Robson Blog : Cash n Grab
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Michael Owen is desperate to shrug off the injury-prone tag that Manchester United's new recruit feels he has unfairly been given.
Owen will get the chance to spearhead United's attack this season following Sir Alex Ferguson's surprise statement that he will not be doing any more transfer business this summer.
He will do so wearing the number seven shirt vacated by Cristiano Ronaldo and accompanied by a great deal of scepticism about his general fitness, a situation Fabio Capello has reflected on more than one occasion has kept Owen out of England contention.
Yet the former Liverpool star does not feel the facts bear out such opinions.
Although he accepts a broken metatarsal and subsequent cruciate knee ligament injury, caused as a direct result of rushing back to action too quickly in order to appear at the 2006 World Cup, wrecked his first two years at Newcastle, with 33 and 32 appearances to his name in the second half of a four-year deal, Owen believes there is little wrong with his body.
"It does irritate me that so many people have doubts," he said.
"But if there is one thing I am angered by, the injury thing would be it.
"There is no doubt I have had injuries in my career. But there is a long list of players that have had a broken metatarsal.
"I was foolish trying to rush back for the World Cup and my leg had just come out of plaster.
"But I played 33 and 32 games in the last two years in a team that was not in Europe and did not go on a decent cup run. Still I was continually labelled injury-prone, which gets up my nose.
"I am 29 and have played over 500 games for club and country. That says it all."
What Owen does accept the need to prove is the retention of ability that has made him only the fourth striker in England history to score 40 goals for his country.
"In certain parts, people do have a justification to have a go at me," he said.
"I didn't set the world alight in the last year at Newcastle. That is no-one's fault but mine. We were not playing well as a team and I wasn't doing my bit either."
His observation clearly didn't put Ferguson off signing a player he spent so many years trying to stop, but the United manager does not feel Owen was helped by the handling he received during the early years.
Ferguson has still not forgotten sending Ronnie Wallwork and John Curtis away to Malaysia in 1997 as part of an England Youth team Owen was also part of and noting that while his players returned to a six-week break, their young team-mate was unleashed on the Premier League by Liverpool and followed up with his momentous appearance the World Cup in France, when his career was really ignited.
"I remember it well," said Ferguson.
"I remember saying at the time it was unfair to have that strain and intensity of matches at big tournaments, one summer after another, with no summer break."
Ferguson freely admits that while he monitored Owen during the final year of his contract at Newcastle, knowing the Chester-born star could leave St James' Park for nothing at the season's end, he probably would not have swooped had Karim Benzema not been caught up in the whirlwind that has become Real Madrid's summer spending spree.
However, once Benzema opted to link up with Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka, Ferguson went for Owen.
And, while plenty of supporters have their doubts, he is convinced the move will be a fruitful one for all parties.
"Michael gives us experience in the penalty box, which is vital," said Ferguson.
"He has always had that little knack of losing defenders in the last third.
"I know he will score a lot of goals for us. He has been great at that for years."
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Michael Owen was unveiled alongside fellow new signings Antonio Valencia and Gabriel Obertan at Carrington on Monday.
United boss Sir Alex Ferguson intimated the former Liverpool and Newcastle striker would wear the no.7 jersey this season and Owen reiterated his delight at signing for the Reds.
"I’m hungry to do well here,” he said. “If this challenge doesn’t put a spring in your step and a smile on your face then nothing will. I still believe I can do well at a top team like Manchester United.”
The 29-year-old was also quick to dismiss any suggestion he was prone to injury.
"If there's one thing that probably angers me a little it's that," he said. "There's no doubt I’ve had injuries in my career, but most people have. You continually read that over the last two years I've been plagued with injuries: it's just not true.
"I think I played 33 games and then 32 games in the last two years. Newcastle weren't in Europe, we didn't have any long cup runs... there are only 38 games in a Premier League season, so playing 33 one year and 32 in the other isn't too bad.
"The two years previous I had a few injuries but it was nothing to do with being injury-prone. If somebody jumps on your foot and you break your metatarsal [you can't do much about that].
"I'm 29 and I've played more than 500 games for club and country, so that says it all. I might pick up an injury here or there but that's the rigours of the modern game. I don't believe I'm injury-prone."
Owen's move to Old Trafford surprised almost everyone, although Sir Alex revealed the wheels had been in motion for some time.
"We mulled it over for a few months," he said. "We knew Michael's contract was expiring at the end of last season. I'd intended to bring another player in and we were waiting on a decision from Carlos Tevez about what he was going to do. But we weren't getting any answers there, which put us in a bit of a quandry.
"We felt we'd waited long enough so we tried to sign Karim Benzema from Lyon. And Michael knew that was the plan. At 21 years of age, Benzema was a real possibility for us. But as soon as that fell through I contacted Michael."
For Owen, the call couldn't have come at a better time. By his own admission he "didn't set the world alight" at Newcastle last season, although he assured media that reports suggesting he'd only received offers from Hull City and Stoke City were incorrect.
"I'm not going to go into how many or which clubs were talking to me but I can assure you there were a few more clubs than the press would have you believe. There were a few good clubs, but when United came in then all other talks were put on hold and the deal was wrapped up virtually straight away." -
I'm keeping my fingers closed that he will not get injured 10 games into next season and spend the rest of the season watching from the stands...
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dun be so pessimistic lar.
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Originally posted by marcteng:
dun be so pessimistic lar.
Bro, based on his records over the past few years, kinda hard not to.. :(
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Originally posted by Drizzt07:
Bro, based on his records over the past few years, kinda hard not to.. :(
well got macheda and wellbeck to fall back on. good to blood these youngsters. they will be ready in a few years time, good to give them experiences in the first team.
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Originally posted by marcteng:
well got macheda and wellbeck to fall back on. good to blood these youngsters. they will be ready in a few years time, good to give them experiences in the first team.
SAF and many other managers sworn by the need for at least 4 top quality strikers.
The kind of quality MU got currently, if Rooney happen to get injured, next season will be very very bad...
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Michael Owen can use Old Trafford as the launchpad to re-ignite his England career, according to former Manchester United captain Bryan Robson.
Owen left Newcastle in the summer when his contract expired, only to be snapped up by Sir Alex Ferguson.
It was move that took the football world by surprise but Robson believes United will benefit greatly from the signing.
While injury limited Owen to 65 starts in four seasons at Newcastle, he still managed to score 30 goals. His tally with England is equally impressive - 40 in 89 international appearances.
Speaking at the launch of Manchester's bid to be host city in the 2018 World Cup, Robson said: "It is a great signing, getting someone like Michael in on a free transfer.
"He is a great player. He is only 29 and for me he is in the peak of his career.
"The way United play and the way they dominate possession it will suit Michael's game.
"He will be in and around the box and I can see him scoring a lot of goals this season. I can also see him getting back in the England squad."
Robson is convinced that the former Real Madrid and Liverpool front man is in no better place when it comes to receiving a high level of care, combined with injury-prevention methods.
He said: "The fitness coaches will have sorted out an individual regime for Michael and he will work through it during the season.
"The manager is very good at when to rest players and when to play them. He rotates his squad and that will help Michael."
Owen's arrival has been warmly welcomed at United following the departures of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez.
With Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov already on board there will be stiff competition for places in attack.
Robson maintains that Rooney is growing as a player and a person after learning from veterans Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes.
"Wayne has a mature head on his shoulders, " said Robson. "The move to United has been fantastic for him.
"That is because of the manager and people like Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes. Wayne has taken on a lot of the stuff they do, the way they dedicate themselves to football.
"I think it has changed Wayne's character to a certain degree. He is a fiery lad but he has channelled that aggression well the last two seasons. He is a top player and very important to United."
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Crikey. It's started. The inexorable tide of sky blue cash is washing over the football superpowers and sweeping away the best they have into a place where Lamborghinis land in your lap, and two hundred grand a week is, as the Mayor of London might put it, chicken-feed.
Prepare yourselves, boys and girls, for a lot of nods and winks towards the official line. You know the sort of thing:
a. It's not about the money, it's about a fresh challenge;
b. The manager and the board convinced me about the vision at Manchester City;
c. The (previous) club didn't do enough to keep me. (That's my personal favourite)Of course (c) has an awful lot to do with what is inherent in (a). By not enough, a player, or at least his agent, usually means that the club couldn't cough up the sort of wages that the Abu Dhabi blokes can. But then unless Bill Gates takes over the Boro soon, I don't think anyone can.
Did Barry not consider the dough when he went to Eastlands? I don't think it was about City's tradition, which is, after all, to change managers so often that they've built a slide from the gaffer's office to the club car park. And Sparky, though he's doing his best to put a confident face on this merry-go-round, must be wondering if someone at the club will be forcing his feet into one of them little sacks and pushing him down into his open Ferrari before Christmas.
Tevez - or Carlos the Hackle as we know him in the Blue Bell - is the latest to be embraced by a bewildered City's mob. He chose to celebrate the occasion by sporting a crocheted bandage on his bonce which made him look like he was playing the lead in a particularly dark version of Alice in Wonderland.