Owen Hargreaves-Will he ever Play Again?

Sine being by far Englands best player at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, many thought he would excel from there. When he signed for Manchester United from Bayern Munich in 2007 for £18 million, many pundits predicted big things for both the player and his new club. How wrong could they have been...

We are currently in November 2010, and since his transfer to his home country, he has made just 39 appearences for the Red Devils. In fact, his last proper competitive premier league match was in September 2008 againt Chelsea. Yet, his first year in a Manchester United shirt was on for success, seeing him pair up a formidable midfield alliance with fellow englishmen, Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick, and was instrumental in the Champions League final in Moscow over Chelsea in 2008 in which he helped The Reds to thier 3rd European Crown. So what happened?

Nearly 2 years have past now since Hargreaves first got the knee injuury which would turn out to plague his career. He has been under numerous surgury operations to try and control the injury, but has been hampered by pain and tendonitis. He even stayed at home during United's pre-season tour trip to America in order to consult specialists in a bid to find the bottom of the problem. The England man started light training a year ago and excelled from there, coming back to play in United's treserves game, at first only playing one half. Time passed and his fitness got better and he soon was managed to complete a full game. A comeback was mentioned at the start of the 2010 season, but was setback by another knee muscle pull, but was soon back in training. So after what turned out to be 2 years of hell, most, if not all United fans would have been shocked at Sir Alex Ferguson's decision to start Hargreaves in the preimier league game against Wolves. Was it time for the midfield anchorman to finally get back to fitness? Was it time to get his first team place back? Maybe, but unfortunatly it all ended in disaster.

He lasted just 6 minutes when, after crossing a ball into the box, he pulled up in what appeared to be him clutching his left hamstring. Due to this, Ferguson admitted this morning that Hargreaves is going to be sidelined for yet another 4-5 weeks, and the consequences of this fresh injusy could be severe for a player who has now entered his final year of his Man United contract. Manager Sir Alex Ferguson admitted it was a huge gamble to start Hargreaves, also claiming the gamble turned out to be "a disaster" and "unbelievable" after seeing Hargreaves mope off the pitch in pain. Many fans will have sympathy for Hargreaves, but is it now too late for the player to make a return?

Review of Aston Villa vs Birmingham City

I recently went to the Aston Villa vs Birmingham City game at Villa Park on 31st October, incidently on Halloween. Fired up for the game, as I took my seat in the Holte, anticipation grew, and Kick-Off edged closer to reality. This is the big Birmingham derby, of course this is going to be a cracker...I wish I could have thought the same sort of thoughts at the end of the game.

Villa, with out the raw pace of injured striker Gabby Agbonlahor, looked too one-dimensional. Starting with a 5-man midfield with Emile Heskey as lone striker was just asking too much of the big front-man. Time after time the long ball was hoofed up to the former England international, and more often than not the plan failed miserably. Heskey had the chance to put Villa into a somewhat underserved lead in the 35th minute when Stuart Downing's low cross found Heskey's feet but the shot was scuffed. Having took complete control in the first 15-20 minutes, Villa went backwards and it was Birminghams game from then, and they will all be angry for not getting more than just a 1 pointed 0-0 draw.

The second half continued wheree the first had left off, with Birmingham dominating proceding and having the better of the play. Thier passing was much more sleek and fluent, whereas Villa were scrappy in play, thats when they actually managed to get the ball off the Blues. Stand-in captain Nigel Reo-Coker was fiery in the second and should be thanking referee Howard Webb that he didn't get sent off. After a few rash challenges he then started pushing around Liam Ridgewell. The introduction of little man Barry Bannan injected more pace into the team and pushed Ashley Young upfront to partner the struggling Heskey. Bannan nearly broke the deadlock as his shot from just inside the box just just about pushed over the bar by England goalkeeper Ben Foster. Still though, Birmingham were having the better of the play and if it wasn't for the quality safe hands of American Brad Friedel, would have gone ahead when, in the 79th minute , Nikola Zigic's powerful header was palmed over the bar by the Villa No.1. John Carew was brought on in the 82nd minute but it was just too late for him to make an impact, and apart from a saved header, didn't have time to do much else.

Birmingham derbys are hyped up, and almost never fail to deliver, but this game was one to forget, more for the Villa fans. Birmingham fans will be impressed with thier teams performance, but will be dissapointed to only come away with a point, such was the Blues dominence over the home team throughout the 90 minutes.