No return date for Ferdinand
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Rio Ferdinand and Owen Hargreaves set for Manchester United return by end of January
Battling back to fitness: Owen Hargreaves (left) and Rio Ferdinand
Manchester United could be set for a double dose of New Year cheer on the injury front, with both Rio Ferdinand and Owen Hargreaves ready to return by the end of next month.
Ferdinand has not featured for United since being exposed by Fernando Torres at Anfield in October, while Hargreaves has now been missing for almost 15 months after undergoing career-saving knee operations to cure a tendinitis problem.
While Ferdinand stated earlier this week that he was not in danger of missing the World Cup with a long-standing back complaint, Fabio Capello has stated that Hargreaves must make his comeback soon if he is to stand a chance of getting to South Africa.
The England coach will therefore be an interested observer to see whether Ferdinand and Hargreaves fulfil Sir Alex Ferguson's stated aims for a return to first-team duties.
'Rio is improving,' said Ferguson. 'He is much better now and not too far away, probably two or three weeks.
'And Owen is doing a bit better this week as well. He is getting there slowly and we hope he will be back by the end of January.'
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great news. but I am worried these 2 are too injury prone. rio is already in his 30s and his back problem is getting from bad to worse every season. evans is also becoming prone to injury, considering he is in his early 20s, thats not good.
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owen hargreaves has been injured longer than he played for manchester united... booooo hooooooo
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Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has had an injection in an attempt to ease his long-standing back complaint but manager Sir Alex Ferguson says there is still "no light" at the end of the tunnel for the injured centre-back.
Ferdinand has been out of action since the end of October, and although Ferguson played down fears of a long-term absence at the time, the 30-year-old has now missed 13 games, plus England's friendly defeat to Brazil in Qatar.
Ferguson still can't put a timescale in place for the centre-back's return and said: "We gave Rio an injection just over two weeks ago so we have to let that settle for a week then he can go back into the gym work and do some more core work. We are just hoping that pain goes away.
"There is no light at the end of the tunnel and it is difficult to put a timescale on a back injury. But I don't think he is too far away."
At the launch of his new charitable Foundation last week, Ferdinand insisted his place at next summer's World Cup in South Africa was not in jeopardy. It was an important statement, not only in terms of a health bulletin but also the positive attitude it betrayed.
Yet, as the Premier League season straddles its halfway point over the Christmas period, more important matches are looming. And Ferguson knows his £29.1million defender will want to be part of them.
"Rio is quite a composed and laid-back lad," said Ferguson. "He has never shown any effect of the injury from a mental standpoint. But I have no doubt he will be feeling it because he is a footballer and footballers want to play.
"He will be thinking about all sorts. The run-in to the league and important games coming up and he is missing them. It is not easy for him."
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I think time's up for Hargreaves. Not that i'm being too harsh but i think he has done nothing much for United since his arrival, maybe the magnificent freekick against Arsenal but thats all i remember him doing.
Since his arrival almost 3 years ago, he has only played 25 competitive matches, scoring twice, a very lousy ratio for a top player like him, kind of reminds me of Darren Anderton and Fernando Redondo, good players, high expectation but spends most of their time fighting fit.
I think he should be sold ASAP to free a slot for better player to come in. Think Lee Cattermole.
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owen hargreaves is not recognized for his goal scoring... even at bayern munich.
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Originally posted by AvanteGarde:
owen hargreaves is not recognized for his goal scoring... even at bayern munich.
I was referring to his number of appearances. 25 in 3 years is really bad, it averages out about 8 per year!
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Originally posted by Rooney9:
great news. but I am worried these 2 are too injury prone. rio is already in his 30s and his back problem is getting from bad to worse every season. evans is also becoming prone to injury, considering he is in his early 20s, thats not good.
yep, I do think SAF knows that the shelf-life of these two (Rio and Owen) are near expiry, plus MOwen, Giggs, Neville, Scholes, and maybe even EDS.
So he has a lot of juggling to do with what limited funds the Glaciers may have.