Man Utd fans have certainly been pampered with bumper signings in the past seasons; although they have all been incoming to add strength in depth to the Old Trafford line up rather than outgoing. In the past few seasons, we have seen the arrival of Rooney, Carrick, Berbatov, Tevez, Nani and Anderson all costing huge amounts in terms of transfers.
For all the financial muscle Chelsea had before the emergence of Man City, Man Utd are the team that boast the most ₤30 million players with the likes of Ferdinand, Rooney and Berbatov.
It is therefore easy to understand the fans’ worry after the departures of CR7 and Carlos.
The Ronaldo saga has dragged on for too long ad it is clear that he wanted to play his trade in the Bernabeau, not at Old Trafford since he announced his desire to leave the previous summer.
The departure of Carlos and the verbal volleying between the player and Sir Alex have also been really unpleasant. It is disappointing that for a man that has such a fan fare among the Old Trafford crowd, Carlos does not have the decency and professionalism to keep his feud with Fergie private.
Many fans were rubbing their hands in anticipation for the arrival of probably a Karim Benzema or a Frank Ribery after the sale of CR7 to Real Madrid for a world record fee of ₤80 million. However, shrew old Fergie has surprised all by snapping up Michael Owen from relegated Newcastle Utd on a free transfer. A coup in the making, I am absolutey certain.
Many fans have questioned the signing of the injury prone Owen; who clearly has lost much of the pace on which his game is based on. I, on the other hand, do think this could be one of the transfers of the summer come next May when the season ends.
Regardless of whether Man Utd are able to ward off the challenges of Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and maybe Man City for their Premier League title, I am sure Owen, if injury free for most of the season, will be top scorer for the Old Trafford outfit.
Despite his injuries, Owen has never lost his poaching instincts and considering the way Man Utd plays and create chances, he might just be the perfect candidate to start alongside Wayne Rooney who I am sure will be deployed in his favorite front role this season.
It is important to note that Owen has a goal ration of a goal in every two and a half games in his career, and even when he was coming off the bench most of the time when he was at Real Madrid, he still has a decent record for the all whites.
In a terrible Newcastle team that was eventually relegated, he still did alright. I just cannot imagine any striker being able to save Newcastle last season, considering the absolute non existence of their midfield supply line and their porous defending for most of the season.
I am also absolutely certain that Michael Owen would not have suffered that many an injury at any other club. Consider the number of players that have ended up injury prone at Newcastle and you might want to wonder why the fitness regime and training methods at the club have not been questioned more significantly.
Owen first came to prominence in the 97/98 season where he broke into Liverpool’s first team at the tender age of 18 years old. He really hit the big time after his wonder goal in France 98 against Argentina, giving England the lead before eventually losing on penalties. That goal made him an instant hero in England. All England fans will also remember fondly his hat trick for Sven Goran Eriksson’s outfit against Germany in Munich; a fantastic 5-1 result for the Three Lions.
He went on to be a prolific scorer for the Reds from Mersyeside, winning the Cup Treble in 2001. In that season, who can forget his late rescue act in the FA Cup Final against Arsenal. A goal down with seven minutes to go, Owen, who has been non existent in the match up to this point, scored 2 goals to break every Gooners’ heart.
The first was a typical poacher’s goal, sweeping the ball home off a melee in the box. The second goal, in which he sped past Lee Dixon before dispatching his shot across David Seaman’s left hand, was a typical Michael Owen goal in which his pace and clinical finishing was so evident.
Over the years since that game in Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium, he might have lost some pace, however all good managers will still know that class is permanent and Owen certainly still does have the instinct to be labeled as the ‘fox in the box’.
Which is why I will stick my neck out and say Owen will be a decent bet to be top scorer in the Premier League next season.
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Please feel free to post all comments. In my next post, I will be examining if Arsene Wenger really has Myopia.
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I am in no doubt tthat michael Owen will give a decent account of himself in the months to come. His record does stand for itself and I believe that one of the main reasons that he was labelled "injury-prone" was because he was rushed back into playing before he had the time to properly recover, due to the situation Newcastle found themselves in. There will be no need for that at man utd as they will be able to afford decent cover should the need arise.
ReplyDeleteman utd are likely to change the way they play in the forthcoming season as they no longer have Ronaldo, who, because of his prolific rise in the past 2-3 seasons led to a situation where the team were possibly relying on him to score goals and turn games rather than take up the mantle themselves. The rest of the squad will now be able to play their part more fully, with Rooney playing through the centre in his prefered position, with Owen and Berbatov leading the line. I think the team will find the change to be to their advantage. Utilising the skills of the current squad, and providing new depth in the form of width from Valencia and Obertan. Lets not forget Llajic, who will arrive in January, and young Tosic is proving himself capable in pre-season also.
Their main combatants, have had a seemingly quiet transfer window thus far, and with talk of cash flow situations at Arsenal and Liverpool and with Chelsea concentrating their funds on keeping their captain, it seems that yet again man utd have a more complete squad early in pre-season which with any luck will bode well for a more positive start to the 09/10 season.