Owen Hargreaves will be remembered fondly at Manchester United for his influence in Sir Alex Ferguson’s double-winning side in 2008.
It has been 17 years since Manchester United last won the Champions League, which is an example of the heights Ruben Amorim wants to achieve at Old Trafford during his time as head coach.
After a difficult first six months for United’s head coach, losing the Europa League final and finishing 15th in the Premier League, there is hope for improvement next term.
Ineos are expected to support Amorim in the transfer market by strengthening his squad ahead of the new campaign, but there is a lot of work to do to get United back to their previous heights.
United fans can only reflect on memories in the Champions League because they won’t be making any new ones next season, with the team without European football after poor results on the pitch.
Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images
Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images
Owen Hargreaves hails Man Utd 2008 double winners
In 2008, United completed the Premier League and Champions League double.
It was a squad that featured star players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Paul Scholes and the best defence in Europe that season.
Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic formed a formidable partnership in the heart of defence, and United had plenty of quality in the full-back positions with Patrice Evra, Owen Hargreaves and Wes Brown.
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Hargreaves joined United from Bayern Munich in the summer leading up to that season, after missing most of the previous campaign with a broken leg. That didn’t stop the Canada international from enjoying a memorable first season at Old Trafford.
“People don’t tend to leave a big club like Bayern of their own accord,” Hargreaves told FourFourTwo. “Bayern is a great club, a massive club, and if they want a player, they usually keep him, as the possibility of winning trophies is almost guaranteed.
“But I knew United were interested and, with the team they had at the time and Sir Alex Ferguson in charge, I was keen.
“I knew all of the boys from England – Rio Ferdinand, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, Wayne Rooney – and I knew they had been talking to Sir Alex about me. They knew that I had the right mindset for United.
“I felt very privileged to swap a club like Bayern for one like Manchester United, with the history those two clubs have. Ferguson didn’t have to say much to convince me. I was honoured he wanted me – I couldn’t say yes quickly enough.”
Hargreaves went on to reveal that the 2008 United team was the best side he was part of, despite having played in great teams at Bayern Munich.
“It was an unbelievable team, so I would probably have to say yes it was [the best team I’d ever played in], with no disrespect to my Bayern team-mates,” he continued.
“It had absolutely everything. The front three of Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez could all score every type of goal and they were a midfielder’s dream, because they worked so hard out of possession.
“Wayne and Carlos, in particular, were like extra ball-winners in the middle – horrible to play against. Cristiano won his Ballon d’Or in 2008 and was the best player on the planet. He was a machine that season. I played a lot alongside Michael Carrick, who just oozed class and was so positionally intelligent, and Paul Scholes, the best passer I ever played with. There was the defence, too, with Rio, Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra, and Edwin van der Sar in goal.
“The unsung heroes were just as important – John O’Shea, Darren Fletcher and Park Ji-sung.”
Hargreaves enjoyed Ferguson’s man-management
It is no wonder that United have struggled since Ferguson’s retirement in 2013.
The legendary manager had an incredible winning mentality and knew how to lead a group of winners.
That was the case again in 2008 as Ferguson won the Champions League for a second time.
Hargreaves explains that the players had plenty of fun off the pitch at United, but Fergie made sure they would get the job done on the pitch.
“We had loads of fun off the pitch, but Fergie made sure it was strictly business when we stepped onto the field,” Hargreaves added.
“We knew how to win every kind of game: we could dominate the ball against the smaller teams, hit teams like Arsenal and Barcelona on the counter-attack, and grind out a scrappy win against teams like Chelsea. When things were purring, we could blow opponents away.”