Redrider wrote:I am sorry, they were caught again with their trousers down, ready for the 'traditional shafting' from Real Madrid !!
I agree mate.
Rick Parry and the board have a habit of bending down and baring their backsides too easily !
Going back to Michael Owen....
In the heart of Madrid, near where Michael lives, there lies a tall stone monument dedicated to the great explorer Christopher Columbus. (pictured below)
Several centuries on from Mr Columbus - Michael made his own voyage to Madrid last summer uncertain of exactly how his personal expedition would work out.
As it happens, the voyage that he undertook hasn't gone too badly so far. The boy wonder has scored six times in the Spanish League in seven starts, plus one goal against Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League. (He has also come off the bench eleven times as a sub.)
Owen took advice from his boyhood hero Gary Lineker, who told him that it was imperative that he spent time learning the Spanish language and immersing himself into the Spanish culture.
(Rushie famously said that life in Italy was "just like a foreign country" !)
I think that basically Michael just wanted a fresh challenge and couldn't resist the opportunity of playing abroad for a massive club like Real.
He'd been at Liverpool since he was a 12 year old boy with cherubic good looks. I think that at 25 he probably felt that he'd reached a stage in his career where playing for a new club abroad might help to improve him as a player.
The chance to test his pace and skills in a new tactical environment and to move to a club with a better chance (realistically) of winning the Champions League than with Liverpool.
Maybe I'm being naive, but I don't think that money was a main factor in the equation. Michael's already a very wealthy young man. I think that he went there for a new challenge, rather than for the extra pennies. (Or Euros.)
As an added bonus, the weather in Spain tends to be a bit nicer over there as well....
Is that a bulge developing in his shorts or do you reckon he's just pleased to be there...?
Michael and his lovely girlfriend Louise are clearly enjoying life in Spain - together with baby daughter Gemma...
by 