Michael Owen Retiring

TheEscapist

So Michael Owen has announced that he's retiring at the end of the season. How do people think he and his career will ultimately be viewed now?

It's strange because of the last few years but for most of his time with Liverpool and England he was consistently great but since it just hasn't happened. Injuries obviously didn't help but I think he'll never be remembered as a true great that he possibly could have.

Thoughts?

Mint Sauce

TheEscapist wrote: »

So Michael Owen has announced that he's retiring at the end of the season. How do people think he and his career will ultimately be viewed now?

It's strange because of the last few years but for most of his time with Liverpool and England he was consistently great but since it just hasn't happened. Injuries obviously didn't help but I think he'll never be remembered as a true great that he possibly could have.

Thoughts?

I'll always remember him for that goal at France 98.

Mitch Connor

TheEscapist wrote: »

So Michael Owen has announced that he's retiring at the end of the season. How do people think he and his career will ultimately be viewed now?

It's strange because of the last few years but for most of his time with Liverpool and England he was consistently great but since it just hasn't happened. Injuries obviously didn't help but I think he'll never be remembered as a true great that he possibly could have.

Thoughts?

He will be remembered as an injury prone merc, unfortunately.

His move from Liverpool to Madrid was understandable, and his move to Man United was also understandable, if also understandable why the Liverpool fans would hate him for it. Not sure what other options he had over Newcastle when he left Madrid so can't comment on that move really.

It is a real shame that injuries ruined his career - one of the brightest prospects as a youngster I have ever seen. Pace, intelligence and brilliant finishing. He really should have gone down as one of the best english strikers ever, but that isn't how he will be remembered.

Lovely Bloke

I'll never forget his goal vs argentina, and the goal against City

I'll also always love him for the way he trolled Liverpool fans. They got so annoyed by him, it wasn't rational.

Esse85

A what could of been story.

LuckyLloyd

Was fantastic for Liverpool and I had no problem with him leaving for Madrid when he did. He was only 26 years old when he returned to Newcastle.

There is his career pre joining Newcastle and it was brilliant. 174 club goals. 40 goals in 89 senior internationals tells its own story really. He was top notch during that period. Then there is his career post leaving Madrid and it was decidedly average. 48 club goals.

Injury got the best of him ultimately and the data supports that conclusion. Overall he played for Liverpool, Madrid and Utd; had a great run in International football; won numerous medals; made lots of money. Can't really argue with all that. He should be remembered for his best years at Liverpool where he demonstrated a brilliant natural talent.

Good luck to him.

Fantastic servant for Liverpool.

Cantona's Collars

A great career hampered by injury,wonder if he sent any of those glossy brochures he made to Sky yet?

homerjay2005

I remember back around 2001, despite my dislike of the club, he was the one non united player i admired. he was, at the height of his Liverpool career, one of the best strikers, if not players, in the world.

Injury definately hampered him, but 200+ career goals at a rate of a goal every two games almost, is pretty epic going.

and for that City goal, his league cup final goal and the hatrick in the CL, along with several other goals, he will be fondly remembered by United fans.

I wish him well.

Pawwed Rig

Always put England first. I remember once he was out for a long period at Newcastle and was just getting back to fitness when he went off with the England squad and got another long term injury.

Also he left Liverpool coz he wanted to win trophies and the following year Liverpool won the Champions League:D

Wasn't he world player of the year at some stage?

SlickRic

i don't get the hate for him.

a brilliant player for Liverpool.

yes, he went to Utd, but he was a shadow of the player he once was, and he had an opportunity to still play the odd time at the top level.

i'll always remember this moment above all others from him for us...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5HbItIq0Nw

we should've never won that match.

LuckyLloyd

Also, worth noting that he always seemed a nice person off the field. Quiet professional, never any trouble, married a girl he grew up with - nothing to argue with really.

Adamcp898

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPC6Yv3BPVY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhcXWWBDOZY

dd972

Didn't he retire in 2006 ?

mirwillbeback

Did he not retire before, i.e. when he signed for Newcastle?

Kerrigooney

Best of luck to him. I just hope he doesn't end up as a "pundit" because he's incredibly boring.
Nothing wrong with being boring but not on tv.

Lovely Bloke

dd972 wrote: »

Didn't he retire in 2006 ?

lol

mirwillbeback wrote: »

Did he not retire before, i.e. when he signed for Newcastle?

even more lol

highly original humour there lads, not predictable at all. No bitterness involved in those answers.

Morzadec

Most Liverpool fans on here talk of Fowler and Rush, and while I'm old enough to have seen them play, and Rush was on the back of my first shirt, Owen was possibly my first real hero for Liverpool (possibly because I was a bit older then and could appreciate him properly).

I remember cheering that goal against Argentina very well, a classic World Cup moment for me.

Combination of some bad career moves and injuries meant his career did not have the longevity of others. Something similar is happening with Fernando Torres at the moment.

However, he scored 40 international goals and a winner of a Balon d'Or. The latter is a prize very few footballers can boast and will ensure that he will be remembered as a great (albeit only a great for a little while).

byronbay2

Good career overall but considering he was a "boy wonder" for Liverpool for several years and became a PL player very young, everything after Real Madrid (can't remember/don't know how he did there but he was still quite young when he left) was a bit disappointing. Certainly in 10 years time, he will be remembered almost completely as a Liverpool/England player.

Skillful and a great finisher but his career fizzled out quickly because he depended very heavily on his speed, which injury blunted quite early. He was too physically small and weak to reinvent himself as a ball-holding centre forward like Alan Shearer.

ahnowbrowncow

Didn't he retire before? In 2006 if I recall correctly.

Caveman1

Was a smashing player in his prime, and as already mentioned he comes across as a decent bloke too.

I think he lost a bit of focus when he set up his racing stables, he seems to be more interested in that than football. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Rafa1977

Good player for Liverpool but not a great player, nowhere near the great forwards like Daglish, Rush, Fowler, Suarez,Torres, Aldridge, etc. Overall very over rated IMO.

Anyone

I thought someone had necro'd a 5 year old thread.

SM01

Like SlickRic, (speaking as a Liverpool supporter) I just didn't get the hate for Owen. He was a fantastic servant for the team and my abiding memory is how he (with a little help from Henchoz) won the FA cup for us in 2001.

When he left for Real I was very disappointed but it was a fantastic opportunity for him. Similarly, if I was in his shoes and was offered a contract at United at that point in my career - it was simply an irresistible opportunity at the time.

Best of luck to him, though with the greatest respect I think his punditry leaves a lot to be desired.

mike65

Medal thief!

I have no feelings whatsoever about Michael Owen and that's been true for years.

Francie Barrett

A story of what could have been. He could have won a European Cup, but ended up washed up before he was even 30, picking up medals for just warming the United bench.

I feel nothing for the man and just hope we don't get stuck watching him on tv.

super_furry

Good finisher with absolutely electric pace the terrified defenders. Once he lost that pace however, he wasn't able to adapt his game and gradually just faded away. Think he made some poor career choices but I'm a bloke sitting at a desk and he played for Real Madrid.

Turtyturd

Sad to see, would be nice of Liverpool to name the away team bench 'The Micheal Owen bench' in his honour.

iregk

Shocking that nobody has mentioned this:

Morzadec

iregk wrote: »

Shocking that nobody has mentioned this:

I mentioned it earlier. A significant achievment and a big reason why it would be unfair to remember him as merely an injury prone merc.

willowthewisp

Let the jokes commence, is there actually anyone on this thread who likes Michael Owen I wonder?

Augmerson

Thought he was amazing, and does genuinely seem like a nice person. As a Liverpool fan, I was disappointed when I heard he was going to United, but then if I was in his shoes at that stage of his career, why not? I wish his career hadn't been blighted by injury so much, you could see later in his days that at teams like Newcastle, United and Stoke that he was a mere shadow of his former self but he still did very well. 150 league goals is nothing to scoff at.

Club
Liverpool
FA Cup (1): 2000–01
League Cup (2): 2000–01, 2002–03
FA Community Shield (1): 2001
UEFA Cup (1): 2000–01
UEFA Super Cup (1): 2001

Manchester United
Premier League (1): 2010–11
League Cup (1): 2009–10
FA Community Shield (1): 2010

Individual
Ballon d'Or (1): 2001
BBC Sports Personality of the Year (1): 1998
Premier League Golden Boot (2): 1997–98, 1998–99
Premier League Player of the Season (1): 1997–98
PFA Young Player of the Year (1): 1997–98
PFA Premier League Team of the Year (1): 1997–98
Premier League Player of the Month (1): August 1998
FIFA World Cup Best Young Player Award (1): France 1998
Premier League 10 Seasons Awards (1): Domestic Team of the Decade

jaykay74

willowthewisp wrote: »

Let the jokes commence, is there actually anyone on this thread who likes Michael Owen I wonder?

Whats not to like? seems like a nice but rather boring person.

willowthewisp

He always pipes up that he has done this and done that since he went to Madrid etc..
But sometimes you get the impressions that its himself he’s trying to convince.
I think, deep down he knows that he wasted to latter half of his career.

He gets lauded for the goal against city, it ultimately contributed nothing to that season, Chelsea won the title.
The year he did pick up his medal, he most certainly didn’t earn it, he scored 2 goals in the season, and if he had scored neither of the man u still would have won the title.
He was handed his medal by fergie who just put him on for a few minutes in every game towards the end of the season.


Oh I nearly forgot he made the bench in front of Berbatov in a CL final (lost 3-1).

Will I Amnt

Shame to see a talented player's career fizzle out due to injuries taking their toll, regardless of who they play for. At his peak he was one of the most lethal finishers in the game. To say he was never in the class of Suarez and Torres is bitter and deluded.

carlop

iregk wrote: »

Shocking that nobody has mentioned this:

People in Spain are still very upset as to how Raul didn't win that year.

Owen was a very good player, but when you look at the players nowadays who will never win a Balon D'Or due to Messi and Ronaldo's dominance (Iniesta, Xavi, Ibra) it really shows a lack of top class players around the turn of the century.

Doctor Strange

Amazing player, only club honour missing is the Champions League. Begrudgingly liked him at Liverpool, loved him at United, especially for *that* goal against City.

byronbay2

Rafa1977 wrote: »

Good player for Liverpool but not a great player, nowhere near the great forwards like Daglish, Rush, Fowler, Suarez,Torres, Aldridge, etc. Overall very over rated IMO.

I'm not a Liverpool fan but I would have thought that Owen was at least an equal to any of those players during his time at Liverpool - it was when he left Liverpool that things started to go wrong for him. His record of 118 PL goals in 216 appearances for the club is outstanding; he cost nothing but was sold for £8M!

If the Liverpool fans don't rate Owen, I dread to think what the Newcastle fans think of him - he cost them £16M, played/scored very sporadically and led them to relegation!!

eagle eye

Great finisher for a few years but he passed his sell by date a long, long time ago.

Anyone

iregk wrote: »

Shocking that nobody has mentioned this:

The above was a bigger acheivement imo, convinced millions he actually had a personality.

ricero

byronbay2 wrote: »

I'm not a Liverpool fan but I would have thought that Owen was at least an equal to any of those players during his time at Liverpool - it was when he left Liverpool that things started to go wrong for him. His record of 118 PL goals in 216 appearances for the club is outstanding; he cost nothing but was sold for £8M!

If the Liverpool fans don't rate Owen, I dread to think what the Newcastle fans think of him - he cost them £16M, played/scored very sporadically and led them to relegation!!

if I remember correctly I think his last season with lfc was his worst. He scored in league cup final but im sure he went on a terrible run of games without a goal

Kess73

cambo2008 wrote: »

Shame to see a talented player's career fizzle out due to injuries taking their toll, regardless of who they play for. At his peak he was one of the most lethal finishers in the game. To say he was never in the class of Suarez and Torres is bitter and deluded.

To early to compare him and Suarez imho. Suarez at 26 has slightly superior goal and assist stats to what Owen had at 26, and in getting 20 league goals in a season has managed to do something in England ( in footballing terms ) that Owen never did. If Suarez can improve further in the second half of his career then I think he will prove himself to be a class above Owen as a footballer. But taking the career of Suarez to date and comparing it with the same timescale in Owen's career would certainly back your comment.


Owen was a more consistent player than Torres imho. Torres at his peak was a better player imo, but his peak was short lived whereas Owen was a goal every two game striker for seven consecutive seasons. So would give Owen the nod over Torres on that basis.

mike65

ricero wrote: »

if I remember correctly I think his last season with lfc was his worst. He scored in league cup final but im sure he went on a terrible run of games without a goal

In his last season he scored 16 goals for Liverpool, can;t find cup goals as soccerway don't keep detailed stats for them before 2005!

2003/2004 Liverpool PRL 16
2002/2003 Liverpool PRL 19
2001/2002 Liverpool PRL 19
2000/2001 Liverpool PRL 16
1999/2000 Liverpool PRL 11
1998/1999 Liverpool PRL 18
1997/1998 Liverpool PRL 18
1996/1997 Liverpool PRL 01


13 for Real Madrid, 26 goals for Newcastle, two league goals for Man Utd, one for Stoke.

iregk

carlop wrote: »

Owen was a very good player, but when you look at the players nowadays who will never win a Balon D'Or due to Messi and Ronaldo's dominance (Iniesta, Xavi, Ibra) it really shows a lack of top class players around the turn of the century.

A lack of top class players around at the turn of the century? For real? Lets take a look at the top 10 that missed out the year Owen won it shall we?

Raúl - wasn't he living off a reputation for years at Madrid?
Oliver Kahn - think he only made 2 good saves in his life!
David Beckham - completely one footed
Francesco Totti - all about the looks, the italian Beckham
Luís Figo - never heard of him
Rivaldo - didn't he dive at a world cup?
Andriy Shevchenko - think he played for chelsea
Thierry Henry - isn't he not a basket ball player?
Zinedine Zidane - he plays in some rock band from the states doesn't he?
Bixente Lizarazu - can't even pronounce it!!!

You're correct, each and every one of those players were not genuine class. Owen was a certainty to win it.

Chucky the tree

Owen had a worse goals-game ration then both Suarez and Torres. It's very close between Suarez though and but add in Suarez assists and generally work effort and I think it's fair to say he is a better forward than Owen. Next few seasons that could change though. Both player also had better individual season in terms of total goals and goal-to-game rations. Both players have also managed twenty goals in the league, something Owen never achieved and Torres had over 30 goals in a season while Suarez is on 29 so most likely to achieve it. Again something Owen never managed.

Thecon21

Feel for Owen, absolute no doubt injury was the main cause of his demise. Pure story of what could have been, don't understand the hate towards him..

Anyway as a United fan, I wish him and his horses well.

bucketybuck

Its really quite stupid to pretend that Owen wasn't once at the level of Suarez or Torres, one of the dumbest things I heard all year. When he was at Liverpool he was a genuinely dangerous striker, the type of matchwinner that opposing teams always had to be wary of no matter what form Liverpool were in. If you only judge him on the last few years then I have to assume you were in nappies when he was at his peak.

If you had told me back in 2003/04 that Owen would fail to beat the England national team goals scored record I would have laughed at you, the rate he was scoring at the time he seemed like he was going to crush Bobby Charltons record.

TaosHum

I don't see why people are feeling sorry for him. He's retiring at 33 a multi-millionaire and has won major honours as a player.

Doubt he has many regrets.

Will I Amnt

Kess73 wrote: »

To early to compare him and Suarez imho. Suarez at 26 has slightly superior goal and assist stats to what Owen had at 26, and in getting 20 league goals in a season has managed to do something in England ( in footballing terms ) that Owen never did. If Suarez can improve further in the second half of his career then I think he will prove himself to be a class above Owen as a footballer. But taking the career of Suarez to date and comparing it with the same timescale in Owen's career would certainly back your comment.


Owen was a more consistent player than Torres imho. Torres at his peak was a better player imo, but his peak was short lived whereas Owen was a goal every two game striker for seven consecutive seasons. So would give Owen the nod over Torres on that basis.

Well that's what I was getting at. It's hard to compare the 2. I'm not putting down Suarez or Torres here, it's just someone posted earlier that he was nowhere near the level of both. That's just plain wrong.

sky88

whats weird is that torres career at the moment is starting to look a lot owens both left liverpool and their play went downhill

monkey9

Stoke legend!