Manchester City’s new signing Owen Hargreaves made a fantastic debut for his new club, scoring the opening goal in the 2-0 Carling Cup victory over Birmingham.
Owen Hargreaves talks after impressive debut for City
Though the midfielder is happy with the ‘new chapter’ in his football career, he took the opportunity to hit out at his former club Manchester United for the club’s improper treatment of his injury.
In an interview to The Guardian, Hargreaves said: “I’ve had to be a guinea pig for a lot of these treatments. But when you’re left to try to make something of a difficult situation, it’s not really an option to say: ‘Let’s sit it out and rest for six months.’
“With hindsight it’s a lot easier. And, yes, the injections I had I probably should not have had.
“But it’s difficult. All the people there [at United] are lovely. Everybody tries their best but, at times, you come to a certain point when you need to make a decision. They said it [the injections] would help and that I wouldn’t have any side-effects.”
Hargreaves, who had to spend nearly two seasons on the sidelines, continued: “That obviously wasn’t the case and, if I’d known I could have had a reaction like that, I wouldn’t have done it. It’s my career – I’m in it.
“I’m trying to get all this information. I’m hearing about tendons and, before, I didn’t know anything about tendons. I mean, I knew I had one, but I didn’t know its real function.”
He added: I’d watch games and, as funny as it sounds, I’d actually be jealous of the way people could move. I’d wonder if I was ever going to be able to be as sharp, things like that.”
Despite all the unfortunate happening, he still thanked the people at United saying: “United are one of the biggest clubs in the world with Barcelona and Real Madrid. They have a lot of wonderful people there. I’m sad for myself that I wasn’t able to play a bigger part there.”
After the Carling Cup match, Roberto Mancini was happy with the former England midfielder’s performance, but stated that the playmaker was yet to recover fully. The City gaffer said, “He has played 60 minutes for us and now he needs to recover very well.
“It’s important we don’t overdo it with him because if he can become the fantastic player he was, I think he will be important for us and also for the England team.”
Tags: Birmingham, Carling Cup, Football, Manchester City, Manchester United, Midfielder, Owen Hargreaves, The Guardian
