From Arsenal's demolition, to a spurned Hargreaves- What I missed, while I was gone

Fifteenth of July, 2011. At around 6 p.m. I finished my previous news article on this very site; and I prepared for a long break from writing altogether. Why the break? Because I had a lot to do- A new city, a new way of life, new people all around me- I needed time to settle. And some things had to be put on the backseat so that the morph would take place seamlessly. Among a few of those things were two of my favorite pastimes, Football and Writing.

Now I realise that this website is not my personal diary. I can’t use it to type out all my convoluted little impulses or track down my thoughts, but this article had to be written- As a justification to the (very few) people who read and like what I write, to a boss who’s been as frank and generous as a childhood friend, and to myself and my football; because I missed it, and it missed me. Moving on.

While I was on “football exile” (as I would like to call it) a lot has happened with the team I love, Manchester United. We’ve got a gem of a signing in Ashley Young, our youth players have started coming to the fore and Johnny Evans seems to have regained the confidence he lost since his first season; but on the flip-side, we’re struck by injury problems, our second-choice defence is quite inexperienced(with O’Shea and Wes Brown gone) and we’ve let go of a player that all the fans adored- Owen Hargreaves. In short, this start-of-the-season has been a bitter-sweet one for United thus far. We’ve mastered a tricky start to the Premier League, but floundered on an easy UCL group stage. Our frontmen have hit form, but we’ve lost some key men to injury. Our midfield is boosted by Tom Cleverley‘s brilliance, but we’ve lost the hope of seeing Hargreaves in a red jersey.

A blast of sad nostalgia. Hargreaves against Man City.

Coming first to the good things. While I was cut off from any direct way to football news, I had glorious friends who updated me about each hair that moved in the transfer window, and every little quote, action and reaction that kept the taste of football alive during these barren phases. I got to know that as the season was unfolding, United were playing attractive and brilliant attacking football- Rooney had regained his swagger as his hair follicles, Hernandez was sharp and a mercenary since his comeback, Young had settled quickly while Welbeck and Berbatov were playing well- but I was missing all of it. Instead, I was getting minor snippets of how things unfolded, I was downloading highlights on my phone, I was reading articles to how they had cut through defences but I was missing live matches, banter and writing. I was still in touch, but from afar. And that was the reason I was happy, yet a bit lonesome when United beat Arsenal 8-2. It was a fantastic result and I still have the full match highlights stored in my cellphone. From Young’s first, to the red card, to Rooney’s dead-ball heroics and RVP’s miss (and volley)- I could watch the video a million times, but it wouldn’t be half as good as watching the whole match, and then going out with the boys and drinking to the performance. Nevertheless, United were playing marvelous football, and it made me happy.

What a match! What a result!

But there has been one bitter piece of pie that has been stinging the tastebud all this while. Sure, the slow start in the Champion’s League and the injury problems have been bad news, but one of the worst bit was learning that we had let go of Owen Hargreaves. It got even worse when I was told that he had joined Manchester City. Yet somehow, in my mind, I defended the move. You might say it was blind love, or pity-love, or whatever, but I had come to terms with the fact that Hargreaves wished and joined our City rivals. A chance to stay back in the city, Champions League football (though he was omitted from the squad), and a chance to rival top teams for honours- he had decent reasons. But his comments after scoring his first goal for the Blues (which had evoked a smile in my mind) made matters all the more sour. He said United’s medical team had treated him as a guinea pig with their prolotherapy system, and claimed it made him feel his knees were made out of glass.

Owen's goal vs Birmingham City.

The comments were treated with criticism by Owen’s former club, who in turn praised their medical system. I have no idea what’s true and what’s not, but I believe United were good with Hargreaves. I can’t say about the medical staff, but the fans have been brilliant in chanting his name through injury and supporting him whenever he was close to a comeback. I personally respect Hargreaves for all he has done, and all that he’s been through for and with Manchester United. The comments obviously came as a surprise to me and I felt wrong-done in a way, because I never expected him to blame his failing fitness on United’s medical system.

“With my tendon injury, I’ve had to be a guinea pig for a lot of these treatments.” – Owen Hargreaves

Since then, my situation has become slightly better. I now have a stable WLAN connection for streaming matches. I also watched the United vs Chelsea game at a friend’s home, and will be back to regular writing quite soon. And what’s left to say is that all the things that have crossed the bridge have passed for good, and won’t come back. Hargreaves has turned Blue, Rooney has grown hair, and a new season has started. United are fighting for supremacy now, in a league where every other team has got significantly stronger. As for me, there still is much to do. But I know things will be easy now, as football is part of my life again.