Hargreaves as a right back?

[sphinx]

I don't even know of I want this or if I'm serious, I'm simply thinking out loud, I suppose. Owen Hargreaves played as a right-back in the Bolton game and I thought he was pretty decent. Yes, Bolton isn't exactly the toughest opponent, yes, maybe we need this guy in the midfield and maybe he is better in that position, but hear me out.


1. I think this was the first time he started for us in this position (he might've played there earlier, but I think it was because someone had gotten injured during a game). Not bad for the first time, I say, so if he played there more often he'd only get better.

2. Gary Neville is apparently on his way back to the first team, but he is at the end of his career anyway, and you never know, right? I mean I hope he's well and able to play for a few years still, but we'll have to wait and see. All I'm saying is that Owen could be his successor, if needed.

3. Our central midfield is pretty crowded. I know that Scholes is also getting old, but like I said about Gary, Paul looks good and there's as big of a chance that he could retire in 5 years as there is that he could call it a day tomorrow, we just don't know. You've got Anderson, who has slotted in quite well, Carrick, and Fletcher. Also, Park and O'shea will always be looking for games and they could play in central mid as well. So, perhaps moving Hargreaves to right back is a way to make some squad players happier.


I am just throwing all of this out there as a thought, opinions are more than welcome. Lastly, I'd like to say (and I know that a lot of people will disagree) that Hargreaves simply hasn't impressed me all that much in central mid, I would not have him in my first team in that position.

P.S. Brown is out of contract in the summer if he doesn't sign...just one more reason. OK, I'm done.

[RedDevil4]

Where can you find the named positions?

[akash_reds]

he is a very versatile player and he can CDM and also RB,LB(i think)....but he is much more effective in the centre...so i dont like the idea of him playing RB...

[Harvo]

He's played RB a few times before, I think it's a good idea :)

[Nemanjaaa]

Yeah i think hes played wing back for england once or twice not a bad idea especially when we want to rest some players.

[sparkic]

He can also play left mid like he did for england many times and did quite well over there..very versitile and that is why I rather have him than Mascharno

[Stephen]

I hope not.

[eoininho]

expensive right back!

[spwaff]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO we need a natural right back.look at how essien was exposed against arsenal as a makeshift. no more experiments guys /////

[Jazz 16]

Its definitely a viable option. The lad can tackle and he is quick as well
as possessing good dead ball/crossing skills.
Brown is doing a great job this season but if one of Rio or Vidic is injured/
suspended we need Wes as centre back and maybe OShea or Hargo as
a right back option.
I rate Hargo a lot but I know we have a fully stacked midfield with players
who all deserve to be in the team.
I think Hargo could definitely do a job at Rb if needed, but our present
back 4 are amongst the best in World football so if it aint broke......

[dckyfoxes]

He's quick, and he loves to tackle... He should be up to it... His crossing will definately be better then brown... But will he feel comfortable in that position?
I mean if he don't like it... No point then...

[moondog]

Not a big fan of Hargreaves in the middle of mid-field right now. Much rather have the Carrick/Anderson combo doing the job. Carrick just seems to make things happen, has great vision, and is a wonderful passer. Anderson? enough said...

I never get the sense that Hargreaves is ever going to do anything positive with the ball...and it always seems that when he gets a lot of touches, we aren't playing well...

His versatility is the one thing he does have.

Didn't he play at right back for England during the 02 world cup? - or was it 06 - ...memory going very quickly now....where am I?

[haggler]

is this really about the fact that hargreaves in midfield equals slow defence first football and rather than admit we spent 18 mil on a bench warmer lets try get some of our monies worth ?

its possible his style can be altered however to make him more attack minded .

i dont doubt his tackling ability he just needs to speed up his distribution . bunesliga is played at a slower pace to the prem and next year he may just be a revalation in the middle . he is not a full back for me but i can see why you would think about it .

[reddwarf]

Hargreaves played at LB, RB and CM for Bayern Munich. He also played at RB in one game for England in the last World Cup.

He's a very versatile player and, although he's more comfortable in midfield, can do a job in defence.

As others have said though, if Brown leaves in the summer I would prefer for us to buy a natural right-back with the likes of O'Shea, Hargreaves etc as cover.

[Jazz 16]

Hargo looked good at right back when he came on.
He made a great run and put a cross on Tevez's head straight away.
tevez should have scored but it was great work from Hargo.
His next cross was poor but his third one was right into Rooney's path,
which Wazza put away only to be flagged offside.
So 2 out of 3 great crosses isnt bad at all.
Definitely something to ponder, as I think Fergie has decided that
Scholes, Carrick and Ando are the main contenders for the middle.

[BALROG]

His ability to get forward is great and may payoff if we use this method to rest some backs?He did a great job against villa ,but remember even rooney ends up defensively at some level with the amount of rotation that is happening during games.

[Red Devil]

I think hargreaves could play anywhere right hand side if required

[fazman]

To be honest im starting to believe fergie doesnt believe in hargo as a central midfielder i would personelly put him 4th choice behind anderson , scholes and carrick maybe fergie is looking to the future gary neville may not return and wes may leave so maybe hargo is our new right back . But there is no way fergie would risk it this seasin thats why he is just trying it out .

[RedForceRising]

I don't believe for one minute that Fergie doesn't believe in Hargreaves as a central midfielder. I think he's just been trying a bit too hard whenever he's played there.

However, he looked good wen he came on yesterday as a right back. He was good defensively and supplier two great passes for Tevez and Rooney.

I would still like someone who has been playing in that position for years, but I like his versatility.

Hargreaves was fantastic at Bayern and it's no coincidence that their worst season in history coincided with his long absence because of injury.

I'm not sure why it's taken him so long to adapt, but we have yet to see the best of him.

[moondog]

During the broadcast yesterday, the analysis guy (sorry cant remember the name) along side Steve Banyard mentioned that harg played at right back for Bayern on several occasions. He sure looked pretty comfortable there.

I think I said this before, but harg never seems to do anything positive (of an attacking nature) with the ball in the centre of mf. It is indeed taking him a while to settle there...

It'll be interesting to see who fergie picks for Roma. Lots of great choices tho...:)

[abojodeh]

he can play good their i play him RB in PES5 to let carrick play
and in fifa also RB but to let anderson play
he played well he can tackle good but he cant play freekicks from there but who needs owen freekick when we have RONALDO

[stretty]

Wes is the best in that position by far

[abojodeh]

Wes is the best in that position by far
NOT IN FIFA

[RedForceRising]

NOT IN FIFA


I'll think you'll find real life a lot different from computer games, mate!

Having said that, I know that Wes struggles with his concentration at times and would be chuffed to get someone in that position with more focus.

[fazman]

NOT IN FIFA

You clearly need to work on your football knowledge mate i myself think owen is a good right back but to compare a computer game to real life is a joke.:confused:

[abojodeh]

You clearly need to work on your football knowledge mate i myself think owen is a good right back but to compare a computer game to real life is a joke.:confused:
i just hate brown and it is a fact that owen is good RB in playstation and in life

[Jazz 16]

NOT IN FIFA

Please never compare a silly stat in a computer game to REAL football :rolleyes:

[akash_reds]

correct jazz.......abo seems ot be stuck between reality and virtual world!!!! :eek:

[versa]

I thought Hargreaves did pretty well as a RB. Maybe not as familiar as Brown for the obvious reason but he has the fitness to run the flanks and certainly crosses the ball better than Brown. A viable option no doubt for the future.

And if you just take a quick glance from afar, you would think you saw Gary.

[moondog]

I thought Hargreaves did pretty well as a RB. Maybe not as familiar as Brown for the obvious reason but he has the fitness to run the flanks and certainly crosses the ball better than Brown. A viable option no doubt for the future.

And if you just take a quick glance from afar, you would think you saw Gary.

Just one additional comment, he seemed to exhibit a lot more pace than I had ever seen previously.

[RedForceRising]

YES, YES AND YES!!!
WHAT A CROSS FOR THE GOAL - BECKHAM WOULD BE PROUD!!!

He supplied several nice crosses and think he could do a really good job. He should be teaching Wes how to cross

[SolskjaertheLegend]

I actually think OH would make a very good right back. I said this when we signed him. He has everything you need. He can tackle, he gets stuck in, he's definatly got the legs to bomb forward and get back for 90 minutes and he can swing in some great crosses as we saw tonight to name a few.

I for one wouldn't be worried at all if we lined up with him as our RB.

[yangch0000]

he has got good speed, good cross and not afraid to run at defender. and he can run up and down the right flank all day long, so i would have no trouble having him as RB, though i still think 18m for a rb is a little bit too much.

[Giggs_Is_God]

Think owen could do a good job there if needed but with Gary returning I cant see him playing there,one thing is for sure we the best strengh in depth in the squad for a long while

[Jazz 16]

I actually think OH would make a very good right back. I said this when we signed him. He has everything you need. He can tackle, he gets stuck in, he's definatly got the legs to bomb forward and get back for 90 minutes and he can swing in some great crosses as we saw tonight to name a few.

I for one wouldn't be worried at all if we lined up with him as our RB.

Completely agree Solsk. We have seen more evidence of his greatness
tonight.:) Hopefully performances like these might shut a few of the doubters up
*cough, Haggler and co., cough*. The lad can play anywhere, even as a right
midfielder as we saw. He is a great asset to the squad and still the most
important signing we made last summer imo.

[migueldadon]

I agree we should be looking at oh as the gary succesor at rb, seriously he is way better than wes brown, I dont want to offend him as I think he has been a good servant to the club but I seriously dont think he is united material, he showed it against middlesborough and against roma. I seriously think that he is favoured because of his status as a local lad. Owen is way better than brown at rb in my opinion.

[Jazz 16]

I agree we should be looking at oh as the gary succesor at rb, seriously he is way better than wes brown, I dont want to offend him as I think he has been a good servant to the club but I seriously dont think he is united material, he showed it against middlesborough and against roma. I seriously think that he is favoured because of his status as a local lad. Owen is way better than brown at rb in my opinion.

I see where you are coming from and I may have been misleading in my post
above. Hargo is a great player but I still possibly see him in the centre of the park.
Its difficult to acomodate so many great midfielders so we may end up doing
a Chelsea (essien at rb). You got to get the best players out on the field, when
possible and needed. If its Rooney playing on the left or Carrick sitting,
or Hargo as rb then it has to be done. We have so many options its frightening,
in every position (bar up top maybe). A lot will become clearer over this season
or next.

Edit: now Im tired and rambling.....
the point I meant to say was that Wes deserves his place at rb. He has been doing the
business all season and has played his part. Maybe not as good as Vid/Rio/Evra,
but who is to be fair? Gary has a tough job getting back in for this season.

[BALROG]

This is great! I remember a while ago when members were crying about "when harg. plays we always drop points" Now we think of putting him in some real big shoes.This show that united has the best players,depth and the best manager in the business. Harg. is performing at a high level and would be tremendous at right back! ive always thought of harg as more of a def. player but after seeing his last couple of games in this center/ right wing position, hes real dangerous !

[RedForceRising]

WE NEED HIS CROSSES. FERGIE, SAVE YOUR MONEY AND PLAY HARGO AT RIGHT BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!! HARGREAVES AND ANDERSON ARE MODERN DAY HROES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

[fazman]

I see where you are coming from and I may have been misleading in my post
above. Hargo is a great player but I still possibly see him in the centre of the park.
Its difficult to acomodate so many great midfielders so we may end up doing
a Chelsea (essien at rb). You got to get the best players out on the field, when
possible and needed. If its Rooney playing on the left or Carrick sitting,
or Hargo as rb then it has to be done. We have so many options its frightening,
in every position (bar up top maybe). A lot will become clearer over this season
or next.

Edit: now Im tired and rambling.....
the point I meant to say was that Wes deserves his place at rb. He has been doing the
business all season and has played his part. Maybe not as good as Vid/Rio/Evra,
but who is to be fair? Gary has a tough job getting back in for this season.


I have to disagree with you jazz owen could be a brilliant right back and it could well free up room for a player of di rossi's class and if he was needed in midfield he could move there

[Red Devil]

WE NEED HIS CROSSES. As pontius pilate said to the centurion!

[Jazz 16]

I have to disagree with you jazz owen could be a brilliant right back and it could well free up room for a player of di rossi's class and if he was needed in midfield he could move there

Hargo can do a great job wherever you put him, be it rb, cm or right sided
player......he has the quality to do the lot.
And why De Rossi?? we have Carrick, Scholes, Anderson and Fletch in there
not to mention the man of the moment Hargo...

[fazman]

Hargo can do a great job wherever you put him, be it rb, cm or right sided
player......he has the quality to do the lot.
And why De Rossi?? we have Carrick, Scholes, Anderson and Fletch in there
not to mention the man of the moment Hargo...


why de rossi i rate him highely and u have to keep progressing

[Jazz 16]

why de rossi i rate him highely and u have to keep progressing

De Rossi? the guy that choked on the big stage and ballooned his penalty
over the bar?? No thanks, we have better midfielders than him, quite a few
actually. We need a striker and maybe defensive cover/rb but we dont need
any midfielders imo. It would make no sense surely?:confused:

[United_OG]

no need for any more midfielder, scholes still has use as nobody can expect anderson to have the same level of consistancy throughout a whole season next year at the age of 20 and having a model pro likes scholes in training everyday can only help him. Also whilst scholes is not the player he once was he can still unlock defences and come up with a goal when its needed and has been injured this year. scholes, carrick, hargo, anderson, fletch and o shea as mr utility man, no need for one.

Hargo as right back? he puts in a crackin cross but im more than happy him playin in midfield to be honest, no need to switch his position and anderson seems more happy when hargo is playing with him.

We should buy a striker and possibly a right back imo....any news on browns contract situation?

[Mitch_foreverunited]

He's a good player one of those player's who has the attributes to play anywhere on the pitch. He is quite effective as a right wing back as he has lots of pace and can put in a decent ball. However he is very clever and tacticle in the middle and a tough cookie too!