Owen Hargreaves

  
I first saw Owen Hargreaves playing for Bayern Munich in late 2000. What made me interested in him is he was the only English man in the Bayern Munich team. This was a bit surprising because apart from Steve McManaman who was then at Real Madrid I had not heard of any other English player playing abroad that time.

He started first by making substitutes appearances but as the season progressed he started to gain the confidence of Ottmar Hitzfeld such that by the end of the season he was the first choice central midfielder for Bayern Munich. He started the 2001 Champions League final against Valencia where they won on penalties.

Sven Goran Eriksson seemed not to trust him before the 2002 world cup but when he lost Kieron Dyer to injury Hargreaves got his chance and he impressed although Goran Eriksson continued to use him sparingly until the 2006 world cup where he was the best English player.

Manchester United pounced after the world cup for his signature and the first season he performed well except for his injuries.

Of particular is this game against Arsenal in 2008 . Cristiano Ronaldo was the de facto freekick taker, so when Man United got a freekick on the edge of the penalty area 
everybody expected Ronaldo to take the freekick. Owen Hargreaves stepped up and boy what a beauty. Jens Lehmann had no say,  he just stood rooted on the spot as the ball struck the back of the net.

That was Hargreaves, who was bought from Bayern Munich to replace midfield maestro Roy Keane. In the few games he played he was more than Roy Keane. 

Manchester United were strong in midfield and defence. Case in example is the 2008 Champions League final, where Ferguson realized Wes Brown was the weak link in the defence to counter that he played Hargreaves on the right of defence where he performed superbly. This formation ended up denying Ji Sung Park a place in the team even though Hargreaves was not that match fit.

Too bad for his injuries but those 27 appearances he made for Manchester United will always be remembered. He was a great treasure but injuries curtailed his career. 

Manchester United vs Arsenal down memory lane

                        
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Classic Matches between Manchester United and Arsenal 

Manchester United 2 Arsenal 1 1999 FA Cup semi-final (after extra time)

Ryan Giggs wonder goal settled this tie in extra time. Arsenal had the chance to win it through Denis Bergkamp penalty but Peter Schmeichel (the great Dane) saved it.

Manchester United 6 Arsenal 1 2001

A classic display from Dwight Yorke as he scored a hat trick to sink Arsenal at Old Trafford.

Manchester United 0 Arsenal 2 (2002/2003 FA Cup)

Led to the fallout between Ferguson and Beckham. A miskicked boot in the dressing by Ferguson hit Beckham just above the eye brow. He was later sold to Madrid.

Arsenal 2 Manchester United 4(2004)

John O'Shea scored the fourth goal in this unbelievable match.. Cristiano Ronaldo had two, Dennis Bergkamp scored a sublime goal but Manchester United were unstoppable.

Arsenal 1 Manchester United 3 (2009 UCL quarter finals) 

Arsenal had lost the first leg at Old Trafford with a single goal, so they were hopeful of over turning the tie. Their hopes were extinguished in the first 13 minutes by Cristiano Ronaldo and Ji Sung Park.

Manchester United 8 Arsenal 2 (2011 Premier League) 

An odd scoreline. This game was so open that even Arsenal could have scored their own six or eight goals. Every shot on target by Manchester United was a goal. Ashley Young was astounding same as Rooney. Robin Van Persie was immense for Arsenal.

Manchester United 3 Arsenal 2(2016 Premier League) 

The day Marcus Rashford announced himself to the world. Two clinical finishes and an assist to Ander Herrera condemned Arsenal to defeat. This game everybody expected Arsenal to roll over Manchester United because of the team Manchester United were fielding after the first team had been ravaged by injuries.

Best FA Cup games involving United

So far it has been a disappointing season for Manchester United. With Thursday's loss to Midtjylland the only realistic chance for united winning a trophy is the FA Cup.

Monday they visit Shrewsbury, a tricky fixture.

Over the years Man United has been involved in some mouth watering ties in the FA Cup.

Manchester United 0 Arsenal 2

This game led to the departure of David Beckham from Manchester United in 2003. Ferguson was so furious that he kicked a boot which ended up hitting Beckham just above the eye. While Beckham played down the incident, his days at Old Trafford were numbered.

Manchester United 3 Millwall 0

While this game is not known for being explosive,  it's significance cannot be ignored. It is the last time Manchester United won the FA Cup. A youthful Cristiano Ronaldo was among the scorers as United easily won the game at the Millennium Stadium.

Manchester United would later appear in two other finals,  against Arsenal in 2005 where they completely outplayed Arsenal but ended up losing on penalty shootout and Chelsea in 2007 losing by a single goal from Didier Drogba.

The replay

A highly explosive semi-final encounter with Arsenal in 1999 was settled by perhaps the greatest goal in the FA Cup history. The dream for the Treble had just began

Video for the goal