Never Play Poker With Parry and Benitez

Dub13

I saw this on RAWK and thought it was a quality post. Here it is for you guys to peruse if you haven't already seen it
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trust I'm not repeating anyone here, but I'm looking at the Owen situation and feeling quite positive about it.

Bear with me, I hope I can change your perspective.

We all know that the little fella hasn't been happy for some time now; we were supposed to be playing to his strengths, but we've seen him isolated, not getting the ball, not getting the goals and his head go down and frustration set in. I don't need to go on, you know what I mean.

Since Mickey first 'arrived' he's had challenges, something to fight for. I first saw him play for England under 16's before he made his debut for us and I immediately knew what was in the post. Then he set the place alight for us and for England and for the next five years or so he rose to megastar status, top of the tree, club and country revolved around Michael Owen. But as you know, it's hard to stay at the top constantly and the only place is down. Then we're back to the problems we've all seen and frustrated us in recent times. Now he's thinking about leaving. I don't want to see anyone wearing a red shirt who isn't 100% committed. Rats desert a sinking ship but we aren't a sinking ship anymore. We're an intergalactic battleship that's just being fined tuned before its maiden voyage. We don't need any parts that don't fit or function.

So what do you do?

OK, we sell him, he relishes the new challenge and once again he becomes the Michael Owen we know and love; we look on from afar and think "why couldn't we have changed his thinking and feelings and get him back on track?" It would be like finishing with yer tart over something that could've been sorted out and seeing her weeks later with another bloke, looking stunning, happy and more importantly the girl you fell in love with. How much would that hurt?

My take on this Owen saga is that it is a great act of psychological warefare on the part of Mr. 's Parry and Benitez, with the result being to restore one of our greatest treasures to it's former glory, rather than auctioning it off to the highest bidder.

I'm proud of the way that Mr. Parry deals with players and transfers, and I'm very pleased with the psycology that Rafa has come in with. He seems strong and decisive. One of the first things he said was that his team will never revolve around one individual and no man is bigger than the team.

I actually think that Michael has been knocked right off his pedestal by Rafa, but also had the pressure taken off him as well. His little sad face sat on the bench on Tuesday said a lot to me.

I feel that this is an act of genius reverse psychology on the part of Parry and Benitez. As if they're saying to Michael "you're not as good as you think you are, and we'd do OK without you. If you recon you're that good, then go."

The timing of it all is perfect. The number of actual bidders and the amounts being speculated is insulting for a player of his ability, but says a lot about his recent form and how he is valued.

So, without actually going through the motions, Michael is made an outsider; not in a bad way, but made to feel like he is not part of the future anymore. It was plain from his face the other nite that he could see a revolution happening in a team that he was once part of, playing in a style that would suit him and return him to form and achievement. But he's not part of that anymore.

So what next? He's grossly undervalued by Europes elite, he's not first choice anymore under Rafa's revolution and he's stuck with it.

Now Michael Owen once again has his own personal challenges to fight for. He has a desire to prove people wrong about him.

THEN we will see Michael Owen settle down and fight for his place in our beloved team. I have no doubt that once again we will see the return to greatness of Michael Owen and our team.

He has a lot to prove now, and that's what made him great in the first place.

LizardKing

Its possible ... but todays reports seem to suggest he's gone .. I hope he stays but think he does need a "kick up the arse" to get him back on form .. He has not played to his potential for a while ... Perhaps it would be better for him to leave and start from scratch with another club ...

Dub13

I think Benitez selling Owen puts a marker down to other players at the club that no one player is bigger than another and they are all a team.