Michael Owen got another 90 minutes under his belt against Everton today, filling in for the injured Dimitar Berbatov, and reckons life at Manchester United has left him with nothing to complain about.
“I have played in a team that was struggling and I much prefer life at a winning club, even if that means I don’t play every minute of every game,” Owen said. “I am here at a club that is full of quality, training with top players every day and working under a top manager. I have had my fair share of starts and minutes on the pitch this season, so I am not about to complain.”
Man Utd News 24/7
I’d like to see him score though
I just hope he gets more time with the league games.
Gutted he didn’t score today, played really well.
He’s been playing ok – not too many games though. Today he was fine but have to say valencia was good today and obertan was fine when he came on. Of the regulars obviously evra was great but have to admit so was carrick who I’ve been critical of lately. keep up the good work!!
So how long is it going to take for him to get his sharpness back… it’s nearly december
tony I agree cos this was a golden opportunity for the lad and it’l be rare for him. It’s not fair cos he deserves a run of games but he ain’t gona get it so on nights like these he’s gona have to bag a couple of goals.
Owen is a top pro. He didn’t have a great game today but I ain’t worried about that. He isn’t the Owen of old, but he is still a deadly finisher. He’s a proven big game player with a track record of important goals, as he showed against City. I wouldn’t have wanted that chance to fall to anyone else in the last minute.
As long as Owen equals tevez’s tally for the season, I’ll be happy.
Pity, for him, that Carlitos Tevez didn’t see things like Michael Owen, eh? Must be great to be drawing games left right and centre and heading nowhere but mid table mediocrity. Hahaha
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As for Owen’s scoring record. Well he’s got more than Tevez and 4 goals when most of his appearances have been from the bench ain’t bad. History shows that Owen takes awhile to get into his stride, much like Man Utd, but I reckon he’ll come good for Christmas.
Anyways we’re not Loserfool relying on one striker for all our goals so its not a massive worry. When our forwards dont score Fletcher steps up ala Bryan Robson and does the business.
Nothing to worry about…
Gary – Completely agree.
Tony – Owen does look a lot sharper. two or three times today he had left the defender for dead. They were nearly all just half chances at best.
Have to say William Keane is showing some real promise at the academy. Scoring for fun this season.
Heard that Argie cunt? Im not too worried about Owen, he will be more efficient eventually this season. He definitely has the required attitude.
What a twat : http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/article-1229860/Piers-Morgan-If-going-string-footballers-lets-start-real-villains-like-Roy-Keane.html
“Henry is a born thespian”. What a pretentious cunt. Just highlights the point RedBeard was making to “Pat” the Arsenal fan.
These cliches – “Owen of old … deadly finisher” – are cold comfort. He’s not really doing much and his link-up play with Rooney isn’t especially convincing, either.
I recognize that Owen needs time to get in the groove – but how much time ?
I recognize that Owen Hargreaves needs time to rebuild his “confidence” – but how much time ?
I recognize that Rio Ferdinand needs time to regain full fitness – but how much time ?
I recognize that Dimitar Berbatov needs time to build a relationship with Wayne Rooney – but how much time ?
I recognize that Nani needs time to become more consistent – but how much time ?
What we are still seeing is a work-in-progress. The back four has been a patchwork, the midfield is still somewhat incoherent, and the attack continues to splutter. Some individuals have been excellent – Valencia seems to be gelling, Fletcherinho has been just short of awesome – although his goal today can only be described as “awesome, dude” ! – and Evra has also been terrific – and he might just be UTD’s best player so far this year. Getting Edwin back is even better than a new signing if you consider most of the “new signings” that preceded him.
By my reckoning, the nine or ten EPL games between now and January 30th are all “winnable”. I am hoping that by January 30th, when TheLads visit TheArse in London, these questions will have been affirmatively answered. If so, then UTD will win the fourth consecutive championship – and, of course, 19th in total – in a canter.
Everton came for a scoreless draw; they have a terrible injury list and an awful record at Old Trafford. Three points was the least we should have expected from TheLads.
But if anyone thinks that the kind of performance we saw today presages a revival then I’d suggest that he has another think coming. We’ve seen this sort of performance too often – loads of possession, not enough incisive penetration, giving the ball away in key areas and then having to re-wind again against opponents who must have thought that they were supposed to be at Blackpool for a day out. TheLads will have to be much, much better in-and-around the opposition’s penalty area to get to 90 points this year. And it’s looking like 90 points will be needed to get ahead of the RentBoyz.
I have to say I thought Owen had a fine game today. Alot of good runs and his movement is the best in the premiership. Living in Ireland I only get to see the games on telly and it highlights runs and movemnents he makes very well. Fine addition to the team and as long as darren (the linchpin) fletcher is playing we dont miss tevez at all.
Owen has 4 goals for us already and he is starting to see more game time.
What I will say is that there is a definate arc of progress in Owen wearin a united shirt. He is continuing to improve and show his old form and he will get better and better as the season roles on!
@ King Eric
Why the hell is Piers Morgan writing about football? Was Barbara Windsor busy?
Eric, just read that article:
This is probably the worst piece of journalism I have ever read. What I steaming pile of sycophantic shit! A disgrace to the written word!
How the hell can you describe a man who demanded to be sold mid-contract as “loyal”?
“I watched him play for eight years at Arsenal and I never saw him deliberately cheat.” It’s called selective perception! Even easier when the entire media is complicit in the charade!
“A born thespian, Henry would seek out opportunities to show what a good guy he was” – Sounds like a bit of a cunt too me! And he thinks Keano resides on a “Citizen Kane-style pedestal of egotistical, lonely, unjustified self-adoration.”? Like I said before, do they not teach irony at Eton? Interesting pretentious reference to the most over-rated film of all time, though – speaks volumes!
“Keane’s still alive and, literally, kicking?” – You mean “figuratively” Fuck me, he can’t even get the words right!
“image-conscious”, “craved, and commanded, one thing: respect” – sounds like PR speak for an insecure narcissist!
Utter, utter, utter bollocks!
@king eric
rubbish article with no credibility. might as well been a fan post on a gooner blog. who the fuck is piers morgan anyway?
i thought owen played well today even though he failed to score. if it wasn’t for distin sliding in to block his shot, i think we could have seen a replay of his man city goal. good to see him play 90min.
i have a feeling we are going to see kiko upfront with rooney against besiktas and would like to see obertan and ando start as well.
what a genius signing antonio valencia is turning out to be for fergie and united!
His movement has been good, but because he has lost that yard of pace he just doesn’t have the time he once did to setup for the finish. He was the better of our two forwards last night but once again there was no cutting edge to his finishes.
Still…for his price tag there’s no way we lose with Owen, and he’s already proved his worth in some games. Here’s hoping he works hard and scores more in the future.
my friend is a fan of the liverbirds. he was checking to their official website, and guess what i saw, check it out. http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N166533091121-0900.htm
they have been wanting tevez since, god knows when . hahahahhah.
I was just happy to see the midfield pitching in with a few goals.
United been lacking goals from the midfield the last few years.
Be good to see Owen lifting the Prem trophy at the end of the season.
The Scousers will be crying!
Owen did OK yesterday. Chances that fell to him, except maybe one, were quite difficult or they defended well. His movement was good.
As the season goes on, I am sure he will get better and we score more, hopefully vital goals.
Off topic
Andy Cole thinks we should have signed Premier League Barbie
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/manutd/6613015/Manchester-Uniteds-biggest-mistake-was-not-signing-Fernando-Torres-says-Andy-Cole.html
denton – The question should be the other way around, when will rooney sort it out with owen or berbatov? I thought Rooney was shocking yesterday, and i can only remember him having one really good game all year which was Chelsea away.
He’s one of the most inconsistent players at our club and anybody will tell you that being one of the world’s top players is about consistency. He’s a great worker with a great attitude but it isn’t enough for the hype he receives. He wants to be in the top 3 players in the world, and he’s struggling to be the best player at United. I heard Pele say a couple of years ago that he believed Rooney had stagnated since 2002, and I can’t see how much is altered.
To say his passing and link-up play was wayward yesterday is an understatement. He has flashes of brilliance but that’s all they are at the moment and I’m becoming tired of the bandwagon rolling around telling me how great he is playing, because he simply isn’t. If you were to offer me the chance to have one striker out of Drogba, Torres and Rooney, I’d probably pick Torres because he is a bit younger than Drogba, and Rooney would be a safe third choice. This might not be very popular, and I’d rather not have to say it but I think it would be helpful to have a bit of perspective about Rooney’s game.
@Redbeard
Forget ladyboy, one player that I wish United had signed is Essien.
Did anyone notice? Owen is back to his fitness. He run faster than i expected. his run and awareness is good.
@ Jake
Would you say that Rooney was inconsistent last year? I thought he was pretty reliable, personally! After Vida, probably our best player.
I agree that there has been something not quite right this season, but it’s not inconsistency – you said he’s only had one good game all year (not sure i agree) but wouldn’t that make him consistently bad?
My feeling is that he has been given this central role he so craved but still insists on running all over the bloody shop – like you said, great worker, great attitude. I feel that he just needs to calm down a bit and play a bit and focus his attention.
Oh yes Xyth!.. Forget Torres, Essien would have to be the one player i would have loved in our side. Would have been the perfect replacement for Keano. And for Owen, well he just needs a run of games and he would surely start banging goals for fun.
@ Xyth
We probably would have done if Kenyon hadn’t fucked off to rent-boy central with Fergie’s shopping list in his sweaty little trotter!
Also, don’t get me wrong. I don’t agree with Coley about Barbie! She scores a lot of goals when she’s fit but you don’t win league titles with your star striker spending half the year nursing her hamstrings or recovering from breast enhancements!
“I have played in a team that was struggling and I much prefer life at a winning club, even if that means I don’t play every minute of every game”
That also explains why he moved from Liverpool to Read Madrid the other day.
Jake – I wouldn’t use yesterday’s match as a yardstick for Wayne Rooney – he was pretty awful and gave the ball away a lot while trying the Hollywood pass. BUT, the fact of the matter is that Rooney has been designated as the cornerstone of this team’s forward play so that the other players have to fit in with him. Is it a question of players or tactics ? However, whichever way you look at this situation, the “attacking mix” isn’t right. For all UTD’s dominance in almost every game this season – except at AnFailed and when TheArse came to OT – the play into the penalty box has been lacking a real cutting edge. Most of UTD’s goals seem to come from out-of-the-blue mracles like Fletcherinho’s wonder-strike yesterday; not enough scoring results from turning dominance into production.
The defence has been a mix-and-match arrangement for at least a year and it’s done fine; the midfield, too, is something of a dog’s breakfast as SAF continually tinkers to find the right mix – then, when he got it right against the RentBoyz, he switched it up again against the Toffeemen. Regardless, the midfield has largely done its job – the attacking players and the attacking play have been the problems. This dwindling productivity is the single biggest issue confronting SAF – if he can’t resolve it then UTD won’t progress into the quarter-finals in Europe and won’t gain more than 80 points in the EPL, which won’t win the fourth consecutive title. IF he gets it right then it’s another year of UTD GLORY.
Xyth – In total agreement on that mate. I’ve said to loads of United fans that’s the one player we missed out on. Saying that, when Hargo gets back, the Hargo-Fletcher axis could be a strong and effective one. One thing that has impressed me about Fletch this season is his strength, that’s the one thing about him that I have been critical about, but he’s looking stronger the boy, emphasised by the way he dominated Chelseas midfield. Chelsea have two tricky away games coming up at Arsenal and Citeh, if they lose those and we can win our next two games, then we can go top going into the new year, things aren’t looking that bad. Fingers crossed anyway.
denton – If someone will get it right its Fergie mate. You know what he is like. He loves to rotate and is the master at it usually. Likes to “freshen it up” as he says.
Kings – do the math, mate: IF the RentBoyz lose one of their “tricky” away games and draw the other then they will be level with UTD although they will still have a superior goal-difference. On the other hand, they’ve had a relatively easy schedule so far – both LiverPoo and UTD at home (whereas UTD have had the opposite, although they lost both of those away-games). The RentBoyz also have that African Cup of Nations complication for January/February. More significantly, I think, Chel$ki have played almost too well so far whereas UTD have not yet hit top gear. The RentBoyz are a much older team and so I don’t see much room for them to improve but I am holding my breath that SAF can do his magic again with TheLads.
Owen’s got to make the most of his chances. I still believe we need a top class striker in the January transfer window coz we need plenty of goals in all the competitions; and we won’t be always lucky to have our midfielders scoring winning goals like against everton. Hope to see more of macheda and still awaiting Hargreaves to make his comeback!
When we signed Owen I feared it might be detrimental to the progress of Welbeck and Macheda. I hope this won’t be the case but, at the minute, he’s not offering anything that those youngsters wouldn’t if they were given starts in his place. They are the future, not Owen. I’ll always be grateful for his derby winner but Owen must still be short on confidence because he is missing an awful lot of chances. I want him to be a success though, honest.
As for this Torres/Essien debate, Essien was on the list of transfer targets that Peter Kenyon took to Chelsea with him. As for “Premier League Barbie” (I like that!) he had no interest in leaving Atletico at the time we wanted him. By the time he was ready to leave them, he seemed to have his heart set on the dippers, hence the “YNWA” armband he wore at Atletico.
a top class player not needed in jan…i think fergie can get the goods out of rooney, berba,owen,kiko,welbeck,mame …really this united team is a work in progress.will be wonderful 2 win 4 on the trot but wit obertan,the serbian wing wizard 2 come in jan, valencia fabio, rafel if not this season then next…the rooney situation is worrying though,we don’t seem to have gotten the best outta him .