Hargreaves: 'I feel great'
Tuesday, 27 May, 2008
Owen Hargreaves says he feels in great shape as England prepare to face USA at Wembley.
England v USA
International Friendly
8.05pm, Wednesday 28 May 2008
Wembley Stadium
Owen Hargreaves says that he is peak condition to take on USA at Wembley, and admits that he wishes the season were not drawing to a close.
Despite playing a significant role in recent months as Manchester United clinched a Premier League and European Cup double, including 120 minutes in Moscow last Wednesday, Hargreaves says he is ready to give all his energy to England.
"I feel good, I feel strong physically and it's a shame for me that the season is finishing," Hargreaves explained. "I missed a lot of time at the start of the season and when I played I wasn't up to the fitness I'm accustomed to.
"But that's life, you're not always going to feel fabulous or perfect and you're going to have to fight through those things. I knew toward the end of the season that if I stuck with it that my fitness would come back."
Speaking about the epic Champions League final, Hargreaves admits that it could easily have been a different outcome but now the players of Chelsea and Manchester United are together with England, everyone is together.
Hargreaves said: "Both teams can have a clear conscience because we both just gave everything. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose and I don't think it diminishes the season they had
"I've talked with Ash about it, I was up against him in the game, and I said to him it was a great battle.
"We've all spoken openly about the game. I said to (John Terry) that when I went up to take my penalty, I thought everybody knew which way I was going to go - because at the World Cup we trained on penalties for four weeks and I hit it in the same spot every time.
"I knew they all knew that, so I thought I'm going to have to change spots, I was going to put it in the other corner. But when I got there and looked at the goal I thought 'jeez that looks small!' So I'll just put it where I normally would.
"It's not the same when you're in training compared with when you step up and there's 30,000 people behind you in the stand - the goal does look a bit small.
"It's a moment we all dream of, but it could go either way. You could be the hero or you couldn't, and I think if anyone's capable of dealing with that it's John Terry.
"Next season he will learn a lot from that moment, and it will make him even stronger."
Despite being on the winning side in Moscow, Hargreaves has already stored the memory and moved on from becoming the first Englishman to win the European Cup with two different clubs.
"It's gone for me, if I'm honest," Hargreaves revealed. "It was a fabulous moment, but even shortly after the game it was gone.
"I remember when I won it the first time with Bayern, I didn't even celebrate really. It was my first season that I had broken into the team, I didn't even have a picture with the cup. My mum and dad were there and they wanted a picture with the cup. I said no, I didn't want the impression on the older players that I was greedy or anything like that.
"For me it was a fabulous moment, to put so much energy into a game and come away a winner. Five, ten minutes after I was content."
Looking ahead to eleven days with England, Hargreaves feels there are similarities to be drawn between his club manager and his national team manager.
Having played under a number of high-profile coaches Hargreaves has good experience of what goes into being successful - and he believes both Fabio Capello and Sir Alex Ferguson share a common style.
"All the big managers I have played under, going back to Ottmar Hitzfeld at Bayern or Sven Goran Eriksson; they are different but they have a similar way of carrying themselves.
"That's the way managers do things at this level, whether they're from England, Italy or anywhere else. The players at this level are such big personalities, and you need to find a way to get their attention and their respect. Both Sir Alex and Fabio Capello do that.
"It's not fear, you are not going to put fear into people at this level. It's important that everyone respects eachother; players and staff, you don't have to say a lot it depends on how you carry yourself and I think the players can understand that.
"Everybody does things differently, some managers put their arm around you and speak, and some managers let their assistants do that and keep a distance. They pick the team, they analyse and watch, and there's two ways of doing things.
"The managers at this level that I've experienced tend to watch and analyse, get a feel for people and body language, and then they pick the team.
"He knows when to say things and when not to. He's very clear on the instructions that he gives on the pitch, and what he wants and what he doesn't want; and that's very easy for any player to understand."