The move of Michael Owen from Newcastle United to Manchester last Summer was unexpected and surprising, mainly due to Michael’s injury prone history.
Many experts were left confused by the decision of Sir Alex Ferguson. After Cristiano Ronaldo’s transfer the generally accepted view was that a star would jump into the Manchester United jersey to take over for him. Instead, United got Luis Valencia from Wigan and Michael Owen. A player who has been struggling with fitness and form over the last five years along with more injuries than one can count. To make matters worse of course, he is a former Liverpool player. There were a few bemused faces around Old Trafford the day the deal was announced.
When the finer details of the agreement were released it became apparent that Alex Ferguson knew what he was doing. Michael Owen is signed on a pay if you play contract at Manchester United and he was intended to be used from the bench. He did not have to hold the whole team up with his striking abilities, he is being used from the bench when the team needs him.
Only managing to play in a few games as a late substitute it was not the start the Michael Owen would have wanted. Michael Owen’s last minute goal against Manchester City showed the role Alex Ferguson had planned for him in the team. This goal was expected to kick start more involvement from Owen in the team, their was even talk about a place in the England soccer team if he could find consistent goals.
Owen has not managed to continue his form however. Only managing to score four goals from eighteen games this season (many of which he only appeared as a substitute however), Doubt is starting to spread on Alex Fergusons decision to transfer Michael Owen and how long he has left in the team.
Owen’s chances of regaining a place in the England team are getting slimmer by the day it seems. Fabio Capello has repeatedly reiterated the need for players to be fit and playing regularly in order to play.Over the past few years Owen has managed to be neither of these things. However it should be noted here that Capello doesn’t seem to extend this mantra to other England strikers, Emile Heskey looks like a certainty in the team regardless of his performance at Aston Villa.
The high point of the experiment so far has been Owen’s last minute goal against City.Owen needs to find goals and consistency over the remainder of the season or it seems unlikely that Alex Ferguson will continue his experiment onto the next season, much in the way youngster Darron Gibson is doing. Whether Owen has the ability and level of fitness to do that remains questionable and as such, it seems likely that Sir Alex’s gamble, in the long run, may not pay off.
Tags: mancheseter united, premier league, soccer