Michael Owen has claimed that he hopes to retire at Manchester United, with the plan of lasting another five years like red legends Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville.
“I’d love this to be my last club,” said Owen. “You look at Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville and you like to think you have five more years in the game. I’m 30, and I don’t want to wish my career away. In an ideal world I’d like to play out my years here. I had great moments last season – a hat-trick in the Champions League and a goal in the Carling Cup Final, but the derby goal was fantastic. It was one of the biggest, most pure adrenaline rushes of my career. It’s alongside that Germany hat-trick, scoring twice in the FA Cup Final, and that goal in St Etienne. I was fit for 43 games. The pity is I missed the ones at the end when we were playing for things. The amount of injuries I have had is exaggerated. It can be annoying, but you learn to live with it.”
Man Utd News 24/7
The sad thing is that he was fit for most of the season, but wasn’t used a lot. And when Rooney got injured, he got injured. Don’t know if his wish will come through. Does his contract run out in the summer?
me too
@costas i think it runs another year, hes been a top pro since coming accepts his main role is going to be sub took a big cut in wages to play for us and i think he’ll be great to bring these young forwards through,hope utd do keep him don’t see a downside except obvioulsy the injuries
i REAlly want owen to retire here.I think he could be a valuable player.He could be our super sub and more importantly his finishing is still of the same class.Fergiee pls keep owen.Anything around 10 goals every season is a bonus for us.
yea he has done a great job this season and i agree perfectly with wayne, he took a cut in his wage from 100k to 50k a week and being a sub all the time. I really hope united can extend his contract !
@wayne
Oh ok. He has been a great pro for us, agreed. We will see if Hernandez’s arrival will affect his status in any way. When he is fit, he is a vital part of our strike force.
I still can’t believe it he plays for United… I always considered him as a good (at his prime, prolific) goalscorer but f*ck sake he is a scouse! I’m wondering how he get on with Red Nev haha
Apart from that, he paid back the trust what Fergie put him in with that goal against the bitters. I very rarely questioning the decisions of the Gaffer but giving the holy shirt number to him made me nervous a bit…
Michael YSB Owen in number 7, MU shirt omg.
Well, keep on goin Michael, if you score a winner against the dippers next season, I’m gonna forget everything about your past I promise
http://footytweets.com/manutd/news/334835
I think with the arrival of Hernandez Owen will see his game time reduced once more, Hernandez must be ahead of Owen in the picking order.
Really unfair how he got injured at the worst time possible, if he was fit when Rooney got injured, we would probably have, dare I say, won the League. He’s still the best finisher in the country, a game winner, and I am sure he will be vital for us next season too.
Fuck the wembley pitch
very fast u will retire before next season 2010/2011 start! very hopeful!
that ozil remark was made during the world cup. i never set much stock by these comments coz the players are asked questions that lead them to say these things.
@ GHTT
DING DING DING!!! No, but seriously, how can anyone dream of playing for the rentboys?
I’d consider letting Owen go, with Hernandez looking the real deal, i don’t think he’ll get much football next season. Of topic, anyone that has freeview, we’re losing Sky Sports news, gonna miss Jeff and the lads lol.
@Fze123
Absolutely mate. That week he got injured he managed to score twice in what 50 minutes on the pitch cos the first one was against West Ham as a sub. We missed SO many chances in the run in and you think to yourself if only Owen would’ve been on the end of that…1 point. We lost the title by 1 point.
*sigh*
Owen summed up his contribution to United last season beautifully, and it’s great to see a player of his stature in the game talking with such pride in his achievements at United, echoing my own reactions at the time. It’s never bothered me that he’s a Scouser (so’s Wazza). It’s not where you come from that matters, it’s where you’re going.
I think Fergie mis-used both Owen and Berba last season, wasting their very different talents at times. All we needed was two more points and we’d have won the league, and I don’t believe those two wouldn’t have delivered if given more of a chance. The fixation with Rooney as lone striker came to all-too-predictable grief when he was injured, with Berba in particular short of confidence by the end, having been left out of too many big matches, and Owen injured. I hope Owen gets his chance this season (and for 5 years!) along with Hernandez of course. In the Treble year we needed all four strikers- Cole, Yorke, Sheringham and Solskjaer – throughout the season, in all three competitions. At that stage Fergie had the knack of keeping all four happy and confident, despite the (then) much rumoured falling-out between Teddy and Coley. We need at least 4 strikers now, with kids coming through, such as Macheda. What worked superbly all those years ago was that any two of the four worked as a pairing, each line-up offering something different. I’d now like to see Rooney with Owen, Berba with Hernandez, Macheda with Owen, Rooney with Hernandez, Berba with Macheda, and so on in infinirte permutations, so no-one would ever know who they’d face. Rooney up front all alone worked for one season, but the way he was played in the World Cup suggests that tactic won’t work again quite as well. Opponernts have seen how vital it is to crowd him, and deprive him of time to turn when recieving the ball. yes his first touch for England was wayward, but that’s because players and coaches have worked out that he’s going to spin away if given time.
Partly for that reason, the other variation I’d like to see is to sometimes use Rooney as a deep-lying schemer. Same with Berba, potentially our best play-maker. With pure strikers up front, like Owen and Hernandez, Rooney or Berba’s vision and passing ability from behind gives the team another, different dimension. The most succesfful teams now need several alternative formations, which demands tremendous flexibilty from players, and high footballing intelligence. I think we’ve got the squad to achieve that, they just all need to chance – including little Michael, the Forgiven Dipper.
@willierednut
Don’t know. I wouldn’t put Chicha ahead of Owen in the pecking order just yet. We still don’t know how quickly Hernandez will adjust to his new surrounding as well as the Premiership. But I do believe that things will get very competitive in attack once he does.
Carlos Tevez: “City is a smaller team than United.”
Owen’s biggest challenge will come from whether Macheda can cut it or not. United have always thrived with four strikers, Roo, Berba and Chicharito are givens but the fourth spot is Owen’s at the minute, its up to Macheda to take it from him. Whatever happens unless there are injuries i cant imagine five strikers all getting a lot of playing time – especially now that 4-5-1 is often preferred in the big games.
Also, cut out that ‘first’ shit. Dont comment until you have something to add to the discussion!
http://www.online-betting-guide.co.uk//news/18225652/Mesut+Ozil+On+His+Way+To+Man+Utd+According+To+Bookies.html
something fishy is definitely going on here…
mesut özil rules out a move from werder bremen this summer (bild am sonntag). “i’m here till 2011″.
Agree that Hernandez is not ahead of Owen just yet. He hasn’t even played one competitive game for us. Who knows he may struggle here at first, as Vela and Dos Santos have. A bit early to predict big things from him. I’d say Rooney’s 1st choice, Berba 2nd, Owen 3rd, Macheda 4th and Hernandez 5th. Currently. Assuming Welbeck and Diouf go on loan, 5 strikers is really not a lot. As Giles already said, we won the treble with 4 strikers. And Fergie will rotate, won’t overuse Rooney as he did last season, especially if Hernandez hits the ground running and Macheda breaks through next season, they will most likely be paired with Berba.
Seriously since when do the bookies determine where a player is heading off to? Correct me if I am wrong, but didn’t the bookies also make us favourites to sign Sneijder? It turned out we weren’t even interested, Fergie’s own words. I can’t see us going for someone like Ozil, I am sure Fergie’s priority is to sign a replacement for Hargo. I hope so anyway.
@Giles Oakley – excellent post.
@Fze 123
I don’t think berbatov will be 2nd choice..here is what i WANT rooney 1st, hernandez 2nd, macheda 3rd, owen 4th and as for berbatov could be part of a deal to bring ozil/a midfielder..
jack rodwell the replacement for hargo!!!
sir fergie sign him up!! sign him up!!
May be in a year or 2..
@UNITED4life, of course Berba will be 2nd choice. From what we have seen Hernandez looks like a great prospect, but just because he scored in 2 pre-season friendlies, and scored against poor defences in the WC, doesn’t warrant him a place ahead of Berba in the first team!! I am not down playing his achievements, but come on, lets wait and see how he does at Utd first, before we suggest he should be behind Rooney in the pecking order.
@Fze123
You are downplaying Chicharito. Berbatov has to be used in a swap + money deal. We simply dont need him. I’d like to see Berbatov score against France and Argentina…
@Fze123
it is not only his goals in the WC and friendly games(i think that too were well taken goals) his movement and pace will warrant him a place along with rooney. we are always a team that play with pace and mobility and from what i have seen so far berbatov is not that kind of player. i think our game against the MLS all star showed that if we play past attacking display berbatov will have a counter effct on our game by slowing it down..so at 29, poor scoring record and low in confidence don’t know who we use him.
@moscow in my heaven
Fergie wont sell berba .This season is berbas last chance to prove.Do or die for him.Personally i would have replaced both berba and carrick reason being both have passed their prime.Age is not on their side but i hope i am wrong.
To be honest, i don’t think Owen will be ahead of Chico in the pecking order. All i’ve heard all summer is the kids need to be given a chance, well the time has now come for them to given the chance to prove themselfs, as it doesn’t look likely we’ll be signing anyone in the near future.
@Ash
agreed. But an average season won’t make carrick that bad. i believe carrick is one of the few players in the team who passes and possess the ball well so i have faith he will improve this season.
Ash
I just think that he couldnt have received a better chance than last season. He failed at the very precipice of our season, all the senior strikers out, we need him so badly, and he fails. And what makes people think he will perform differently this season when he will be a year older, with the added pressure of failing to perform for 2 years? One thing I have learned from last season is that when the stakes are high, when its crunch time and the heat is up, your last roll of the dice certainly aint Berbatov. He has failed, and for crying out loud, we re the Best Club on Earth, we have to be ruthlessly professional sometimes. But you are right, we need to find some sucker to take him. My suggestion would be my country, Turkey, where you could advertise Robinho for 35 million euros with real hope of getting a deal (ie Fenerbahce, Galatasaray, Besiktas etc). We could get 20 million, you have my word.
Owen? I don’t care how much he earns, or how much he’s costing the club. I only ask for 4 goals from him – 1 for each match against City and and Liverpool. The winning goal, mind you. Icing to the cake – injury time winner.
Not good for the heart, but would be extremely satisfying.
Don’t see Berba going lads,
With the fuss given to Hernandez and Machada pre-season I’d almost written off Owen as a factor in our next season. This brings home what the guy can give us. Hope he gets back to fitness.
willierednut
What if he fails this season as well? What then?
@Moscow is my heaven
that perfectly sums it up what i think of him. Lol can you broker a deal i mean 20m would be considered way better than that of ronaldo’s.
Moscow is my heaven – If he fails this season, then he’ll probably be sold, until then i’ll be giving him my support. As i said yesterday, we need to find him a role within the team, i still think he can be a important player for United.
UNITED4life
Hah, all it takes is a Youtube video (of him playing at spurs lol) and we have Fener knocking on our door for the Bulgarian. 15 million bid is the worst case scenario. I would still snap their arm off
@Moscow is my heaven
haha..from what hear, your league is high tempo like EPL and the fans are as demanding as our and even more interms of scaring(remember our CL 1994 ..) so what do u think will happen to our soon to be former ice cool player man..
UNITED4life
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
@Moscow is my heaven, it wasnt just him that failed when it mattered last season, the whole team did. Chelsea at home is an example, and Blackburn away. Even Nani and Valencia were terrible that day. In these two important games, what is remembered most is the fact that Berba didn’t score. Drogba’s offside goal, and Valencia’s miss are hardly mentioned. It’s not fair that the pressure was on him to win us the games, what is the job of the other 9 Utd players on the field? It’s not like the best of chances fell his way either. Of course he was dissapointing and didn’t step up in Rooney’s absence but we seem to forget he didn’t get a proper long run in the team last season. He is a confidence player, and becomes consistent when he is feeling confident about himself and is playing consecutively.
Last season when paired with Owen, he seemed at his best, so maybe in Hernandez who is very similar to Owen, we have found a suitable partner for Berba, who is younger and is likely to stay injury free. Assuming Hernandez does well in his first season that is. In answer to your question, thats why I feel he may perform differently, because with a new striker in, we have more options to form potential partnerships which suit his style better.
Fze123
Fair enough mate, but I have lost my faith in him.
@united4life
You know i love how carrick plays.For me when he is at his best he will pass every ball correctly.But frankly he is past his prime,he gets overpowerd quite easily.I would have prefered if we had signed someone young (khedira).I would prefer a fit ando ahead of carrick.
@moscow
Completely agree with you about berba .His best chance was last season.I hope he does well but if we has to play even in 2011-2012 season then he has to perform very well.
Good thing some in here aren’t managing United because they would have sold Sheringham after 2 or 3 years. Before he enjoyed his best season for us at 35 years old mind you.
Berba will stay.
Oh Teddy Teddy, came to Man United and he won the lot!!
he could be our new teddy sheringham, his contract ends june next year or sumthin and he has the option of a 3rd yeard if he can prove his fitness i heard him say