Owen is a 'No" for Lisbon, And Speaking of Owen...

Owen Hargreaves did not travel with the Manchester United squad for Wednesday's match against Sporting Lisbon. He has not fully recovered from his thigh strain and Sir Alex no doubt felt Carrick would suffice for this match.


Carrick has been left out of most starting 11's throughout the season despite his impressive form in the Premiership winning campaign. He certainly lived up to his multimillion pd. transfer fee last year, however a certain chemistry has been developed between Paul Scholes and Owen Hargreaves and they have become somewhat of a first choice for Sir Alex.

Fletcher has also been promising as of late, but he picked up a knock in Scotland's stunning victory over World Cup Finalist's France during Euro 2008 qualification. He like Hargreaves prefers to play a more defensive, holding role, much like former United Legend Roy Keane.


Speaking of Roy Keane, this isn't the first time that Sir Alex has spent big on a midfielder following a title-winning campaign. Remember in the mid-ninties, when Sir Alex stole Keano right from under Blackburn's noses? It was a long drawn out affair but in the end, Sir Alex got his man from Forest. And in his first games for United, Keano made huge impacts and became an almost instant fan favorite.


I'm not saying Hargreaves is the next Roy Keane, after all, "THERE'S ONLY ONE KEANO." But the similarities are striking. In Keane's autobiography he quotes Sir Alex as saying when in negotiations with Keane, "We will win the league with or without you, but with you, we can win Europe." This predicition came true when United won the treble in 1999.