Never truly loved: Why there’s no fairytale ending for Owen

HE was supposed to be the player from fairytales. The hero would arrive as if from nowhere, destroy the enemies in sight and we would all live happily ever after. But with Michael Owen bringing an end to his football career it feels as if no one gets to live happily ever after.

Owen was a wonderkid in the truest sense. Rather than a prospect who fans could dream about blossoming into a devastating superstar, Owen stood and delivered immediately.

18 goals in 36 games in his full debut season: This was not the actions of simply a precocious talent; this was the work that the very best produce, good players at the peak of their powers have failed to replicate such a feat.

Yet Owen has not cast himself into Anfield folklore, his name is not heralded from the stands today and his reputation with Liverpool fans is one more of revulsion than reverence. For me this is perhaps the greatest tragedy in the career of Michael Owen.

In many areas he bares all the hallmarks of those that are loved by the Kop. He came through the Academy, he was a local lad made good. He bagged copious amounts of goals for the Reds and he did it right from the beginning. But Owen’s relationship with Liverpool fans was never quite as adulatory as his talent and performance deserved.

The reason for this is not quite clear but there are certainly a number of factors that mired the Liverpool star. The Kop had already had their favoured son arrive up front and that man was Robbie Fowler aka ‘God’; not just a local lad but a Liverpool lad who supported the dockers and who didn’t just score lots of goals, he scored great goals. Indeed Fowler in many ways was the fan base personified on the pitch. He was cocky, he was Scouse and he was brilliant.

Owen was none of those things, he could score great goals without question but there were less moments of genius. His celebrations were nice, which is not the way to inflame the passions in such a partisan game. His hand rubbing was side dish to the banquet of Fowler’s ‘Cameroonian grass eating’ celebration. Fowler incited and excited the crowd. Owen was just devastatingly effective and while fans bayed for a Fowler whose powers were waning, Owen was marginalised as a Kop idol for failing to be the same on pitch identity Fowler was.

Owen was also the beginning of the PR packaged Premier League. Where Fowler had personality, Owen was more reserved and seemed quite boring. He would never rock the boat, he was a professional in all the right ways for the modern day, media groomed football sphere. While that is great for getting roles in adverts, it’s not so great for inspiring the faithful.

Importantly though, was how quickly Owen became an integral part of the England team. Liverpool fans in general are not England fans. We’re not English we are Scouse. Owen was not Scouse. He was English and his reputation with Kopites suffered for it. Even at his best Owen was more begrudgingly praised instead of being mentioned in the gushing tones the likes of Dalglish, Rush, Fowler, Torres and Suarez have enjoyed.
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However, Owen deserves a better place in Liverpool fans minds. Sure he never landed the Premier League for us and yes he jumped ship when Houllier’s 6^th year of a 5 year plan ended but he was a son of the club and he served his duties with distinction,  118 goals in 216 Premier League games is proof enough.

For all the schadenfreude since he left, it is overlooked that he was actually honourable when leaving the club. He refused to do a McManaman and walk out on a free and in a world now full of Odemwingies, his actions leave him head and shoulders above many. Those that attack him for running down his contract should probably consider how much the club did to keep him. Indeed, his legacy was almost pre-written by a club that never adored him. It was never unacceptable for him to leave.

There was not the level of animosity that Gerrard faced when his move to Chelsea was mooted and that was because Owen was never respected the same way. His talent was unquestionable but his significance to fans was never equal. Football is emotional and without that link to the fans Owen’s stay at Anfield was inevitably temporary. Had the fans loved Owen like they did Fowler or Gerrard it would have been unthinkable for him to leave and had that bond existed Owen himself may have felt differently about calling another pitch home.

Owen though remained a man of his word and although £8m and Nunez was far less than his worth, he didn’t just walk out the door with a handshake and two raised fingers. In spite of that, Owen was still vilified for leaving. However, he faced an obvious choice in joining the Galacticos at Real Madrid. He could not stay at Liverpool without signing a new contract and with the club seemingly going backwards and the prospect of a transition season with a new manager, the lights of the Bernabeu were too enticing.

His potential return to Liverpool could have reignited his flame in LFC history but his choices post Madrid extinguished those hopes.

Perhaps though we got the Michael Owen we deserved. We liked him and he liked us but there was nothing more than that. Fans were split as to whether they wanted him back from Spain and he did not have the force of personality to battle his way back to Merseyside.

He was damaged goods to Liverpool fans long before his move to Man Utd, which was the death knell for Owen as a Liverpool entity, let alone icon. In fact, the idea that one of Liverpool’s most talented graduates played for their fiercest rivals is as laughable as it is sickening. However, it actually demonstrates quite aptly that the fan/player bond was never there.

And so Owen’s career will draw to a close after a season with a mid-table team with a handful of games to his name and only a handful of winner’s medals in his cabinet.

Unlike Fowler with his fairytale return, there will be no such redemption for Michael Owen and Liverpool.  All we are left with is a player with an unfulfilled career, fans with an unfulfilled dream and a story with a deeply unfulfilled ending.
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