Liverpool FC Forum

by **hawkmoon269** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 9:28 am

I'd take him back in a heartbeat. I don't forgive him for last season, but we need his skill in the box.

by **El Nino_#9** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 9:30 am

same here!

by **woof woof !** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 9:32 am

supersub wrote:
stu_the_red wrote:This is a former europian player of the year we're talking about here?

Your pathetic attempt to argue with everything i say stops you seeing how good a player Michael Owen actually is?

Your problem lad.

To be honest ..your undying love for MO prevents you from seeing how limited a footballer Owen is.

One individual and might I add undeserved personal award ,hardly makes a player world class or indispensable.

You idolise Owen like a school-girl crush on the P.E.teacher...sit and watch how many times he miss controls a pass,loses the ball when he tries to dribble and please watch his contribution to a game..if he don't score the lad is anonimous.Michael Owen is surviving on his exploits 4 years ago and beyond.He won't be back get over it

SS, I'm getting a sense here that your personal negative feelings about Owen the man are affecting your judgement of Owen the footballer .

We've all seen enough of Owen to appreciate he is an outstanding striker . Certainly he can have an off day ,miscontrol a ball ,give a wayward pass ,miss an "easy" chance but is the a footballer alive who hasn't done the same ?

On his day Owen is a deadly threat to any defense and a clinical finisher . His all round game is improving all the time ,and as has often been quoted his goals per minutes on the pitch ratio is the highest in La Liga . Any team in the world would be more than happy to have Owen, unfortunately for him he is with possibly the only team that can afford to employ him primarily as a sub due to the sheer quality of the squad .

I'm not happy with the way Owen left us but it's doesn't prevent me from appreciating the he is still one of the best strikers around .

by **stmichael** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 10:33 am

Some good debate here fellas. Unsuprisingly, we have seen stu the red back to his old self when a topic comes up around Michael Owen.

The way I look at it, there's some very good arguments to be made about reasons not to bring him back, which require basic knowledge.

They require basic knowledge of Michael Owen's good and bad points, basic knowledge of Rafa's seemingly preferred system and the roles to be played in that system and how each would match each other.

Owen does not fit into Rafa's 4-5-1, in that system the striker acts as a pivot for three attacking midfielders to play off. Owen is not a good pivot. He's a poacher in the box.

If we are to sign Owen it would signal a return to the 4-4-2 or possibly 3-5-2.

I have absolutely no problem with Rafa bringing Owen back, Baros failed miserably to live up to the expectations I had for him. But it wouldn't make sense to do bring him back if the formation was to be 4-5-1. If we're going to use a 4-4-2 by all means bring the little bugger back and let's see what happens.

p.s. I find some people's notion that Michael Owen is not a "team player" absolutely laughable.

by **bigmick** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 10:50 am

Micky sore-erse is gonna sit on the fence here. Firstly, Owen is nowhere near as good a striker as Stu says he is. Not in any way shape or form at all. That said, Defoe would probably cost about 15 mill and Owen is a better player than him in my opinion. Clearly, he would score more goals in a season than anyone we currently have IMHO. From a personal point of view I think we are severely lacking in the striker department, Morientes I think is a mistake, Cisse unproven and very raw while Baros continues to frustrate.
Owen would probably become our first choice if we got him back. He would probably score a lot of goals but his overall contribution to the team-play is negligable. With a 4-5-1 it won't work and I can't forgive the manner of his leaving I'm afraid so I'd say no on balance. I'd actually prefer Crouch (Micky battens down the hatches and puts his hard hat on)

I would in all seriousness.

by **SouthCoastShankly** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 11:00 am

Crouch over Owen!!

Crouch has had 1, yes 1, decent season in the premiership preceded by 2 absolutely dire seasons at Villa. He's another Ricketts - called up to the England squad and then vanishes only to be spoken of in comments such as - "what were we thinking!" and "bugger me that was a sh1t transfer"

by **stmichael** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 11:03 am

I think the main problem people are having with the possibility of signing Crouch Bigmick, is the price.

What I would say to everyone is that a player is only worth what he adds to your team. The time to judge what he is worth to you is not when he signs, on the basis of what he's done at previous clubs, but what he has given over the course of his contract at your club. If you have no money to spare, then of course it counts at the time of the transfer; but if a manager has a vision, then he has the right to run with it and show people the results over time without being prejudged by the fans.

One example I can think back to which this reminds me of was the signings of Christian Ziege and Gary Mcallister in the treble season. One was tapped up, eventually ended up costing £8m and was a flop. The other was a free transfer. While many at the time expressed dismay at the signing of McAllister, I felt it was a very clever piece of business. But I had higher hopes of Ziege.

Now had McAllister cost £8m, everyone would have been up in arms. Outraged! Ziege –– a sure-fire hit if ever there was one after his superb season in the Premiership with Boro and his 50+ German caps –– ended up being worth next-to-nothing to Liverpool. For a short while, McAllister was a truly 'priceless' gem. If you now asked Gérard Houllier if he would have paid £8m for McAllister in the summer of 2000 if he had known then what would follow in 2001 and 2002, he'd say "of course".

So if Crouch came and was a success, people wouldn't give a monkeys about the price.

by **woof woof !** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 11:07 am

Good point about the formation being used has to be kept in mind when assesing a players worth to a team St Mick. The debate did seem to have strayed from one of do we want owen to one of whether members thought he was any good (or not :laugh:

) .

On the issue of formation , altough Rafa may employ 451 as his prefered option I will be very surprised (and disappointed) if we dont see Rafa changing his tactics around to suit the occasion . I'm sure there will many games when he uses two strikers ,when that happens I'd be more than happy to Owen on the teamsheet. I also don't necessarily agree with your obsevation about Owen being unable to play in Rafa's 451 system . Yes he is a poacher and his instinct is to be getting forward rather than holding up the ball for midfielders to come on to ,but I believe his game has matured ,he certainly looks a stronger and fitter player since his season in Spain and I wouldn't dismiss his ability to shield and then lay off a ball.

by **Sean** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 11:08 am

If we don't take him back fergie will snap him up and we'll have handed a huge advantage to out rivals.

by **66-1112520797** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 2:38 pm

SouthCoastShankly wrote:
Bamaga man wrote:Owen wanted to move not LFC, he wanted to go and win cups with Madrid not LFC.
Now he claps his hands and wants a return because it hasnt worked out for him.What? We are expected to welcome him a move back with open arms ?

Owen made his bed and now he can lay in it....

And we all weren't telling Steven Gerrard to let the door hit him on the way out but as soon as he returned we all acted all sorry and happy he was staying. Ian Rush left liverpool to play abroad and returned the season after and he is a legend and forever will be. Why can't Michael Owen?

Michael Owen has the abililty to do the same, we need that "fox in the box" player to score those tap ins and be in the right place at the right time.

Scoring records don't lie, whether for Liverpool or England.

i wasnt one of them telling Gerrard to shut the door behind him,but i probably did vent some frustration on the topic .

But i am a supporter of the club what do you expect ?All LFC fans to sit back and wave goodbye to one of our best players.

And i have to admit when Owen left i wasnt as frustrated or annoyed as other people ,id rather SG over MO but thats another debate.
And didnt Rushie join Juve to help build bridges with the two clubs i might be mistaken but i didnt think it was souly for footballing reasons.
But with the Owen thing it is a matter of principle more than the is he good enough or not debate.And yes although we are in this lucrative world of money in modern day football it would be nice to see these players show a bit of loyalty towards there clubs and most of all the fans who pay to watch them week in week out.

Owen didnt give a f@ck about us or the club when he left ,he jumped ship when the team wasnt going in any positive position.

If your boy/girl friend left you for somebody else ,and then six months down the line your boy/girl friend came back to you and said.The grass wasnt as greener on the other side and things didnt work out with my partner will you take me back ,what would you say?
Would you be the mug and take him or her back ?
Or would you decline and that cheeky ask and go looking elsewhere ?
Liverpool football mug ? Or Liverpool football club

by **kaz the kopite** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 3:04 pm

why don`t we go for allan smith instead! :idea

by **SouthCoastShankly** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 3:16 pm

depend whether she slept with anyone! I'm convinced Michael Owen hasn't shagged Madrid!

by **66-1112520797** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 3:29 pm

Well if she f#cked off for six months i expect her to as she wasnt that frigid with me.

Plus Owen has banged a few in for Madrid

by **SouthCoastShankly** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 3:54 pm

i see this thread rapidly spiralling out of control !

by **woof woof !** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 3:59 pm

SouthCoastShankly wrote:i see this thread rapidly spiralling out of control !

Maybe if we start a thread about "knockin' shops " we'll end up talkin footy .

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