THE GREATEST TV SHOW IN HISTORY
Ex-Bayern star Owen Hargreaves urges Premier League clubs to let the cameras into dressing rooms to create...
LIKE most of us with a Netflix subscription, Owen Hargreaves has been gripped by The Last
Dance, a documentary series about basketball legend Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.
Hargreaves chose to wear the No 23 shirt at Bayern Munich because of Jordan, his childhood hero. But the former England midfielder can think of something which would push viewers even further towards the edges of their sofas — a glimpse into a football dressing room. Not like Manchester City’s All Or
Nothing — which was a filtered, polished production — but a raw, live, direct feed from a dressing room on a matchday.
That is what broadcasters BT Sport, for whom Hargreaves is a pundit, and Sky Sports are discussing with clubs ahead of the Premier League’s return, potentially next month.
‘The greatest television show in history would be inside a football dressing room,’ says Hargreaves, speaking to Sportsmail via Zoom from his home in Hertfordshire.
‘It would be, because it is unique. In this world, we want to see everything. The Michael Jordan documentary: for people to see that, even 20 years later… wow.
‘It would be priceless but certain things have to be kept private, too. In the heat of the moment, you get 25 competitive people from all around the world, speaking different languages, feeling different emotions — a lot gets said. Some good, some bad, some not broadcastable.’
Will it get the green light? Talks will be held between Premier League clubs today and Hargreaves adds: ‘Honestly, I don’t think you’d ever see anything better. But I don’t think it’s realistic. I don’t think teams would sign up to that.
‘If I could watch it, I would love to. But you’ve got to get the managers’ OK, the players’ OK.
‘Liverpool played Red Bull Salzburg and their manager Jesse Marsch’s team meeting beforehand was broadcast.
‘Jurgen Klopp said if that ever happened at Anfield, he would leave. That tells you what one of the biggest in the game thinks about it.’
So we may not get to see a less edited version of Pep Guardiola in the City dressing room, but competitive football is returning to our screens nonetheless.
The Bundesliga is back, the Premier League is closing in, and the former midfielder who spent his career in one then the other believes Germany has provided a blueprint. A winner of four league titles and the 2001 Champions League with Bayern, Hargreaves (below) is now analysing Bundesliga matches for BT from his home. ‘They got the product on the pitch, however that looks,’ he says. ‘They take pride in that. ‘The first 20 minutes of the first game (Borussia Dortmund v Schalke) were slow. It was like a boxing match where they weren’t throwing punches. ‘Then you see a bit of brilliance from Erling Braut Haaland, or Julian Brandt, or Thorgan Hazard, and all of a sudden it feels like a real game of football. ‘Then you didn’t notice the fans weren’t there as much. You think, “Wow, that’s football”. ‘There might not be 80,000 there but the boys are still top, top players and in the end they will enjoy the fact they can be on that pitch, creating some magic. Germany has given the blueprint. Everybody — Premier League, NFL, NBA — is looking at it and thinking, “Right, that’s the blueprint”.
‘It’s much bigger than just sport and football. At some point we’ve got to get back — not just to football, but kids back to school, people back to work.’
Hargreaves’ career was curtailed by a series of injuries. He signed for Manchester United in 2007, but made only 27 Premier League appearances in four years under Alex Ferguson.
He has previously stated he felt United treated him like a ‘guinea pig’ — words echoed by Danny Rose with regard to being told to return to training.
Hargreaves, now 39, is wary of players being rushed back before they are ready.
‘The intensity of what you do on a football pitch is significantly higher than what you could do at home,’ Hargreaves explains.
‘I noticed that when I came back from my injuries.
‘You can control the environment — 20 sprints, 40 sprints. But once you get into a team environment and the ball is there, you can do that in four minutes. That’s going to be the biggest issue potentially — muscle injuries.’
Hargreaves has found watching Bundesliga matches without supporters in the stands a ‘strange’ experience, with players’ voices echoing, but he is of the opinion that something is better than nothing.
‘Look at Union Berlin playing Bayern Munich,’ he says. ‘Their whole story, how the fans helped them build the stadium, donating blood to generate money — amazing. Then all of a sudden, they have the biggest game almost in their history and their fans couldn’t be there.’
Union lost 2-0, but this is the reality for now and Hargreaves is not sold on the idea of pumping crowd noise into stadiums or our living rooms. ‘It looks different to what we’re used to,’ he sums up. ‘But it’s better than not having anything at all.’
BT Sport is the home of the German Bundesliga with live coverage of every game for the rest of the season. Watch on TV, the app or with the BT Sport Monthly pass: www.bt.com/ sport/monthly-pass