Hargreaves doubly confident
by Joseph Caron Dawe, 09 May 2008
Manchester United’s bid to retain their title will go right down to the wire, but that is no reason to doubt their capability of achieving such a feat says Owen Hargreaves.
The England international says the quality of his team and his personal previous experience of being in a similar position with former club Bayern Munich will stand The Red Devils in good stead, and he is confident United can notch up the double to boot.
“We won the double in the 93rd minute by scoring against Hamburg to win the league,” said the 27-year-old of Bayern’s 2001 domestic and European triumph.
“Then, three days later we won the Champions League on penalties. We couldn’t have left it any longer or made it any more difficult than that.
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“To be in this position feels comfortable for me. I’ve been there before.”
United face Wigan on Sunday and a win will secure the title – barring a goalfest at Stamford Bridge – and Hargreaves is totally convinced his side can do it.
“At the beginning of the season, if someone had said we had 90 minutes to win the league we’d have jumped at that. We’re in a good position. I think we are full of confidence. We were always confident we’d beat West Ham last Saturday,” he continued.
“Wigan did themselves a favour by winning at Villa, so this game doesn’t mean a lot for them, but for us it means everything.
“We’ll just take these games one by one – that’s the most important thing. First we have 90 minutes to play in which we can win the league.
“It’s a great position to be in and we are ready for it. There’s no midweek game, we can put in some good training sessions and be ready for the weekend.”
He added: “We’ve had a really good season, that’s why we’re top of The Premier League.
“We just need to train, prepare ourselves and we’ll be ready.”
United face Chelsea in the Champions League final on May 21 in Moscow, and Hargreaves maintains the path of both teams to the final was laid by their English cores.
“Chelsea and ourselves are competing for the title and the Champions League and there is a strong English base in both teams. It's not a coincidence!” he said.
“Some of the best players in the world are English players. And with football being so global and so many foreigners playing in The Premier League -which I think improves the standard - it's great there are so many talented Englishmen on display, especially in Moscow this month.
“I think it is great not only for the clubs but for the fans as well - it helps them identify with their team.”