Michael James Owen (born 14 December 1979) is an English former footballer who played as a striker for Liverpool, Real Madrid, Newcastle United, Manchester United and Stoke City, as well as for the England national team. Since retiring from football in 2013, he has become a racehorse breeder and owner and regularly features as a sports pundit and commentator.[3]
The son of former footballer Terry Owen, Owen was born in Chester and began his senior career at Liverpool in 1996. He progressed through the Liverpool youth team and scored on his debut in May 1997. In his first full season in the Premier League, he finished as joint top scorer with 18 goals. He repeated this the following year and was Liverpool's top goal-scorer from 1997–2004, gaining his name as a proven goal-scorer despite suffering from a recurring hamstring injury. In 2001, Liverpool won a cup treble of the UEFA Cup, FA Cup and Football League Cup, and Owen was the recipient of the Ballon d'Or. He went on to score 118 goals in 216 appearances in the Premier League for Liverpool, and 158 goals in 297 total appearances. Regarded as one of the greatest Liverpool players, Owen came 14th in the "100 Players Who Shook The Kop", an official Liverpool fan poll.[4] In 2004, Owen was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players.[5]
Owen moved to Real Madrid for £8 million in mid-2004; he was frequently used as a substitute. He scored 13 goals in La Liga before returning to England the following season where he joined Newcastle United for £16.8 million. After a promising start to the 2005–06 season, injuries largely ruled him out over the next 18 months. After his return, he became team captain and was the team's top scorer for the 2007–08 season. Newcastle were relegated in the 2008–09 season and Owen moved to Manchester United as a free agent. He spent three years at Old Trafford before joining Stoke City in September 2012. Owen is one of nine players to have scored 150 or more goals in the Premier League.[6] He is also the youngest player to have reached 100 goals in the Premier League.[7] On 19 March 2013, Owen announced his retirement from playing at the end of the 2012–13 season.
Internationally, Owen first played for the senior England team in 1998, becoming England's youngest player and youngest goalscorer at the time. His performance at the 1998 FIFA World Cup brought him to national and international prominence and he went on to score in UEFA Euro 2000, the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004. He is the only player to have scored in four consecutive major tournaments for England. He played at the 2006 World Cup, but suffered an injury which took him a year to recover from. Occasionally playing as captain, he is England's 11th-most-capped player and has scored a former national record (since overtaken by Wayne Rooney) of 26 competitive goals, with 40 in total from 89 appearances, most recently in 2008
Early life
Owen was born in Chester, Cheshire, the fourth child of Jeanette and Terry Owen.[9] His father is a former professional footballer and played for clubs such as Chester City and Everton. Owen was introduced to football at the age of seven by his father who soon saw Michael as the most promising athlete in the family.[9] A boyhood Everton fan,[10] Owen attended Rector Drew Primary School in Hawarden, Flintshire, North Wales and by the age of ten, some of the nation's leading scouts were monitoring his progress.[11]
At eight, Owen was selected for the Deeside Area Primary School's Under-11 team. At nine, he was captain and at ten he had smashed Ian Rush's 20-year record for the same team by scoring a record-breaking 97 goals in a single season, improving on Rush's record by 25 goals.[12][13] Owen also broke Gary Speed's appearance record having played in all three seasons for the 11-year-olds since he was eight.[13] Owen turned out for the youth team of Mold Alexandra,[9] playing with the under-10s at the age of eight after a local physical education teacher, Howard Roberts, persuaded the league to allow an under-age player.[9] Owen scored on his debut for Mold Alexandra,[12] a 2–0 victory over local rivals Bagillt.[12] He went on to score 34 goals in 24 games in his first season with Mold Alexandra.[14] After leaving Deeside, Owen attended Hawarden High School, north Wales where he also played for the school team.[11]
Club career
Liverpool
At age 12, when Owen started attending secondary school, he became eligible to sign a schoolboy contract with a club. The first major club to spot him playing for Deeside was Liverpool. Brian Kidd came down from Manchester United and there was also interest from Chelsea and Arsenal. But Steve Heighway, the Liverpool youth development officer, wrote to Owen personally. Terry Owen stated: "[Heighway] wrote us a smashing letter and it was love at first sight for Michael, he was impressed from day one."[13] Owen subsequently signed with the Liverpool youth team. The club then persuaded Owen to attend the FA's School of Excellence at Lilleshall in Shropshire at age 14. Owen was soon playing for England teams from under-15 upwards, breaking several scoring records with 28 goals in 20 games for the England u-15s and u-16s.[13] Owen also scored prolifically as he rose rapidly through the Anfield youth ranks.[15] Throughout this time, Owen had continued his studies and achieved ten GCSEs.[16] Despite the academic success,[16] Owen was adamant his future was a professional football career with Liverpool.[16]
In the 1995–96 season, Owen played for Liverpool's youth team even though he was still at Lilleshall. Most of the players were 18, but Owen was only 16.[13] He scored a hat-trick against FA Youth Cup holders Manchester United in the quarter-finals, scoring the winner in extra time.[13] Owen subsequently scored another hat-trick in a 4–2 win in the first leg of the semi against Crystal Palace. Liverpool were 3–0 down after only 50 minutes in the second leg,[13] but with Owen taking control of the match and scoring twice, the team ran out as 7–5 winners.[13] Liverpool faced West Ham United in the final, played over two legs as well. West Ham hadn't lost in 24 consecutive games,[13] boasting future England stars Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard.[13] Owen missed the first leg at Upton Park as he was on tour duty with the England under-16 team in the European youth championship in Austria.[13] He returned for the second-leg where Liverpool had fallen behind early but Owen equalised with his eleventh goal in five cup matches and Liverpool won the match 2–1.[13] It was the first time Liverpool had won the FA Youth Cup in the club’s history and Owen was widely considered the star of the FA Cup campaign.[13][15]
1996–2000
Owen celebrated his seventeenth birthday by signing a professional contract with Liverpool. He was handed a place in Roy Evans' senior squad, with Steve Heighway stating that, "[Owen] is ready for whatever you throw at him; nothing fazes Michael Owen. He's ready. If the manager wants a recommendation from me, Michael gets it."[17] Owen also declared his aim was "a first-team place in the next year or so".[13] Karl-Heinz Riedle, who prior to joining Liverpool in the summer of 1997 had never heard of Owen, declared, "It's unbelievable when you see him play to realise that he's only 17," he said. "He's such a good player, so very quick and for his age he has excellent vision and awareness. He's a great player already and in one or two years he will become a very great player."[13] Owen was rated as "the best attacker of his age in the country" in January 1997.[17] Ted Powell, the championship-winning coach of the England under-18 side, declared Owen to be the best of a generation of young players that included Paul Scholes, David Beckham and Robbie Fowler.[18]
On 6 May 1997, Owen scored on his Liverpool debut against Wimbledon at Selhurst Park.[19] Liverpool were league title challengers to Manchester United but their failure to beat Wimbledon in the penultimate game of the league season handed the championship to United. The Liverpool Echo wrote, "[Only] Michael Owen could emerge with any credit from a performance that mocked Anfield's rich traditions."[19] Owen, who had come on as a substitute in the second half, "[breathed] new life into the Reds' championship corpse," and "began [Liverpool's] best spell of the night",[19] but was ultimately not able to salvage a win.[19] The Liverpool Echo stated, "It was a debut marked in the grand manner."[19]
Owen replaced the injured Robbie Fowler as Liverpool's first choice striker in 1997–98. He won the Premier League Golden Boot and was awarded the PFA Young Player of the Year award. Owen also finished in third place in the PFA Player of the Year voting behind Dennis Bergkamp and Tony Adams.[20] Owen recorded many personal feats during the season and helped Liverpool challenge for the league championship, but ultimately a run of bad form in February saw the club bowing out of the title race.[21] The Liverpool Echo wrote that, "[Owen] has become Liverpool's most precious performer and, quite simply, their saviour."[21] Owen signed a five-year contract with Liverpool worth £2.5 million during the season.[13] His £10,000-a-week deal made him the highest-paid teenager in the history of British football.[13] Owen was runner-up to Zinedine Zidane in the World Player of the Year award, also finishing in fourth position in the FIFA World Player of the Year and European Player of the Year international awards.
Owen retained the Premier League Golden Boot in 1998–99 despite incurring a hamstring injury against Leeds United that prematurely brought his season to an end on 12 April. With his pace identified as his greatest strength, Liverpool's game had revolved around feeding him with through passes and long balls. Owen constantly moved from static positions to full speed in a matter of split seconds. ESPN wrote, "It [would] eventually [prove] too much for [Owen's] hamstring to handle.[14] Liverpool failed to challenge for the league title that season despite Owen's brilliant form. The club had appointed a new manager in Gérard Houllier and were transitioning out of the Spice Boys era. Owen ended the 1998–99 season as runners-up to Nicolas Anelka in the PFA Young Player of the Year award.[22]
Owen returned to action after almost five months of layoff during the 1999–2000 season.[13] He played intermittently throughout the season and ended up ceding the Golden Boot to Kevin Phillips.[23] He had completed only six full games by January and, during a frustrating spell punctuated by recurring breakdowns,[23] had managed to stay the 90 minutes only three times since mid-October. Owen injured his hamstring once again while playing against Middlesbrough in January. He remained out of action for well over a month and later received treatment from German doctor Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrt.[24] The persistent hamstring problems ended up robbing Liverpool of Owen for a third of a season in which a lack of goals eventually cost them a place in the Champions League.[24]
2000–2004
Owen helped Liverpool to a Treble in 2000–01.[25] The team won the League Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup to end a six-year trophy drought.[25] Owen was the recipient of the European Player of the Year award in recognition of his performances that season.[26] He became the first English winner of the European Footballer of the Year award since Kevin Keegan was given the honour in 1979. Owen scored both Liverpool goals late in the 2001 FA Cup Final to turn around what had appeared to be a certain defeat for Liverpool at the hands of Arsenal.[27][28]
Liverpool and Owen challenged for the league championship during the 2001–02 season.[29][30] The team eventually finished runners-up to Arsenal, with Owen playing a key part in the campaign.[29] On 29 December 2001, Owen scored his 100th goal for Liverpool during the season against West Ham United.[31] He also led them to success in the Charity Shield and the UEFA Super Cup during the start of the season in 2001. Liverpool thus became the first English team to win five trophies in one calendar year.[13] Owen signed a four-year contract worth £70,000-a-week with Liverpool during the season, making him one of the highest earners in the English Premiership.[32]
Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez started as early as in March 2002 to pursue Owen.[13] Pérez declared his intentions to make Owen the next Galáctico, stating that "the best players must play for Real Madrid".[13] Liverpool manager Gérard Houllier laughed off any apparent interest, saying, "They might be able to afford Ronaldo but they cannot afford Michael Owen. For that kind of money they could only buy his left foot but he is not going anywhere. Michael is Liverpool through and through and he is staying with me."[13]
Owen continued with strong performances in the 2002–03 season which saw Liverpool top the league table and remain unbeaten for several months.[33][34] However, a run of disastrous results starting from November and culminating in January saw the team bow out of the title race. Chelsea pipped Liverpool to the fourth and final Champions League spot on the final day of the season.[35][36] Owen was also controversially overlooked for the PFA Player of the Year award during the season.[34] He had continued establishing personal records with Liverpool and had scored his 100th Premier League goal on 26 April against West Bromwich Albion.[37] Success in the League Cup also meant that Liverpool had ended up with a trophy for a third consecutive season. Owen had scored in the League Cup Final against Manchester United to clinch the trophy for Liverpool.[13]
Liverpool's failure to qualify for the Champions League led to speculation about Owen's long-term future.[38] It was initially reported that Liverpool and Owen were close to agreeing a new deal in the summer of 2003.[39] However, it was later reported that Owen had refused to open talks over a new contract with the club until after UEFA Euro 2004.[40] Transfer speculation had continued linking him to Real Madrid and Barcelona.[41][42] Owen was quoted as saying, "I really have to be playing in the Champions League and that is something [Liverpool] have to remedy."[43] Owen would later refute the quote, stating, "Some of the words I never even said and the rest were taken completely out of context."[44]
Houllier moved to re-shape the Liverpool squad in 2003 to reassure Owen.[38] He stated, "We want to win the title. This is our vision at Liverpool – and we want to win it with Michael in our team." Michael is a genuine world-class player. He has had a great season and I think he will be even better next season."[38] Bolton Wanderers manager Sam Allardyce was quoted as saying, "Stop Michael Owen scoring and you are 50 per cent towards getting a result at Anfield," while Owen had admitted to being frustrated at the lack of support play from his teammates.[45][46]
After a shaky start to the 2003–04 season,[47] Liverpool emerged as title contenders once more, with Owen leading the charge.[47][48] Owen, however, would suffer an ankle injury while playing against Arsenal on 3 October and consequently went through "three months of injury nightmare".[49] Owen only played intermittently over the following months, suffering from niggling ankle and hamstring injuries,[48] while Liverpool's season fell apart.[49] After a goal drought lasting nine games and three months, Owen returned to fitness and scoring form with a goal against Manchester City on 11 February.[50] Owen helped reignite Liverpool's hunt for fourth spot,[51] scoring his 150th goal for Liverpool in the subsequent match against Portsmouth on 15 February,[52] and although suffering from further injuries,[53] ultimately led Liverpool to the fourth and final Champions League spot.[54][55]
Following Gérard Houllier's sacking as Liverpool manager, speculation about Owen's departure from the club began. During the first few Champions League games at the start of the 2004–05 season, Owen sat on the bench to avoid being cup-tied for the Champions League, something that would have meant he would be unable to play in European competitions for any other club that season. Since 1998, Owen had been Liverpool's top scorer every season until he left the club.[56] Real Madrid signed him for a fee of £8 million on 13 August 2004, with midfielder Antonio Núñez moving in the other direction as a make-weight
Following their successful bid, Owen was presented with the number 11 shirt by Real Madrid. Owen joined the club during its Galácticos era, and played alongside Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, Raúl, Luís Figo, Zinedine Zidane and his England teammate David Beckham.
Owen had a slow start to his Madrid career. He was often confined to the bench and drew criticism from fans and the Spanish press for his lack of form. A successful return to action with the England squad in October 2004 seemed to revive his morale, however, and in the first following match, he scored his first goal for the club, the winner in a 1–0 Champions League victory over Dynamo Kyiv.[58] A few days later, he scored his first La Liga goal in a 1–0 victory over Valencia.[59] The scoring spree continued, as he found the back of the net in three of the next four matches to make it five goals in seven successive matches.
On 10 April 2005, Owen scored Real Madrid's fourth goal in a 4–2 El Clásico win over Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.[60]
Owen ended the 2004–05 season with 13 goals in La Liga, with the season's highest ratio of goals scored to number of minutes played. Following Madrid's signing of two high-profile Brazilian forwards, Robinho and Júlio Baptista, in the summer of 2005, the speculation arose that Owen would return to the Premier League. During his time at Real Madrid, Owen scored 16 goals from 45 games, 26 of which were starts.[61]
Newcastle United
On 24 August 2005, Newcastle United announced that they had agreed a club record fee[62] of £16.8 million to obtain Owen, although they still had to negotiate with the player's advisers. Liverpool and local rivals Everton entered the fray, but were unwilling to match Madrid's asking price. As the 2006 World Cup was less than a year away, Owen wanted to get more playing time to secure his position as the first-choice striker in the England squad and joined Newcastle amid rumours that he had inserted an escape clause valued at £12 million.[63] On 31 August 2005, Owen signed a four-year contract to play for Newcastle, despite initial press speculation that he would rather have returned to Liverpool.[64] Some 20,000 fans were present at Newcastle's home ground of St James' Park for Owen's official unveiling as a Newcastle player.[65][66] Several days after signing, he suffered a thigh-injury in pre-season, which ruled him out for the start of the 2005–06 season. He scored his first goal for the club on his second appearance, the second goal in a 3–0 away win at Blackburn Rovers on 18 September, Newcastle's first win of the season. Owen scored his first hat-trick for Newcastle in the 4–2 away win over West Ham United on 17 December.[67] It was also a "perfect hat trick", with one goal scored with each of his left foot, right foot and head.
On 31 December 2005, Owen broke a metatarsal bone in his foot in a match against Tottenham Hotspur. He underwent surgery to place a pin in the bone, to help speed the healing process. He was expected to be out of action until late March,[68] but the healing process did not go as hoped and on 24 March he underwent a second, minor operation. Owen then stated that he should be fit for the final few weeks of the season with Newcastle.[69] His return to action finally came against Birmingham City on 29 April when he came off the substitutes' bench in the 62nd minute. After the match, Owen stated that he was "not 100% happy" with his foot.[70] He underwent a further X-ray and made himself unavailable for Newcastle's final game of the season.
A damaged anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee, sustained in the first minute of the group match against Sweden at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, kept Owen out of regular football for nearly a year, until April 2007. The seriousness of Owen's injury at the World Cup inflamed the so-called "club-versus-country" row in England, centring on the liability of the world governing body FIFA and The Football Association (FA) for the cost of injuries to players incurred while on international duty.[71][72] Newcastle were aggrieved at the length of time Owen would now be out of action in forthcoming Premier League and Cup competitions as a result of the World Cup injury, particularly as he had been out for the half-season prior to the World Cup. Under the existing insurance arrangements between club and country, FIFA and the FA had been paying £50,000 of Owen's £110,000 weekly wages since he suffered the injury, totalling approximately £2 million for the time he was out of action.[73] By September 2006, Newcastle were threatening to sue the FA for further compensation, for a reported figure of £20 million.[71] The Owen case was a high-profile follow-up to an already ongoing legal claim for compensation from FIFA over an injury incurred by Abdelmajid Oulmers on international duty.[72]
Newcastle's compensation claim included the £10 million cost of buying Owen's replacement, Obafemi Martins, £6.2 million towards Owen's salary costs while injured, the possibility of long-term damage to Owen's fitness and ability, the loss of league position and cup competition progress, depreciation of Owen's four-year contract, and the cost of medical treatment for Owen.[71][73][74] In February 2007, FIFA made Newcastle a "final offer" of £1 million.[74] By April 2007, Newcastle were threatening to take out an injunction to stop the FA from picking Owen for England games.[75] The club finally reached a compromise settlement figure with FIFA and the FA; FIFA indicated that the settlement was between £6 million and £7 million. The club, stating that Owen's wages had "now been paid in full", stated the overall compensation achieved totalled £10 million.[73] Resulting from the Owen compensation claim, the FA doubled their future insurance coverage of England players to £100,000, and FIFA introduced a compensation fund for injuries sustained at World Cups
The son of former footballer Terry Owen, Owen was born in Chester and began his senior career at Liverpool in 1996. He progressed through the Liverpool youth team and scored on his debut in May 1997. In his first full season in the Premier League, he finished as joint top scorer with 18 goals. He repeated this the following year and was Liverpool's top goal-scorer from 1997–2004, gaining his name as a proven goal-scorer despite suffering from a recurring hamstring injury. In 2001, Liverpool won a cup treble of the UEFA Cup, FA Cup and Football League Cup, and Owen was the recipient of the Ballon d'Or. He went on to score 118 goals in 216 appearances in the Premier League for Liverpool, and 158 goals in 297 total appearances. Regarded as one of the greatest Liverpool players, Owen came 14th in the "100 Players Who Shook The Kop", an official Liverpool fan poll.[4] In 2004, Owen was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players.[5]
Owen moved to Real Madrid for £8 million in mid-2004; he was frequently used as a substitute. He scored 13 goals in La Liga before returning to England the following season where he joined Newcastle United for £16.8 million. After a promising start to the 2005–06 season, injuries largely ruled him out over the next 18 months. After his return, he became team captain and was the team's top scorer for the 2007–08 season. Newcastle were relegated in the 2008–09 season and Owen moved to Manchester United as a free agent. He spent three years at Old Trafford before joining Stoke City in September 2012. Owen is one of nine players to have scored 150 or more goals in the Premier League.[6] He is also the youngest player to have reached 100 goals in the Premier League.[7] On 19 March 2013, Owen announced his retirement from playing at the end of the 2012–13 season.
Internationally, Owen first played for the senior England team in 1998, becoming England's youngest player and youngest goalscorer at the time. His performance at the 1998 FIFA World Cup brought him to national and international prominence and he went on to score in UEFA Euro 2000, the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004. He is the only player to have scored in four consecutive major tournaments for England. He played at the 2006 World Cup, but suffered an injury which took him a year to recover from. Occasionally playing as captain, he is England's 11th-most-capped player and has scored a former national record (since overtaken by Wayne Rooney) of 26 competitive goals, with 40 in total from 89 appearances, most recently in 2008
Early life
Owen was born in Chester, Cheshire, the fourth child of Jeanette and Terry Owen.[9] His father is a former professional footballer and played for clubs such as Chester City and Everton. Owen was introduced to football at the age of seven by his father who soon saw Michael as the most promising athlete in the family.[9] A boyhood Everton fan,[10] Owen attended Rector Drew Primary School in Hawarden, Flintshire, North Wales and by the age of ten, some of the nation's leading scouts were monitoring his progress.[11]
At eight, Owen was selected for the Deeside Area Primary School's Under-11 team. At nine, he was captain and at ten he had smashed Ian Rush's 20-year record for the same team by scoring a record-breaking 97 goals in a single season, improving on Rush's record by 25 goals.[12][13] Owen also broke Gary Speed's appearance record having played in all three seasons for the 11-year-olds since he was eight.[13] Owen turned out for the youth team of Mold Alexandra,[9] playing with the under-10s at the age of eight after a local physical education teacher, Howard Roberts, persuaded the league to allow an under-age player.[9] Owen scored on his debut for Mold Alexandra,[12] a 2–0 victory over local rivals Bagillt.[12] He went on to score 34 goals in 24 games in his first season with Mold Alexandra.[14] After leaving Deeside, Owen attended Hawarden High School, north Wales where he also played for the school team.[11]
Club career
Liverpool
At age 12, when Owen started attending secondary school, he became eligible to sign a schoolboy contract with a club. The first major club to spot him playing for Deeside was Liverpool. Brian Kidd came down from Manchester United and there was also interest from Chelsea and Arsenal. But Steve Heighway, the Liverpool youth development officer, wrote to Owen personally. Terry Owen stated: "[Heighway] wrote us a smashing letter and it was love at first sight for Michael, he was impressed from day one."[13] Owen subsequently signed with the Liverpool youth team. The club then persuaded Owen to attend the FA's School of Excellence at Lilleshall in Shropshire at age 14. Owen was soon playing for England teams from under-15 upwards, breaking several scoring records with 28 goals in 20 games for the England u-15s and u-16s.[13] Owen also scored prolifically as he rose rapidly through the Anfield youth ranks.[15] Throughout this time, Owen had continued his studies and achieved ten GCSEs.[16] Despite the academic success,[16] Owen was adamant his future was a professional football career with Liverpool.[16]
In the 1995–96 season, Owen played for Liverpool's youth team even though he was still at Lilleshall. Most of the players were 18, but Owen was only 16.[13] He scored a hat-trick against FA Youth Cup holders Manchester United in the quarter-finals, scoring the winner in extra time.[13] Owen subsequently scored another hat-trick in a 4–2 win in the first leg of the semi against Crystal Palace. Liverpool were 3–0 down after only 50 minutes in the second leg,[13] but with Owen taking control of the match and scoring twice, the team ran out as 7–5 winners.[13] Liverpool faced West Ham United in the final, played over two legs as well. West Ham hadn't lost in 24 consecutive games,[13] boasting future England stars Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard.[13] Owen missed the first leg at Upton Park as he was on tour duty with the England under-16 team in the European youth championship in Austria.[13] He returned for the second-leg where Liverpool had fallen behind early but Owen equalised with his eleventh goal in five cup matches and Liverpool won the match 2–1.[13] It was the first time Liverpool had won the FA Youth Cup in the club’s history and Owen was widely considered the star of the FA Cup campaign.[13][15]
1996–2000
Owen celebrated his seventeenth birthday by signing a professional contract with Liverpool. He was handed a place in Roy Evans' senior squad, with Steve Heighway stating that, "[Owen] is ready for whatever you throw at him; nothing fazes Michael Owen. He's ready. If the manager wants a recommendation from me, Michael gets it."[17] Owen also declared his aim was "a first-team place in the next year or so".[13] Karl-Heinz Riedle, who prior to joining Liverpool in the summer of 1997 had never heard of Owen, declared, "It's unbelievable when you see him play to realise that he's only 17," he said. "He's such a good player, so very quick and for his age he has excellent vision and awareness. He's a great player already and in one or two years he will become a very great player."[13] Owen was rated as "the best attacker of his age in the country" in January 1997.[17] Ted Powell, the championship-winning coach of the England under-18 side, declared Owen to be the best of a generation of young players that included Paul Scholes, David Beckham and Robbie Fowler.[18]
On 6 May 1997, Owen scored on his Liverpool debut against Wimbledon at Selhurst Park.[19] Liverpool were league title challengers to Manchester United but their failure to beat Wimbledon in the penultimate game of the league season handed the championship to United. The Liverpool Echo wrote, "[Only] Michael Owen could emerge with any credit from a performance that mocked Anfield's rich traditions."[19] Owen, who had come on as a substitute in the second half, "[breathed] new life into the Reds' championship corpse," and "began [Liverpool's] best spell of the night",[19] but was ultimately not able to salvage a win.[19] The Liverpool Echo stated, "It was a debut marked in the grand manner."[19]
Owen replaced the injured Robbie Fowler as Liverpool's first choice striker in 1997–98. He won the Premier League Golden Boot and was awarded the PFA Young Player of the Year award. Owen also finished in third place in the PFA Player of the Year voting behind Dennis Bergkamp and Tony Adams.[20] Owen recorded many personal feats during the season and helped Liverpool challenge for the league championship, but ultimately a run of bad form in February saw the club bowing out of the title race.[21] The Liverpool Echo wrote that, "[Owen] has become Liverpool's most precious performer and, quite simply, their saviour."[21] Owen signed a five-year contract with Liverpool worth £2.5 million during the season.[13] His £10,000-a-week deal made him the highest-paid teenager in the history of British football.[13] Owen was runner-up to Zinedine Zidane in the World Player of the Year award, also finishing in fourth position in the FIFA World Player of the Year and European Player of the Year international awards.
Owen retained the Premier League Golden Boot in 1998–99 despite incurring a hamstring injury against Leeds United that prematurely brought his season to an end on 12 April. With his pace identified as his greatest strength, Liverpool's game had revolved around feeding him with through passes and long balls. Owen constantly moved from static positions to full speed in a matter of split seconds. ESPN wrote, "It [would] eventually [prove] too much for [Owen's] hamstring to handle.[14] Liverpool failed to challenge for the league title that season despite Owen's brilliant form. The club had appointed a new manager in Gérard Houllier and were transitioning out of the Spice Boys era. Owen ended the 1998–99 season as runners-up to Nicolas Anelka in the PFA Young Player of the Year award.[22]
Owen returned to action after almost five months of layoff during the 1999–2000 season.[13] He played intermittently throughout the season and ended up ceding the Golden Boot to Kevin Phillips.[23] He had completed only six full games by January and, during a frustrating spell punctuated by recurring breakdowns,[23] had managed to stay the 90 minutes only three times since mid-October. Owen injured his hamstring once again while playing against Middlesbrough in January. He remained out of action for well over a month and later received treatment from German doctor Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrt.[24] The persistent hamstring problems ended up robbing Liverpool of Owen for a third of a season in which a lack of goals eventually cost them a place in the Champions League.[24]
2000–2004
Owen helped Liverpool to a Treble in 2000–01.[25] The team won the League Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup to end a six-year trophy drought.[25] Owen was the recipient of the European Player of the Year award in recognition of his performances that season.[26] He became the first English winner of the European Footballer of the Year award since Kevin Keegan was given the honour in 1979. Owen scored both Liverpool goals late in the 2001 FA Cup Final to turn around what had appeared to be a certain defeat for Liverpool at the hands of Arsenal.[27][28]
Liverpool and Owen challenged for the league championship during the 2001–02 season.[29][30] The team eventually finished runners-up to Arsenal, with Owen playing a key part in the campaign.[29] On 29 December 2001, Owen scored his 100th goal for Liverpool during the season against West Ham United.[31] He also led them to success in the Charity Shield and the UEFA Super Cup during the start of the season in 2001. Liverpool thus became the first English team to win five trophies in one calendar year.[13] Owen signed a four-year contract worth £70,000-a-week with Liverpool during the season, making him one of the highest earners in the English Premiership.[32]
Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez started as early as in March 2002 to pursue Owen.[13] Pérez declared his intentions to make Owen the next Galáctico, stating that "the best players must play for Real Madrid".[13] Liverpool manager Gérard Houllier laughed off any apparent interest, saying, "They might be able to afford Ronaldo but they cannot afford Michael Owen. For that kind of money they could only buy his left foot but he is not going anywhere. Michael is Liverpool through and through and he is staying with me."[13]
Owen continued with strong performances in the 2002–03 season which saw Liverpool top the league table and remain unbeaten for several months.[33][34] However, a run of disastrous results starting from November and culminating in January saw the team bow out of the title race. Chelsea pipped Liverpool to the fourth and final Champions League spot on the final day of the season.[35][36] Owen was also controversially overlooked for the PFA Player of the Year award during the season.[34] He had continued establishing personal records with Liverpool and had scored his 100th Premier League goal on 26 April against West Bromwich Albion.[37] Success in the League Cup also meant that Liverpool had ended up with a trophy for a third consecutive season. Owen had scored in the League Cup Final against Manchester United to clinch the trophy for Liverpool.[13]
Liverpool's failure to qualify for the Champions League led to speculation about Owen's long-term future.[38] It was initially reported that Liverpool and Owen were close to agreeing a new deal in the summer of 2003.[39] However, it was later reported that Owen had refused to open talks over a new contract with the club until after UEFA Euro 2004.[40] Transfer speculation had continued linking him to Real Madrid and Barcelona.[41][42] Owen was quoted as saying, "I really have to be playing in the Champions League and that is something [Liverpool] have to remedy."[43] Owen would later refute the quote, stating, "Some of the words I never even said and the rest were taken completely out of context."[44]
Houllier moved to re-shape the Liverpool squad in 2003 to reassure Owen.[38] He stated, "We want to win the title. This is our vision at Liverpool – and we want to win it with Michael in our team." Michael is a genuine world-class player. He has had a great season and I think he will be even better next season."[38] Bolton Wanderers manager Sam Allardyce was quoted as saying, "Stop Michael Owen scoring and you are 50 per cent towards getting a result at Anfield," while Owen had admitted to being frustrated at the lack of support play from his teammates.[45][46]
After a shaky start to the 2003–04 season,[47] Liverpool emerged as title contenders once more, with Owen leading the charge.[47][48] Owen, however, would suffer an ankle injury while playing against Arsenal on 3 October and consequently went through "three months of injury nightmare".[49] Owen only played intermittently over the following months, suffering from niggling ankle and hamstring injuries,[48] while Liverpool's season fell apart.[49] After a goal drought lasting nine games and three months, Owen returned to fitness and scoring form with a goal against Manchester City on 11 February.[50] Owen helped reignite Liverpool's hunt for fourth spot,[51] scoring his 150th goal for Liverpool in the subsequent match against Portsmouth on 15 February,[52] and although suffering from further injuries,[53] ultimately led Liverpool to the fourth and final Champions League spot.[54][55]
Following Gérard Houllier's sacking as Liverpool manager, speculation about Owen's departure from the club began. During the first few Champions League games at the start of the 2004–05 season, Owen sat on the bench to avoid being cup-tied for the Champions League, something that would have meant he would be unable to play in European competitions for any other club that season. Since 1998, Owen had been Liverpool's top scorer every season until he left the club.[56] Real Madrid signed him for a fee of £8 million on 13 August 2004, with midfielder Antonio Núñez moving in the other direction as a make-weight
Following their successful bid, Owen was presented with the number 11 shirt by Real Madrid. Owen joined the club during its Galácticos era, and played alongside Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, Raúl, Luís Figo, Zinedine Zidane and his England teammate David Beckham.
Owen had a slow start to his Madrid career. He was often confined to the bench and drew criticism from fans and the Spanish press for his lack of form. A successful return to action with the England squad in October 2004 seemed to revive his morale, however, and in the first following match, he scored his first goal for the club, the winner in a 1–0 Champions League victory over Dynamo Kyiv.[58] A few days later, he scored his first La Liga goal in a 1–0 victory over Valencia.[59] The scoring spree continued, as he found the back of the net in three of the next four matches to make it five goals in seven successive matches.
On 10 April 2005, Owen scored Real Madrid's fourth goal in a 4–2 El Clásico win over Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.[60]
Owen ended the 2004–05 season with 13 goals in La Liga, with the season's highest ratio of goals scored to number of minutes played. Following Madrid's signing of two high-profile Brazilian forwards, Robinho and Júlio Baptista, in the summer of 2005, the speculation arose that Owen would return to the Premier League. During his time at Real Madrid, Owen scored 16 goals from 45 games, 26 of which were starts.[61]
Newcastle United
On 24 August 2005, Newcastle United announced that they had agreed a club record fee[62] of £16.8 million to obtain Owen, although they still had to negotiate with the player's advisers. Liverpool and local rivals Everton entered the fray, but were unwilling to match Madrid's asking price. As the 2006 World Cup was less than a year away, Owen wanted to get more playing time to secure his position as the first-choice striker in the England squad and joined Newcastle amid rumours that he had inserted an escape clause valued at £12 million.[63] On 31 August 2005, Owen signed a four-year contract to play for Newcastle, despite initial press speculation that he would rather have returned to Liverpool.[64] Some 20,000 fans were present at Newcastle's home ground of St James' Park for Owen's official unveiling as a Newcastle player.[65][66] Several days after signing, he suffered a thigh-injury in pre-season, which ruled him out for the start of the 2005–06 season. He scored his first goal for the club on his second appearance, the second goal in a 3–0 away win at Blackburn Rovers on 18 September, Newcastle's first win of the season. Owen scored his first hat-trick for Newcastle in the 4–2 away win over West Ham United on 17 December.[67] It was also a "perfect hat trick", with one goal scored with each of his left foot, right foot and head.
On 31 December 2005, Owen broke a metatarsal bone in his foot in a match against Tottenham Hotspur. He underwent surgery to place a pin in the bone, to help speed the healing process. He was expected to be out of action until late March,[68] but the healing process did not go as hoped and on 24 March he underwent a second, minor operation. Owen then stated that he should be fit for the final few weeks of the season with Newcastle.[69] His return to action finally came against Birmingham City on 29 April when he came off the substitutes' bench in the 62nd minute. After the match, Owen stated that he was "not 100% happy" with his foot.[70] He underwent a further X-ray and made himself unavailable for Newcastle's final game of the season.
A damaged anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee, sustained in the first minute of the group match against Sweden at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, kept Owen out of regular football for nearly a year, until April 2007. The seriousness of Owen's injury at the World Cup inflamed the so-called "club-versus-country" row in England, centring on the liability of the world governing body FIFA and The Football Association (FA) for the cost of injuries to players incurred while on international duty.[71][72] Newcastle were aggrieved at the length of time Owen would now be out of action in forthcoming Premier League and Cup competitions as a result of the World Cup injury, particularly as he had been out for the half-season prior to the World Cup. Under the existing insurance arrangements between club and country, FIFA and the FA had been paying £50,000 of Owen's £110,000 weekly wages since he suffered the injury, totalling approximately £2 million for the time he was out of action.[73] By September 2006, Newcastle were threatening to sue the FA for further compensation, for a reported figure of £20 million.[71] The Owen case was a high-profile follow-up to an already ongoing legal claim for compensation from FIFA over an injury incurred by Abdelmajid Oulmers on international duty.[72]
Newcastle's compensation claim included the £10 million cost of buying Owen's replacement, Obafemi Martins, £6.2 million towards Owen's salary costs while injured, the possibility of long-term damage to Owen's fitness and ability, the loss of league position and cup competition progress, depreciation of Owen's four-year contract, and the cost of medical treatment for Owen.[71][73][74] In February 2007, FIFA made Newcastle a "final offer" of £1 million.[74] By April 2007, Newcastle were threatening to take out an injunction to stop the FA from picking Owen for England games.[75] The club finally reached a compromise settlement figure with FIFA and the FA; FIFA indicated that the settlement was between £6 million and £7 million. The club, stating that Owen's wages had "now been paid in full", stated the overall compensation achieved totalled £10 million.[73] Resulting from the Owen compensation claim, the FA doubled their future insurance coverage of England players to £100,000, and FIFA introduced a compensation fund for injuries sustained at World Cups
ليست هناك تعليقات:
إرسال تعليق