Will Michael owen ever rescue his career?

it's such a shame that Owen's career has effectively gone down the pan sicne he moved to Newcastle, Ok he didn't have the greatest Madrid career either but when he played he usually scored.

Owen was the best Liverpool player IMO, I even think he was more important to us than Stevie G was, I loved watching him play and score.

He's meant to be back in April I think, can he still make a name for himself at Newcastle?

Depends.

If he gets fit again and still has a tiny bit of his pace left hes a top class striker, if he doesn't get fit again then no, he won't

hes too injury prone....when he keeps fit hes fantastic....

shame he's at Newcastle though

Owen worked really well for us but there's no doubt that he fitted very well into the Houllier system. Fowler was his equal as a striker but din't fit the system and therefore got no service. Don't think Owen would work too well under Rafa, he's too selfish.

Even in his last couple of years for us he was in decline though, pace was such an important part of his game and once he'd lost that he became easy for defenders to handle.

I was convinced that he'd beat the England international goals record... at the moment I'd be surprised if he ever plays for England again.

No. He's too inury prone, no speed and short immobile poacher who doesn't add anything to the game. EVen if fit can't make more than 30 games a season. If that wasn't enough, he needs to be treated like porcelein on and off the pitch as well.

A has been. He's been living off being "Micheal Owen" for three years now. All reputation.

Sebastian Deisler resigned today at 27 due to being fed up with knee injuries; it wouldn't surprise me if Owen would quit before he's 30, or even after his next injury. Which surely must come sometime this year.

If he gets fit yes. He's had the best treatment possible from the daddy of knee specialists, he's the chap that sorted Bellamy, Ruud, Larsson, Ronaldo, Shearer, and Del Piero - All these guys managed to continue there career. He says that he surgery will pro-long his career.

He lost his pace a long time ago IMO, he's been relying on his footballing brain to be in the right place at the right time, no injury is going to take that away. I'm confident he can come back and still get a fair amount of goals.

Kimbo wrote:If he gets fit yes. He's had the best treatment possible from the daddy of knee specialists, he's the chap that sorted Bellamy, Ruud, Larsson, Ronaldo, Shearer, and Del Piero - All these guys managed to continue there career. He says that he surgery will pro-long his career.

He lost his pace a long time ago IMO, he's been relying on his footballing brain to be in the right place at the right time, no injury is going to take that away. I'm confident he can come back and still get a fair amount of goals.

Depends what you mean Kimbo. I reckon he'll be at best a 12-15 goal a season man - and that's if he recovers well from the knee surgery - remembering that he's crap at penalties.

That won't be enough to get past Crouchino and Rooney into the England first team (barring injuries of course), and looks like a poor return for a £17m striker to me.

Roger_Hunt wrote:

Kimbo wrote:If he gets fit yes. He's had the best treatment possible from the daddy of knee specialists, he's the chap that sorted Bellamy, Ruud, Larsson, Ronaldo, Shearer, and Del Piero - All these guys managed to continue there career. He says that he surgery will pro-long his career.

He lost his pace a long time ago IMO, he's been relying on his footballing brain to be in the right place at the right time, no injury is going to take that away. I'm confident he can come back and still get a fair amount of goals.

Depends what you mean Kimbo. I reckon he'll be at best a 12-15 goal a season man - and that's if he recovers well from the knee surgery - remembering that he's crap at penalties.

That won't be enough to get past Crouchino and Rooney into the England first team (barring injuries of course), and looks like a poor return for a £17m striker to me.

I don't really care about the England team to be honest, i'd rather they stayed away from Owen and Dyer. And it probably is a poor return for a £17m man, we'll have to wait and see.

Kimbo wrote: I don't really care about the England team to be honest, i'd rather they stayed away from Owen and Dyer. And it probably is a poor return for a £17m man, we'll have to wait and see.

I know what you mean - I hate it when ours get injured on international duty. But I was just using it to make a point thatI don't think he'll get back to the standard that he was at for you pre-World Cup, let alone the standard he was for us up to 2003.

Anyway, Martins>Owen now.

I think he can, and I also think him and Martins can form a good partnership for Newcastle. It all depends on Owen's mental approach...look at Dyer, most players would have given up by now, but he's back and has been playing superbly in the last few games. Of course Owen will always have hamstring problems and it's a worry that it's the Newcastle physios that will have to take care of those, but I think he can become a top striker again. Maybe not the best in the world, but definitely among the best in the Premiership.

a bit unfair to question him now. He has just had injuries, that's all. He reminds me a bit of Saviola. Underrated but not as good as some people think either.

I really hope Owen can comeback and leave his injury problems behind him , him and Martins would be a good partnership(they may be too short for Roeder's liking though).

Owen used to have 2 special abilities, speed and being in the right place. He lost the speed, but he still gets in the right place to score and he's a good finisher. I reckon he'll still be amongst the top strikers when he gets back, although not sure Newcastle is the right place for him. Surely if his hamstrings have to be taken care of, and he can only play a certain number of games a season he would be ideal for the bench of 1 of the bigger teams, coming on to score like the manu sub solkesar (spelling), however no-one would pay too much for him so he might be stuck where he is.

Not sure that England works with rooney and crouch together. Owen works better with either, and for the moment defoe, johnson etc would still be behind him.

110% wrote:Owen used to have 2 special abilities, speed and being in the right place. He lost the speed, but he still gets in the right place to score and he's a good finisher. I reckon he'll still be amongst the top strikers when he gets back, although not sure Newcastle is the right place for him. Surely if his hamstrings have to be taken care of, and he can only play a certain number of games a season he would be ideal for the bench of 1 of the bigger teams, coming on to score like the manu sub solkesar (spelling), however no-one would pay too much for him so he might be stuck where he is.

Not sure that England works with rooney and crouch together. Owen works better with either, and for the moment defoe, johnson etc would still be behind him.

Even Defoe?

Defoe is shit according to some...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8mbFFCqCgY

Never Mind. *sigh*

Defoe is getting exactly what he needed: a good run of games to get his confidence back.
Its criminal that neither he or D. Bent (or both) went to the WC.

110% wrote:

Not sure that England works with rooney and crouch together. Owen works better with either, and for the moment defoe, johnson etc would still be behind him.

They don't, in large part due to Rooney's failure to play the role the team needs him to play in that system, whereby 75% of the time he's supposed to be goalside of Crouch.

TeamSpirit™ wrote:Defoe is shit according to some...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8mbFFCqCgY

Never Mind. *sigh*

said it for ages, I'd go back and try and find the original post on 606 if i could be bothered to be that sad- Defoe is the most mobile player in England- there is not another player who can turn on a 6pence like he can.

He is underrated because he hasnt been banging them in during his career, and because he hasnt always been great for England,

but he's bubbling along nicely.

Unlike Owen, his career has been following a nice healthy progression whereby he will probably peak at 28-30, and not have injured/worn himself out by 25, as has clearly been the case with Owen/Ronaldo (Rooney in 5 years??) who shot to prominence far too early

DD wrote:Defoe is getting exactly what he needed: a good run of games to get his confidence back.
Its criminal that neither he or D. Bent (or both) went to the WC.

I agree that one should have been there instead of walcott and the other instead of jenas maybe.

Defoe is not even guaranteed for the england squad let alone the team. I feel he needs to score close to 20 goals in a season, or to show something in big games. Owen never scored 20 goals either but virtually won an FA cup final on his own, and delivered in many big england games. What are defoe's season tallies for example?

Before anyone jumps out and says he can't get in the team ahead of robbie keane and berbatov/mido, well if he was as good as some claim then he should be the first name down and one of the others who might best compliment him should play. Owen didn't have that problem with heskey, fowler, litmannen etc at liverpool. He was number 1 because he was that good. At his peak he was a class above defoe.

Saintsarama wrote:

110% wrote:

Not sure that England works with rooney and crouch together. Owen works better with either, and for the moment defoe, johnson etc would still be behind him.

They don't, in large part due to Rooney's failure to play the role the team needs him to play in that system, whereby 75% of the time he's supposed to be goalside of Crouch.

how dare you critices a manu player!! especially saying that he doesn't his role as well as a liverpool player!!

spanky will be on you in a minute calling you a liverpool supporter

The Real White Powder wrote:

TeamSpirit™ wrote:Defoe is shit according to some...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8mbFFCqCgY

Never Mind. *sigh*

said it for ages, I'd go back and try and find the original post on 606 if i could be bothered to be that sad- Defoe is the most mobile player in England- there is not another player who can turn on a 6pence like he can.

He is underrated because he hasnt been banging them in during his career, and because he hasnt always been great for England,

but he's bubbling along nicely.

Unlike Owen, his career has been following a nice healthy progression whereby he will probably peak at 28-30, and not have injured/worn himself out by 25, as has clearly been the case with Owen/Ronaldo (Rooney in 5 years??) who shot to prominence far too early

agree, but you forgot the biggest example RAUL!!

at least owen and ronaldo can still do a job and score a few goals

110% wrote:Owen didn't have that problem with heskey, fowler, litmannen etc at liverpool. He was number 1 because he was that good. At his peak he was a class above defoe.

But Owen is hardly at his peak now, is he.

For the longest while I didn't think Defoe had it in him, but I've converted slowly.
Its this simple:
Defoe offers something that no other English striker/forward offers: Technique and ball dribbling at a higher level. Sure he's got speed too; perhaps he's not the tallest, can't head too well and isn't the most clinical (at WC level). But at least he can improve the latter through confidence and the run of games he's getting, and he has shown enough to warrant not only a spot on the squad, but IMO also in the starting line-up. I don't think he works too well as a supersub, but his strengths are if he can start a game.
Rooney works best as a second striker, but he isn't tactically disciplined, not as clinical as many want to believe, a hot or cold type of player still and most importantly, he's been slumping all year (still think he should be a AM). Oh yeah, and is undroppable apparently so England still need a 1st striker.
Crouch is underrated, but still lacks pace to cut through smart defences and is generally too wasteful.


Heskey is ruined
Owen is a cripple, and the ball still needs to reach him.
Walcott needs to improve and show what he's capable of, and still looks at best a forward/winger, not a 1st striker.
D. Bent underrated, but still a limited player who can't outthink or outplay any opponent at a higher level - true international level let alone WC players. Knock & run player
Johnson, same as D.Bent only worse and overrated perhaps. Good when in need of gamewinning dive. Knock & run player.

110% wrote:

DD wrote:Defoe is getting exactly what he needed: a good run of games to get his confidence back.
Its criminal that neither he or D. Bent (or both) went to the WC.

I agree that one should have been there instead of walcott and the other instead of jenas maybe.

Defoe is not even guaranteed for the england squad let alone the team. I feel he needs to score close to 20 goals in a season, or to show something in big games. Owen never scored 20 goals either but virtually won an FA cup final on his own, and delivered in many big england games. What are defoe's season tallies for example?

Before anyone jumps out and says he can't get in the team ahead of robbie keane and berbatov/mido, well if he was as good as some claim then he should be the first name down and one of the others who might best compliment him should play. Owen didn't have that problem with heskey, fowler, litmannen etc at liverpool. He was number 1 because he was that good. At his peak he was a class above defoe.

Make no mistake about it - Defoe is a very good, if not altogether consistent forward. Remember that goal he scored against Poland?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QndZ_rX25SI

At his best, he has everything you'd expect of a striker of his ilk. Nippy (if not lightning quick), close control at speed, a cannon of a shot of either foot, and bewitching body movement.

Where he falls down compared to Owen is understanding "The moment" i.e when to spring an offside trap, having great movement to make sure you're in the right place at the right time, and the general clinical finishing which Owen posseses. Jol has forced him to improve his all-round play as well.

Compared to our other 3 strikers? Well that's nothing bad - Defoe's CV is the weakest of the 4, but our other forwards are a tad underrated.

Keane is capable of moments of pure genius when in the groove, and is the Record goalscorer for his country. He's showed during WC 2002 that he is the man for the (relatively) big occasion, with last gasp equalisers vs. Germany & Spain.

Mido, IMO out-shone Zlatlan @ Ajax, formed a great combo with Drogba @ Marseille, and played a huge part in getting both us & Celta Vigo into Europe. He could be the best Targetman in Europe if he were to discipline himself, no joke.

Berbatov is the Forward that'll take us to the next level. 'Nuff Said.

@ DD Only noticed your post - Totally Agree

I agree that at the moment it should be crouch/rooney and defoe, but my original post was more in response to various comments that owen might not play for england again. When he comes back and if he is the same as he was for newcastle before the injury he will be ahead of defoe.

Actually TS what you have said here:

Where he falls down compared to Owen is understanding "The moment" i.e when to spring an offside trap, having great movement to make sure you're in the right place at the right time, and the general clinical finishing which Owen posseses

is the very reason I would say owen would be ahead of defoe, because at international level being fast is important but movement and anticipation of where to be and clinical finishing puts owen far enough ahead of defoe.

As I said what might make a difference, i.e. a demonstration that defoe has improved is to have a 20-goal season, or to put in big performaces in big games.

Owen update.

http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,2052964,00.html

Michael Owen's recuperation moves on a stage tomorrow when the Newcastle United and England striker takes part in reserves match behind closed doors against a junior team from Hartlepool United.

It is not known how long Owen will play - 45 minutes is anticipated - but his participation will be of huge encouragement to Glenn Roeder and the England head coach, Steve McClaren.

Should Owen emerge unscathed, his line of progression from knee surgery indicates a possible Premiership home return against Chelsea on April 22.
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Looks like they're dealing with him in the exact same way that Dyer was dealt with, one of the only things Rodent has done right.

Nice.

Hopefully with a good pre-season next year he could fit for next season.

I believe that he could still be a great striker for several years if he stays fit. It's obvious that he will never reach his full potential due to the injuries he has had, but I was quite impressed with him at Madrid. He did much better than I thought he would with limited opportunities. It was a shame that he never looked very impressive when he started games, only when he came on as a sub. If that hadn't been the case, I'm sure we would have kept him.

Btw, is it true that Owen has never scored more than 20 league goals in one season? I would find that strange since he scored about 15 in La Liga with limited minutes. Although of couse, playing under Houllier couldn't have helped him too much in that area.

Owen has never been the top quality forward that people expected him to be after the WC in '98, certainly i don't think that he was ever worth 17 million. However, I would think he'd be able to grab about 15 goals per season in the premiership, which is pretty decent considering that the current leading goalscorer has 18.

Kimbo, any news on how Owen and Ameobi did in the friendly? The Sun said Owen scored, but that's the Sun.

I havent heard anything more official, but Sky is reporting that Owen scored one and set one up for Ameobi during the match. He played 70 minutes, and the article is full of Gretna players saying he looked sharp, "If he was this good now, how good will he be then!" and so on.

http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?HLID=460102&CPID=8&title=Owen+scores+on+return&lid=&channel=Football_Home&f=rss&clid=4

Personally, Im a bit apprehensive about us bringing him back this season. Im sure we wont make old mistakes and bring him back too soon, Roeder at least doesnt seem to do that, but it seems a little pointless for him to return for the last few games when there is nothing really to play for. I cant see it boosting his fitness for next season greatly, and otherwise Id just as well he came back for the start of next season. It would create a sense of optimism, a fresh start and things, whereas if he came back now it could be an anticlimax.

I dont think Owen is one of the very best forwards in the world and hes not a Shearer, but he is top class and he and Martins should be wonderful together. I have slight reservations in that Owen seems traditionally to have wanted to play with a target man. But besides from that he will not only score goals but greatly boost the whole teams attacking play.