SO, it’s over. Premier League behemoth’s Stoke have beaten us, Everton and Sunderland to the signing of striker-extraordinaire, Michael Owen. Oh, wait, that isn’t right…
When it became clear on Friday that we were not going to sign any of our supposed targets, I noticed Michael Owen’s name appear on various feeds and time-lines. I was hardly impressed by this, given how sullied his reputation and standing is with this club now but I tried to look at it from a neutral point of view; did this make any sense, I asked myself?
Well, not surprisingly, the answer was no. A resounding no. So it is with great happiness that I greet the former United striker signing for Stoke City. If you believe his new club, they beat off competition from a number of other top clubs, but then Newcastle said something similar 7-8 years ago as well.
Whether or not you like him, you cannot deny that over the years Owen has been a top striker. He was well on his way to becoming a goal-scoring legend at Liverpool but he ended that abruptly when he chose to abandon Rafa Benitez’s new project in the hopes of winning ‘major’ trophies at Real Madrid. I was glad when that didn’t turn out for him, as I’m sure many of us were.
However, for all he did for us back then, since leaving this club Owen hasn’t exactly set the world alight. His first – and only – season with Madrid turned out to be his best since leaving the Reds, where he scored 16 in 45 games. When he returned to these shores with Newcastle United barely a year later, his form trailed off big-time, and he has only once scored more than 10 goals in a single season at a Premier League club.
If what we are missing is a ‘proven’ goal-scorer, then I think we have dodged a serious bullet in ‘losing out’ to Stoke. Since returning to England, he has scored 47 times in over 130 games. This equates to a goal more-or-less, every 3 games. At his most recent club side, he has scored just 5 Premier League goals in 31 games and prior to that he managed 25 in 71 league games for Newcastle. Just as an aside, Peter Crouch has outscored Owen almost 2 to 1 during that same period.
All-in-all, had Owen never made the move to United, it may have been more favourable for him and the club might have given a tad more thought to signing the 32 year old striker. But his connections with the club aside, he is neither good enough, young enough or capable enough anymore to offer anything to a club of the stature of Liverpool that we couldn’t get elsewhere for a more reasonable price and with the prospect of getting a bigger bang for our buck.
So, it is through gritted teeth that I wish him and Stoke the best of luck, but in every sense, we are the only winners in this, as we’ve avoided a massive fallout in the stands and an even bigger waste of the club’s money.
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twisted stats prove nothing, most of those appearances at old trafford were from the bench so hardly tell the tale your trying to tell!
obviously still a bit bitter he left anfield for a better club.
im sure borini will prove to be a sensation!
Liverpool havent exactly acheived that much either tbh
You say “If what we are missing is a proven goal scorer….”. I got to break some bad news to you. A proven goal scorer at this stage in proceedings is a luxury not available to you. What Liverpool needs right now is simply someone who can play up front. Someone who is literally “better than nothing” because “nothing” is pretty much the only other option. Is Owen “better than nothing”? Close call, but probably yes, just about.
You sound very sad and to a little bit of a chip on your shoulder
im delighted hes gone elsewhere, i would of been devastated if he had of been brought back, morgan will work harder than owen and thats what brendan wants work ethic, and he WILL score goals, owen will have his own room in stokes treatment centre as per usual, and as for del piero all he is, is a 37 year old a@@ pumper
Spot on. Better club or not he turned his back on this mist historical club, and wore the red of Manure.
I never wanted to see him back, and I am glad he will never be back again.
I didn’t like Michael leaving LFC in 2004. Although he wasn’t key figure to Rafa’s plans I believed he could have stayed and fight for his place. He had no other option but to join Mancs, because that’s an opportunity most players in the world would never let pass by. But I cannot agree with statements that he can’t score goals. He made 18 starts and scored 17 goals for Man Utd. Yes, he was injured a lot but when he played he delivered. And one can’t argue with that.
And LFC have nothing but Suarez and Borini now. So we should think of Michael as another oppotunity missed by Brendan Rodgers.
He will always be known as a traitor to LFC. We do get rocked a bit just after 3 games and yea we are all nervous for a club of this stature to begin the season in this fashion. Be patience and trust BR will turn things around…..
Well we’ll have to wait and see. No AC and no replacement WTF happened there (oh no money left) Stoke have handed Owen the No 10 shirt, lets see if theres another chapter. Its Stoke’s 150th year and MO is on 149 Prem Goals, starting to see a pattern, lets hope he can write himself into the history books making headlines for all the right reasons 🙂 City, Man U & L’pool all coming up soon lets judge him after then shall we?
Sounds like a bitter twisted Liverpool supporter that clearly things his club are at the level they were quite a number of years ago. Hate to break it to you my I’ll advised friend but you barley have a team, let alone one pushing for the top of the table, top half would be an achievement 😉