I thought he was good on Bayern TV yesterday.
Owen Hargreaves - The Pundit
- Thread starter Andy_Cole
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
He's a greasy pube with a shit accent
Says it's a penalty then when they get Howard Webbs view and he says no penalty, Hargreaves then says 'that's what I thought'. 
He was so biased towards Liverpool last night, it was painful. Even when they were getting ripped apart by Sevilla in the second half, he was saying "they've not played well, 4 shots on goal 3 goals. Liverpool were the better side in the first half". I understand, support the english team, but the Klopp love in is sickening when ultimately it was the players that let him down.
Such a BITTER man especially against United.
Like I was saying in the other thread, this guy is so bad.
"Game is being played like a testimonial" was my favourite bit of commentary tonight.
Has anyone ever heard him laugh by the way?
"Game is being played like a testimonial" was my favourite bit of commentary tonight.
Has anyone ever heard him laugh by the way?
I think hes one of the worst commentators around. Hes worse than Micheal Owen for sure. Hes simply miserable and nothing is good enough for him. Utter joker.
He's a walking penis.
Just a penis, too injured to be walking.
I really, really liked him as a player. Was an absolute travesty that he couldn't get his injuries sorted.
As a commentator/pundit? No insight, totally banal and massively anti-United.
Would literally rather listen to Andy Townsend.
As a commentator/pundit? No insight, totally banal and massively anti-United.
Would literally rather listen to Andy Townsend.
What? He's one of the only commentators who actually gives insight. When Ibra had that chance, he didn't praise Ibra or Rooney for the pass, he praised Lingard for his movement which started it all.
After the game when he was asked by Jake Humphrey whether Everton would struggle if they don't sign anyone he disagreed and talked about how Koeman will make Everton more defensive and solid.
He actually gives tactical insight as opposed to 99% of commentators
For the entirety of last season, all he did was slate United for EVERYTHING. I can't remember the specific game but I absolutely remember him going off on one about our style after we won a game. There was never anything about the actual tactics, he just endlessly repeated that United were too slow. Everybody in the world knew that, he just came across as someone who wanted to put the boot in at every opportunity.
So he was saying the same as 90% of United supporters, and that makes him bad? Yes our style and pace of play was sub-standard under van Gaal last season even on occasions when we won. I'm more concerned about pundits like Paddy Crerand who carry on like everything is great when it's not, than those like Hargreaves, Scholes and Keane who say it how it is.
Not directed at anyone in particular but it makes me wonder when our former players receive so much abuse from so called United supporters as seen on this thread, especially one who played a significant role in our 2008 Premier League and Champions League successes.
Jesus, chill out, as if you're trying to put Hargreaves on the same footing as Keane and Scholes. Only attribute he shares with Keane is his bitterness against Fergie. At least Keane actually had a valid grievance mind.
I guess him saying last night that we have done the best transfer business of anyone and he fully expects us to be fighting for the title under Mourinho is "massively anti-United" as well?
I swear people choose to ignore all the positives he says about us, waiting patiently for the negative and bleat on about only that.
Last season he said we were slow, and predictable. He was right, we were. What was he supposed to say when punditing United games when asked about our performance? Just stare blankly at Jake Humphrey? He can only say what he saw, and he always saw us playing pretty badly.
He was very complimentary last night, and he expects us to do much better. He was speaking very highly of Bailly and Mickey especially.
I swear people choose to ignore all the positives he says about us, waiting patiently for the negative and bleat on about only that.
Last season he said we were slow, and predictable. He was right, we were. What was he supposed to say when punditing United games when asked about our performance? Just stare blankly at Jake Humphrey? He can only say what he saw, and he always saw us playing pretty badly.
He was very complimentary last night, and he expects us to do much better. He was speaking very highly of Bailly and Mickey especially.
So did anyone notice how many times he said the word 'offensive' after the game last night? Because it was a lot
Correct. Nobody should ever be criticised for being a shit commentator and pundit because they stayed fit and won stuff that one year.
My point is that anyone could say what he did. He repeated the same stuff week after week. He didn't, for example, dissect it and say where he felt things were going wrong. When I look or hear Gary Neville's work (or even Andy Gray back in the day), I actually feel like they add something to my watching of the game. When Owen was on, I think 'said this all last week, bored'.
By the way, I know you said not directed at anyone but from my point of view look at my first post here. I said he was a great player that I really liked.
Will never forget how he rubbished us on TV before the home game against City in the 14/15 season. Said we would get run over. We won 4-2.
Literally every ex United player did that. Every player who played under Fergie is ridiculously bias towards the Fergie days and anything that strays away from that is a travesty.
But that doesn't mean Hargreaves isn't a great pundit, he really does give insight. Just because he has football friendships and shows bias doesn't make him bad, pretty much everyone does that. If you judge him overall he's actually very good
Don't have the facts to back it up but we seemed to be on BT a lot last season (I guess with the champs league plus prem it kinda makes sense) so I heard a lot from him.
I don't actually recall him praising the team once. He endlessly repeated the same thing to the point that it became boring and never pointed out what he thought could change.
I suppose it also doesn't help (and this is totally a personal thing to each viewer) that I find his voice annoying. Sorry, but that does matter when it comes to commentators.
This. Don't know what you thought of him as a player (I liked him) but total crap as a pundit.
Man Utd had him on their Snapchat yesterday which I was shocked about, considering all he has done is put the boot into us since he left.
I have to say, his bitterness seems to have simmered down. Seems to almost be in love with us during his commentary.
Unusual to see him being mentioned on Uniteds social media.
He does love himself some Henrikh Mkhitaryan. 'Incredible player'.
The supposed dislike he has for United is always blown out of proportion. He's not liked us in the last 2 or 3 years because we have been bloody awful to watch. Even in those periods, he has still praised particular individuals. But only the negative things he says are ever remembered. Last season he nearly always spoke highly of De Gea, Smalling, Carrick, Schweinsteiger and Martial.
He's been incredibly positive about United this season, as there is a clear shift in playing style. He also seems to love Bailly and Mkhi. It's no coincidence, were not horrid to watch anymore.
He's still a crap pundit though, but that's mostly because he is just shit at speaking. It always sounds like his mouth is faster than his brain, and he has to stop mid sentence to catch up.
He's been incredibly positive about United this season, as there is a clear shift in playing style. He also seems to love Bailly and Mkhi. It's no coincidence, were not horrid to watch anymore.
He's still a crap pundit though, but that's mostly because he is just shit at speaking. It always sounds like his mouth is faster than his brain, and he has to stop mid sentence to catch up.
His analysis on Pogba for the Kante goal was refreshing and well considered just then on BT Sport. Just as good as anything Gary Neville or Jamie Carragher have served up lately.
If anyone has a clip (@GifLord ?) then there are a lot of Caftards that could do with watching it too...
If anyone has a clip (@GifLord ?) then there are a lot of Caftards that could do with watching it too...
Blimey, just delivered a "shut up you twat" message to Jake Humphries regarding Pogba on BT. Colour me surprised.
Very good analysis from Owen, I actually really rate him as a pundit.
Must say, he doesn't seem to be as bitter and been a lot more complimentary about the club since United started including him on their social media pages.
Yeah he's improved a hell of a lot I don't mind listening to him now.
Although it still annoys me how he sounds out of breath constantly.
Although it still annoys me how he sounds out of breath constantly.
Hargreaves is a fabulous analyser of football. He's smart, speaks well and doesn't pander.
HOWEVER... He's not suited to the instantness of punditry. He's great when he analyses historically. When he collects his thoughts and delivers genuine insight. When he speaks off the cuff... lots of nonsense comes out.