying that Hargreaves’ knee wasn’t stopping him from playing – his head was
After being out for so long he didn’t consider himself a footballer, and he wouldn’t train with the first team consistently
So why no mention of that. Why blame United’s medical staff in hindsight for giving him injections (which he presumably agreed with) when his problems were mental
but from what he was quoted as saying , he talks about before the specialists. The injections took place early in his Utd career and in hindsight that probably wasn’t the correct treatment for him.
like Jay has said, all he is saying that if you look back, it was those initial injections that created the even bigger fuck ups in the same interview he says, the staff were all lovely at united and they did the best they could. the sun has the extra quotes.
remember, Hargo offered to play for free but for legal reasons United couldn’t accept that. he was crying like a baby in front of team mates when he was hauled off after 5 mins where he ended up ripping another muscle.
this is a guy that Taggart chased him for a year. We tapped him up but Bayern didn’t sell – he put in a transfer request and after a year we got him. He had a fantastic UCL record coming to united, he played a blinder in Moscow, he demoted CR to second when it came to short range free kicks – he made Ando and Fletch play better – he was one of players of the tournament at euros / WC (cant remember which) – he had so much to offer.
and if you haven’t played for 3 years, then you have a lot of mileage left in you. we shouldn’t be surprised if he ends up doing really well at Citeh. not at all.
however, it’s Saha that really hurts – Hargo was very good but Saha was a monster, a proper wrecking machine in front of goal. if it really is the case that our medics are just incompetent then it needs sorting out – reminds me that in Taggart’s own words “the most natural defender in the country” Brown was perpetually crocked for half a decade too. properly had some of those Hargo injections too.
a total and utter twisting of his words depending on which side you choose .
He hasn’t slagged the medical staff at Carrington he has just mentioned his thoughts on his previous treatments, he even says he thought they were all decent guys.
no hissy fits, just an honest opinion.
Ferguson says there is no issue, que people here who believe everything they read going off on one.
What a load of apologetic bollocks.
“Hargreaves, now of Manchester City, talked of being put “in a shit position” before making the remarkable claim that the United manager Sir Alex Ferguson selected him for his comeback match against Wolverhampton Wanderers last November even though the midfielder had told the club he was injured.
“I started that game with two muscle injuries but I should never have been in that position to begin with. I was just going to try to get through 45 minutes because that would have been a start. But I didn’t even last five. I wasn’t surprised. I’d said to them that I had a hamstring problem, which I obviously did. I said: ‘I think I’ve got a bit of a problem here.’ I was surprised it didn’t go in the warm-up, to be completely honest.”
He more or less claims Ferguson risked his health by playing him, even though he says, he wasn’t up for it.
“Asked if he felt United had mishandled the situation, he replied: “You’d have to ask them. There were a few crucial points. We treated it and it got significantly worse through the injections. That obviously had a huge impact. Basically, I was left to pick up the pieces, which was incredibly frustrating.”
That’s not even very subtle.
Like I said… all he had to do was say nothing at all… those comments were entirely unnecessary and although not exactly nasty, leave a bitter taste.
And this…
“The midfielder said “a change of scenery, sadly enough, was essential” for his rehabilitation. He added: “The guys here [City’s medical staff] have been great so far. I’ve been here three weeks and you can already see the difference. I knew it was all there. It was just a matter of doing things right.””
A City spokesman couldn’t have written that better.
“Badges, to god-damned hell with badges! We have no badges. In fact, we don’t need badges. I don’t have to show you any stinking badges, you god-damned cabrón and ching’ tu madre! Come out from that shit-hole of yours. I have to speak to you.”
Hang on here, have you read the actual interview?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/sep/22/owen-hargreaves-manchester-city-united
The interview was fair and balanced and Hargreaves holds no bitterness to United or the medical team, in fact he talks of all the “lovely people” he came across during those years at Manchester United when he was faced with his hardest times.
The lad has had 3 years of injuries and I certainly have a degree of sympathy with him. People reference puff pieces and gutter journalism to blow this thing up. But he has told it as he sees it and I don’t think it’s very unfair. If he had played for Everton and was saying this it wouldn’t even make the papers.
Of course he hasn’t! Rants self-professed “mod” never reads or listens to anything or anyone other than his ego. I mentioned the same thing above a few posts back when first reported in The Sun.
Its all presented to stoke up flames for the Citeh United clash but rants village idiot is incapable of thinking laterally so will continue to chat shit.
LOL… why is it, when YOU quote “The Guardian”, it’s fact… but when I quote “The Guardian”… it’s “gutter journalism”?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/sep/22/owen-hargreaves-manchester-united-injury?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487
Look… I stand by my opinion… all he had to do was say nothing.
Why does a player who made so much money from a club, that he played so little for… have to “open up” and share his feelings?… seriously… does anyone really care… no!… not until there is a thinly veiled complaint about the treatment he was given by the club.
And United/Ferguson obviously felt there was something negative in his statement… enough to warrant a defence of his medical staf
“Badges, to god-damned hell with badges! We have no badges. In fact, we don’t need badges. I don’t have to show you any stinking badges, you god-damned cabrón and ching’ tu madre! Come out from that shit-hole of yours. I have to speak to you.”
“self-professed “mod””???
Poor effort, that…
Fuck me… you are one pissy little girl, aren’t you danniiiiiiiiiiiii???
Get off your bike Mate… I think the exhaust fumes are making you bitchy.
Maybe try walking… I hear that’s good for cramps as well.
“Badges, to god-damned hell with badges! We have no badges. In fact, we don’t need badges. I don’t have to show you any stinking badges, you god-damned cabrón and ching’ tu madre! Come out from that shit-hole of yours. I have to speak to you.”
Fuck me, I hope he plays the derby next month…
He played 80 minutes against Arsenal today.
Now who’s fault is it?
http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11679/7483503/Hargreaves-gamble-backfires
Of course, that makes perfect sense. Thanks.