Manchester United legend Paul Scholes has recalled one incident where a furious Sir Alex Ferguson made a decision that backfired for him during his managerial reign.
Paul Scholes spent his entire legendary playing career — across two separate spells — at Old Trafford under iconic former Red Devils manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
The 50-year-old former England international is widely regarded as one of the best midfielders of all time after his sensational impact at Manchester United.
Scholes rose through the ranks of the United youth academy in the 1990s and he became a key mainstay in the Red Devils first-team under Ferguson.
One of the famed ‘Class of ‘92’ stars, the United legend lifted 11 Premier League titles, two Champions League titles, three FA Cups and two League Cups.
Scholes initially called it time on his legendary playing career in 2011 before he made a U-turn on his retirement and returned to United in 2012.
The former United midfielder was part of the last Red Devils team that lifted the Premier League title in the 2012-13 campaign before Scholes retired in 2013.
Scholes on Ferguson and ex-Man Utd star
Paul Scholes opened up on Sir Alex Ferguson’s major decision to play former Manchester United and England midfielder Owen Hargreaves when he was injured.
Ferguson brought Owen Hargreaves to Old Trafford in 2007 after United paid a fee believed to be around £17m to German side Bayern Munich.
Hargreaves’ United spell was disrupted by injuries and the former Bayern Munich midfielder managed only 39 appearances for the Red Devils.
The ex-England international suffered another setback in his United career in November 2010 after he started against Wolves and lasted less than 10 minutes.
Hargreaves was forced off and the ex-United star had felt an issue with his hamstring before the Wolves match during his warm-up.
“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,” Scholes said on The Overlap.
“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.”
Ferguson’s instruction to Hargreaves
Despite the niggling feeling that Hargreaves had about his hamstring, Scholes claimed Ferguson sent the clear-cut message that his ex-teammate would play.
However, the decision backfired for Ferguson and Hargreaves pulled up with his injury in the 2-1 Premier League win over Wolves at Old Trafford in 2010.
Former United manager Ferguson was forced to hook Hargreaves off and replaced him with Bebe within 10 minutes of the Premier League match.
“He said, ‘You’re playing,’ and that was it,” Scholes continued.
“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.”
from United In Focus https://ift.tt/TEHfO7l