- Paul Scholes believes the relationship between a manager and physio is crucial
- He claims Sir Alex Ferguson once told an injured player to battle through injury
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A former Manchester United star was once told ‘you’re playing’ by Sir Alex Ferguson after feeling his hamstring during a warm-up, Paul Scholes has claimed.
The Man United legend has alleged that Ferguson, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all time, took a huge risk with Owen Hargreaves’ fitness after growing ‘frustrated’ by the midfielder’s persistent injury woes.
In November 2010, Hargreaves was picked by Ferguson to start against Wolves at Old Trafford after a lengthy spell on the sidelines with injury — and lasted just five minutes before pulling up and hobbling off with another setback moments later.
According to Scholes, the manager was so keen for the midfielder to get minutes under his belt ahead of a crunch clash with Arsenal that he ignored Hargreaves feeling something in his hamstring before the Wolves match.
Opening up on the incident — and explaining how the relationship between a manager and physio can be one of the most important at a football club — Scholes told The Overlap Fan Debate, brought to you by Sky Bet: ‘I remember, we had Owen Hargreaves who was unfortunately injured a lot, and the manager eventually became frustrated because we couldn’t get him back.
‘I remember one game where we were playing Arsenal at home, Owen had been out for some time and was nearly back, and he went out for the warmup and came in feeling his hamstring and you could just see the anger and frustration in the manager’s face.
Sir Alex Ferguson once took a huge risk with a player after he ‘felt his hamstring in a warm-up’
Paul Scholes has claimed that the ‘frustrated’ manager told the injured star ‘you’re playing’
Owen Hargreaves only last five minutes before pulling up against Wolves in 2010, with Ferguson allegedly insistent on the midfielder featuring after a long spell on the sidelines
‘He said, “You’re playing,” and that was it. It didn’t end well – within 15 minutes, Owen had to come off and was out for a long time after that – there has to be frustration from managers as well.’
The brief appearance against Wolves was Hargreaves’ first start for Man United since September 2008, with the former England star enduring persistent injury problems at Old Trafford following his move from Bayern Munich in 2007.
Despite Hargreaves limping off, the Red Devils managed to edge out a narrow 2-1 win thanks to Park Ji-Sung netting his second goal of the game deep into added time.
After the match, Ferguson reluctantly revealed that Hargreaves would be out for a further five weeks and admitted he ‘took a chance’ on the midfielder’s condition.
‘We were at the stage where we knew Owen’s knee was okay,’ Ferguson said at the time. ‘His training performances for eight or nine days previously had been terrific.
‘He had done really well, which is why we took the chance. But maybe the tension in the build-up for the lad was too much and he suffered because of it.’
Despite Ferguson expecting the former England international back weeks later, Hargreaves remained out for the rest of the 2010-11 season, which ended with Manchester United lifting yet another Premier League title.
Hargreaves’ cameo against Wolves marked the last Premier League appearance he made for the club, before joining local rivals Manchester City in the summer of 2011.
His cameo against Wolves marked the last Premier League appearance he made for the club
Ferguson went on to lift the Premier League trophy that season, despite Hargreaves’ injury
He went on to make just for four appearances for City during his one-year spell there, with only one of those coming in the Premier League.
It meant, despite being involved in the on-pitch celebrations, Hargreaves did not qualify for a Premier League winners’ medal after Manchester City beat QPR to win the title in dramatic fashion on the final day of the 2011-12 campaign.
