OH: United Expects!
After two false starts, Owen Hargreaves says he is fit.
“I hope this is it for me injury-wise. I have missed enough games,” Hargreaves told the Sun newspaper. “I’ve been involved with football for quite a while and know injuries are part of the game but I’ve tried to take more precautions as I’ve got older.”
The midfielder better be as good as his word. Of the quartet of major United signings secured last summer, Hargreaves has fared the worst. Tevez is scoring and will hope to improve his understanding with Rooney. Anderson and Nani, both ones for the future, show promise, leaving Hargreaves in the crosshairs of expectant fans.
As already revealed within these pages, Hargreaves appearance record since 2001 hardly inspires confidence in the ability of his fragile body to resist the withering demands of English football.
Yet, the midfielder needs a run of games to show why United chased him for so long and were prepared to pay more than twice his true value.
In Hargreaves’ favour, the derby match against City offered glimpses of his ability to do the ‘water-carrier’ role with ‘Makelele-like’ discipline and boundless energy. But having left the field to glowing reviews, Hargreaves was quick to return to the sidelines. The only reviews that matter now are medical bulletins on his progress.
Curiously, Hargreaves’ career seems to regularly put him in a position where he has something to prove. The young midfield defensive screen held onto a place in Bayern Munich’s side despite the close attention of sceptics. He was an England squad regular tortured by the England boo brigade until some energetic displays meant it could slight him no longer.
Hargreaves has shown that he has character and the guts to make it at United. He’ll need that iron now and the luck that has deserted him since he signed on at Old Trafford.
