Thank You Owen Hargreaves...And Goodnight. Time To Move For Ozil?

I felt sick yesterday when I heard the news that all good United fans were wishing their ears not to listen to.

Owen Hargreaves is back in the States because of his injury again.

When Hargreaves was purchased, which seems like an age ago now, I was delighted. And that was because I believed he was that mythical player we like to call 'The Missing Piece of the Jigsaw'.....and I was right. That year we won the league and European Cup double, and despite injury, Mr Hargreaves (and a certain Argentine) drove us on to glory with our usual suspects.

But now, in the year 2010, Hargo has not started a game for the club for what will soon be two years. Both United and England have suffered for this..what would have happened in that Champions League final against Barca if Hargreaves had played? Would United have got that extra couple of points last year to get championship number 19 if he had bossed our midfield? Would England have faired any better in the World Cup with a genuine driving force?

All 'Ifs' and 'Buts'..but all valid questions of retrospection.

The news that Hargo has again been packed off to Colorado is a bitter blow to him, but also to the progression of United as a team. A fit again Hargreaves would have had the press and Sir Alex wheeling out that old chestnut 'He's like signing a new 20 million quid signing' ..and they'd have all been right. Emotionally there's a balance to be met when dealing with injured players. Of course a club must always be patient and United have been brilliant in the past to talent which has been cut down with injury. But maybe time has now officially run out for Hargreaves.

I personally have begged whatever God or beast that controls our destinies the chance that Hargreaves will play again for United, but yesterday I feel that that request was firmly answered. Once I get that bolt from the blue, my mind changes tact in a split second. I believe we have to now face facts. If Hargreaves ever made it back to the level that we demand at Manchester United it would be a minor miracle...but how long are we supposed to wait??

Another 4 weeks? Maybe 3 months? What about 6?

You can only let the head rule the heart for a certain period of time.

I think most United fans feel that we need an injection of talent this transfer window. There is now a hugely diminished chance that Hargo will even get the opportunity to earn a new contract, and that is shrinking by the day. With a mooted £25 million bid in the Ferguson pipeline for Mehmut Ozil, who is in the last year of his contract at Werder Bremen, and the epic performances of Darren Fletcher, who has made the non-Hargreaves months so much easier to deal with, it is time we all looked ahead, rather than to the treatment table.

Despite only playing a handful of games, I will miss Hargreaves. He is the closest thing United have signed to both Bryan Robson and Roy Keane..lots of blood and thunder and putting yourself where it hurts. Lady Luck has been cruel to the lad, but the timer on the oven is nearly pointing to 'cooked' I hope maybe we can retain him in a coaching capacity, and give him a post playing career..but once again i guess that is thinking with your heart again rather than your head. As I just mentioned, Darren Fletcher has turned into a glorious footballer..one which I certainly didn't predict. His combination of aggression, work-rate, tactical knowledge and ball skill is a testament that even those with limited ability can become top class professionals of genuine value. Some football fans still don't see this in him. But most of us know better. I'm happy for Fletcher to become United's enforcer for the season ahead and probably for a long time after. If Arsenal had a Darren Fletcher last season, they would have won the league.

So...thanks for that freekick against Arsenal, Hargo. Im happy to say I was there and screamed the house down with 70,000 other Mancs. And thanks for the penalty scored in Moscow. We all died a thousand times behind that goal in the Luzhniki Stadium that glorious night, but we all somehow knew you would bury your kick.

As the song goes..Oh Owen Hargreaves you are the love of my life. Our time together was fleeting, but never ever forgotten.

Sneijder Would Be Nice, But Here's The Truth...

The panes of glass in the transfer window have well and truly been cleaned up for its grand central placing in all football fans' minds when we get the World Cup over and done with this weekend. For us from countries that didn't do so well (ahem...England, Italy, France, etc) it couldn't really come quick enough. We are already drowning in speculation of new players, and eat every morsel of nourishment that is fed to our salivating mouths.

The latest (and biggest for United fans) one that has surfaced is about the alleged impending swoop by our club for Wesley Sneijder.

Now I don't claim to be a mind reader, but when we sold ol Cristiano to those fellas at Madrid, I begged for Sir Alex to sign Sneijder as part of the deal. The Spaniards were willing to let go of him for under £15 million and I just thought it was too good to be true. Even a year ago it was evident that Paul Scholes was slowly edging his way to the knackers yard in the sky, and at that price it was too good to be true....so of course we let him sign for Inter Milan.

Fast forward 12 months on, and the Dutchman has won the treble with a dogmatic Inter team, and is now staring a World Cup final in the face. His value has trebled, and it's fair to say he now sits at the table that was exclusively reserved for Mr Xavi and Mr Ineista. It's not a particularly meteoric rise, as his quality has always been there, but it's been a quick succession from being a very very good footballer to be a truly marquee name.

..and now suddenly United want him....to replace Scholesy.

The press report that United have made a £29 million bid, which is all very nice. But does anyone really think that will make the Italians sell?

I don't. And here is why:

The market now consists of three elements...

At the bottom of the tree lie 99% of all football clubs, from your Athletico Madrids to your Wolfsburgs. From your Aston Villas to your Fiorentinas. Then in the middle lie a hub of teams that are considered 'very good/elite'. We are one of those elite clubs..along with Chelsea, Inter, AC Milan and Barcelona, going through to Arsenal, Liverpool, Juventus and Bayern Munich and ending with the likes of Spurs, Roma and Lyon.

And at the top of the tree lie two teams:

Real Madrid and Manchester City.

Now anyone can distinguish the difference between these two clubs. One is a multiple times European champion, and the other wants to at least play Champions League football! But that's were the comparisons stop. City have already shown their muscle this summer with the signings of Yaya Toure and David Silva...ok they are not marquee names as such, but they are considered as immensely talented. Add a Fernando Torres to this, and God forbid a Nemanja Vidic, and you suddenly have a team capable of winning any club trophy on the planet. City have signalled their intent, and unfortunately they have the bank balance to back it up..

Which leads me back to Sneijder..

If Wesley becomes available there is only two places he is going. Mourinho now holds control at Madrid, and Sneijder is his boy. On the other hand, if Sneijder wishes to become wealthier than his wildest dreams he may well have a chat with Yaya, who has been given a £200k a week contract, and that may well turn his..and his agent's head.

It is folly to believe that any footballer would turn down the sums of cash that only City and Madrid can offer. You often hear the players mouth the old cliche that 'a footballers career is a short one blah blah blah' and when it comes to wages, they get their agents to act as such...huge 3-5 year contracts, so they can sit on their yachts in the Med for the rest of their lives after the age of 36. It's nice work if you can get it. Its also crass to think that players move clubs in the modern age for the reasons of prestige. Would Cesc Fabregas want to 'go home' to his local club if it was Espanol? I doubt it. At the highest level players only really move clubs because their team no longer wants them (as when Sneijder left for Italy) or if they are offered a King's random. Simple and ruthless. It's a business.

So just from a point of logic, Wesley Sneijder will not be wearing a United shirt anytime soon. Like many fans I want the Glazers out, but I did also think they would understand that a marquee signing was needed when you lose two in both Ron and Tev. It's clear that United now have a 'ceiling' when it comes to the total transfer package of fee and wages. This is no bad thing, both financially and from a stance of morality. But when we start talking about the biggest and best players in the sport the truth is none of them will be heading to Old Trafford. £29 million is ALOT of money..but it's just the small change of coins dropped down the back of Man City's sofa!..or just a small slice of Perez pie!! Any player that is 'that' high profile and is on our radar will almost definitely be snagged by the new Big Two..even if it's just to spite us!

So I advise my fellow United fan...don't get wrapped up in the hype. The agenda is for us to go after players that have 'that' potential, and are not already winning their teams Champions Leagues and World Cups. I heard mentioned today that Lucas Podolski was now a target. After a fine World Cup his name is back up there, but it was only five minutes ago that his name was mud in club football. At around £16 million, he is the sort of target we need to concentrate on. Chicharito wasn't really getting anyone excited four weeks ago, and now suddenly post World Cup he already looks like a bargain at £10 million! Lets hope that translates into Red Devils form and goals sometime soon.

And lets face it..it's what Fergie normally does. Evra and Vidic were cheap as chips. Valencia looks a steal. Carrick and Hargreaves were slightly overpriced but well within budget, and we have a wealth of talent from the youth system, whether it be Ryan Giggs all the way through to the DaSilva twins.

One or two 'really good footballers', and I think we will be on the verge of silverwear once again. If Fergie can get the jigsaw pieces sorted early, fitting them together may well be the easy part.

And if we really do have some money to spend, I suggest we take a look at both Rafael Van Der Vaart and Alexis Sanchez..both who would be well within our capture net. And both who could become potential superstars of the game.

I Hope Wayne Rooney Sticks It Up All Of YOU!

The script was written before even a ball was kicked.

Young Mister Rooney got his mandatory dodgy injury towards the back end of the season with his ankle going pop, gets dragged through to the summer carrying knocks galore after a hard year, and then arrives at a World Cup already completely jaded, along with his other numpty England internationals.

It was always going to be a horror show in my eyes.

The criticism levelled at Wayne Rooney in many ways has been largely deserved. When you put yourself up there, you are there to be shot at. And in England we love nothing more than to decimate the reputations of people and players that only last week we were lauding. Rooney looked lackluster in the four England games..half the player he is in the Red shirt. Why this is is not clear. Whatever effected Roo obviously was a collective problem. A Lampard that scores goals for fun for his club looked lost. Gerrard showed bits of quality, only to get continually pulled out of position at vital times through a lack of discipline. And the rest just laboured along.

It was rubbish and so typically English.

Some of the stuff thrown at Rooney in the post mortem of the World Cup has been vile and disgusting. Yes the lad opened his gob to a camera in anger and said something he shouldn't. But now he is being used as the symbol and embodiment of England's failure, when only three weeks ago the filth rags of the British tabloids were quoting that it was possible that Roo could walk on water in the cause of World Cup glory. Anyone with half a brain never believes the so called flagwavers tale that England can face adversity a la the 'two world wars' and turn that into a Dunkirk spirit success on a strip of grass in Africa. Yet the hysteria that has followed just goes to show how many England fans do indeed have LESS than half a brain!

The United die-hard in me really would love Rooney to just pack England in now. Gossip sites have said that Ashley Morality Cole has had texts intercepted that say he hates playing for England....and for once I can see why that mindset exists. United players have always had it hard playing for England. Butt, Scholes and the Nevilles would have their touches booed by the so called Three Lions fans whilst representing their country. David Beckham had effigies burned of him post the 1998 World Cup. And now we have Wazza.

England supporters want to destroy Rooney because he didn't produce what they wanted...and that was winning the World Cup all on his own. And why did they think this? Because The Sun told them that it was possible. Because The Mirror said it was possible. Because The Star said it was possible. England DO have good players, but as a team we KNOW they are not that good. And why? Because they haven't proved it for years. We talk about our success at Italia 90...yes we got to a semi final but the truth was that England were uninspiring during that run, hardly knew where the back of the net was, and without Gary Lineker would have been going home a lot earlier...but we've convinced ourself that we were great in 1990 and that is how the English history books will tell the tale for the rest of football time.

So I say to you England fans...stick Darren Bent in your England team..or Carlton Cole..or Bobby Zamora. And if you think Emile Heskey had so much more of a greater World Cup than Roo then stick with him...BUILD YOUR TEAM AROUND HIM! My opinion now is you do not deserve Rooney battling for the country in years to come. Stick with your Crouch-a-likes instead.

I wont be supporting England in the near future..I've had enough of it. I cant align myself with a set of fans that destroy their team when they've had a few bad games..no matter how big thoses games were. Did you all see how the Argentines welcomed back their team? They took an even bigger beating than us at the hands of Germany, yet their fans turned up in their thousands to welcome back the players and staff, and to let them know that despite the disappointment and adversity that they were all still ONE.

Would we ever see that in England??

Never.

So I hope Wayne comes to your ground sometime soon in our Red...and shows you exactly what he is all about.

It is all you deserve.

Is England's Failure A Product Of Our Mentality? Absolutely 100% YES

Today is a black day for the English National Team. I really don't need to point that out. Four games of underwhelming quality provided by multi-millionaire players who'd really rather be docked off a Monte Carlo port in their ridiculously large yachts, than play football in Africa's 'Winter conditions'

Many things will be said about England's shambles of a tournament starting with Terrygate months ago, to the England captain getting injured in his first training session not 24 hours off the plane, to Capello's bizarre loyalty to the 4-4-2- formation and an Aston Villa striker who hasn't scored since February, and ending with the completely stellar capitulation at the hands of the oldest of enemies.

You could write a book about it...but no one would want to read it.

The hardest thing to take is there are absolutely ZERO positives to be taken away from the whole thing. No Owen Hargreaves like performances from last time. Not even a robot dance from a funny looking man. Just utter and conclusive bewilderment at the entity called 'English Football'

So it begs the question....just what is wrong with us??? Is it just those playboy footballers on the pitch, or is it something a tad deeper?

Now I could bring up our nations strange fixation with celebrity, and our general 'throw-away culture', but this would lead to an article that would need chapters and verse! So lets break things down....

The biggest problem we saw today was not lack of heart (as I'm sure the tabloids will point to as reason in the coming days) It was not even a team formation I was personally hugely against (having watched Wayne Rooney blossom in a 4-5-1 these past twelve months) The biggest issue that I saw today was one simple thing...and that is every English players first touch..or more specifically, the lack of it.

To not be able to control a ball with your first touch normally means that you wont make it to any decent standard as a player. Yet here we are, on the biggest stage of all...and our players cant even do the basics. To add to this our passing was also embarrassing. All of our ten yard passing became hospital balls, and at the other end of the scale you had Steven Gerrard attempting to play 'glory balls' three miles long to absolutely no one. It was utterly chronic to witness.

For me this is England's single most pressing issue. It's got nothing to do with pride, and honour, and solidarity, and everything to do with technique. When you cannot covert the ball..love and caress it..you have got little chance. Watch the Brazilians, Argentinians and Spaniards. Hell! Watch the Slovakians, the Chileans and the Mexicans!! I would even go as far as saying that South Korea now pass the ball better than we do. It is shameful.

This simple yet fundamental failure of the skillbase of our national game has little to do with the players in the Three Lions today, and everything to do with the way we approach football as inhabitants of the United Kingdom. It starts with our children. Introduced to the sport which is sold to them as a hustle and bustle game. A sport that we sell to them as being a religion, and one they must not fail at. Parents stand on touchlines across Britain screaming "Get stuck in son!" "Bloody smash him kid!" and "Chase it CHASE IT!!!" We demand that they understand the physical nature of our brand of football. You must be fast. You must be strong. You must play at one hundred miles an hour. It stinks of machismo, and is all more for the benefit of the parents who live vicariously through their offspring....for this is the 'English Way'

If said child conforms to these set of principles they progress through our system. By the age of seven they are taught to 'run the channel' if they have attacking prowess. Or if they are more defensively inclined we teach them the 'technique' to head the ball high into Outer Space. At 11, they are playing on full size pitches, and being paraded to scouts from clubs who look for centre-backs with 'size' and wingers who have 'pace'.. Finally as a teen they may just make it into some professional teams youth academy, where they will get kicked pillar to post by boys they are attempting to kick from pillar to post. Eventually they may become a Pro.

All of this is the path of the English footballer, all described in a mere two paragraphs. And the sad thing is there really is not a lot more to it!

Ball skills are forsaken. The first touch is mentioned like a dirty word. Competition is promoted ahead of actually learning your craft. Ive witnessed it first hand both as a parent, and as a child myself. As a kid I always had a good first touch. This was because I ran round our council estate with a football glued to my foot from the age of 7 to 14. I liked to play up front, but I was small. In my local side the lad who was a foot taller than me, and a yard quicker than me would always get picked ahead...even though I could 'Cruyff turn' him into dust. I could curl a ball into the top corner more times than not, but because I couldn't out jump my marker, and that he would smash me into the middle of next week to stop me, gave me a distinct disadvantage in the Coach's eye. And as I said...it was all about competition..and not learning the game. I can remember once beating two lads on the right, getting to the by-line and putting in an inch perfect cross..only for my Coach to tell me that "You dont get any F-in points for trying to be Michel F-in Platini" and that I should have lumped the ball in from deep. Flair was not to be encouraged, or even accepted.

I still see this set of principles as a parent now. The same mandate. If you're fast then you are 'good at football'. If you are physically bigger than the norm for your age then you are 'good at football'. If you are as brave as a lion then you are 'good at football'

Virtually no emphasis is put on skill.

In Holland it is well known how they teach their kids. No 11 a-side games til they are much older, with everything being about possession of the ball, retention of the ball, EVERYTHING TO DO WITH THE BALL!! Not pace or power. Not height. Not strength. But the things that make players like Lionel Messi special. That made Dennis Bergkamp and his fellow Ajax graduates little geniuses..

The things that make our game.. 'beautiful'

Yet here we are. On our knees after probably our worst World Cup ever. And there is absolutely no quick fix. No manager in the world of even Mourinho proportions could sort out a whole nation's ideological issues. It is us and our British mentality that is to blame. It's how we have defined our culture. All fisticuffs and crunching tackles. We would prefer to be beer-bellied Phil Mitchells than trust "that foreign muck!" The first rule of the game in most footballing nations is that you must be able to control and pass a ball first and foremost. Yet in Britain it is one of the last.

Now I could go on and talk about how the FA should be gutted from the inside out. That the proposed National Centre of Excellence lack of being built at Burton is a total disgrace to the powers that be. And that our pros should be able to play simple passing football like the Germans. But it would all be just futile written words.

Our very British attitude of 'Lets not do anything before we have a disaster' is the only thing that triggers change to our bland palettes.

Was this World Cup a disaster?

Maybe not enough of one to the scores of parents that bark at their children on the little league touchlines of Blighty.

Our lack of tolerance exposed by the Vuvuzela

Everyone and their mothers are jumping up on their soapboxes to tell us just how annoying the vuvuzela is.

The instrument originates from Mexico and South America...where such noise making instruments are common place in football stadiums. The ever colourful and bashful Brazilians have their Samba rhythm section at all their games...but as most Brits hear a version of this on Strictly Come Dancing, it is more than acceptable to our Simon Cowell controlled palettes.

BBC sports commentator Farayi Mungazi said the sound of the horn was the "recognised sound of football in South Africa" and is "absolutely essential for an authentic South African footballing experience". I understand totally why this decibel challenging instrument is annoying so many. Nobody really likes sitting with their head stuck up an active beehive. But the protest against the vuvuzela has a deeper significance for me.

One of the main points of this World Cup was to finally include Africa in sharing the hosting duties of our greatest tournament. Despite the poverty and issues of stability and safety, South Africa was chosen after finally dissolving itself of 'White Rule' and we all stood back and applauded that a society could sort out its issues, no matter how testing and how long it would take. Mandela was touted as our modern day Gandhi, and we all got a warm feeling in our hearts.

So here we are, a global football community..moving forward together. And what do we go on about? The sound of a bloody horn! Mungazi also said there was no point in taking the World Cup to Africa and then "trying to give it a European feel"...and I totally agree with him.

For me this is all a question of our society's tolerance levels. We pontificate about the cosmopolitan developed genes we have in the West, yet we cant stand the noise of an authentic African football match....and we are gonna let the whole world know about it!

"Ban them horns!" "They destroy atmosphere!" "They make me sick!" "Its a disgrace!" "I wont watch anymore of this World Cup!"...just a minuscule amount of statements I've heard and also read on Twitter, Facebook and the like. So how would we feel if the Africans said..."Erm..excuse me England..we don't like your travelling brass band..playing Rule Britannia, etc...so we are gonna call for FIFA to ban it"....what would we all say to that? There would be jingoistic Facebook groups set up to counter protest within a heartbeat. We'd beat our chest and stick a certain couple of fingers up in the correct direction.

Yet here we are...telling another nation...what they should do...in their own back yard.

This is an African world cup.....IN AFRICA.....

Not in England. Not in the United States of America. Not anywhere else.

It is for them to create the atmosphere that they normally create. And it is for us to applaud them and be tolerant. For us to understand that in different places they do things differently. I personally dislike hearing all the 'YOU-ESS-AAIII' chants from Americans...because it's quite a grating repetitive ditty..but I would never ever tell them that they were wrong for chanting this...because it would make me an ignorant idiot.

So people....enjoy this World Cup. Appreciate that the world has progressed in certain regions...this tournament was once thought never to be possible on this continent. It's there to be celebrated. I know the vast majority of fans out there attending games think the vuvuzela has been a great addition to the atmosphere of a match...and as a very regular attendant of English football matches, where I sit with many fans who'd rather eat a packet of crisp than sing, and nip off ten minutes before the end to 'avoid the traffic' I fully give the vuvuzela my undying support.

And if you really cant stand the noise just turn the TV down!

Well done Bafana Bafana. Your colour will enlighten our history books in years to come.

Gerrard/Lampard Axis Of Poison! - England's Ego Smothers Potential Success AGAIN! - Eng 1 USA 1

Of course it's very easy to point towards a goalkeeper that conceded 66 goals last season..Robert Green, who had his 'Scott Carson' moment, which will go down as one of those famous English failures on the biggest stage of all. But of course it is only half the story..

After the obvious deflation that all of us England fans will feel post match, it is quite clear to me why we didn't win this game...and its born of an age old problem. This problem seemed to be invisible to the pundits of ITV, who covered the match in the UK. Allegedly we didn't win this game because of a goalkeeping error. Well even those with zero football knowledge would have been able to deduce that. However the real problem of why we couldn't drive on and take the points is one that all English men and women have discussed in pubs and homes up and down the country since the year dot!

Once again for me the huge egos of Lampard and Gerrard have effected a performance and result for England..and as you know I don't mean in a good way! Of course, Gerrard took his goal beautifully. Credit to him for that. But as a central pair they refused to work in tandem, asserting no control on possession of the ball for any period of time, allowing the USA to have way too much opportunity going forward, and ultimately allowing a huge failure to happen on the night.

Of the two, I think Lampard was the most to blame. He looked lacklustre at best. His link play was so poor that in the last period of the game Wayne Rooney was playing in the positions you would expect Lamps to pick up on. Gerrard had moments of inspiration bar his goal, including some good tackles and crosses..but this is a team game! You would think that these two much lauded world class midfielders have never even met each other! Their communication issues are born of the two huge club egos that they both carry...both icons for their teams..who can not put this aside when they wear the 3 Lions on their shirts.

This is such a poisonous element for the whole side as it effects the heartbeats of England...none more of that than of Wayne Rooney's. The boy struggled all night, neither playing as a striker or linking successfully with the central midfield two. The thing to realise is that OUR PLAYERS DO NOT LACK TECHNIQUE! They show their class every week for their clubs. But today once again we saw today how England ruin themselves with a cocktail of bad decisions and ego mania.

As an addition there were other issues on the night. One being the performance of Shaun Wright Phillips, who proved that maybe his room in the team hotel should have been that of his City teammate Johnsons, or even Theo Walcotts. Ledley King's injury was a huge blow as Jamie Carragher looked like a player with zero pace.... and when Emile Heskey is your best player in the team for simply bullying the opposition, linking play to a good standard, getting caught offside way too much and drilling the teams best chance of the night into the mid drift of Tim Howard...well you know you've got problems.

Algeria will offer England all sorts of different problems next Friday...but the truth is that we have little chance of success in this tournament when players cant put their egotism aside and just get down to basics and play good, simple football. If we persist to lump balls up to Heskey, bypassing our only world class striker and leaving great talent like Joe Cole on the side, then it could be a very early end to the World Cup for our nation.

THE FAITHFUL: A Yanks take on the Glazers dynasty of debt

Here is a link to my new joint MUFC publication, featuring an article by Katie Preece (@manugirl11 on twitter) It is a piece written by an American United fan about our American owners, and the burden they have saddled every United fan with...have a read and leave a comment.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE LATEST EDITION FROM THE FAITHFUL

Glory glory Man United!