And so begins another chapter in Michael Owen’s up-and-down footballing career – not long after the door slammed shut on the summer transfer window of 2012, Stoke manager Tony Pulis secured the services of the seemingly forgotten former England striker who was a free agent (rules of the transfer window stating that any player not attached to a club can move outside of the deadline). Owen, 32, let go by Manchester United in the summer, was rumoured in August to be heading back to Liverpool – the club where it all began for him – but instead has rocked up at the Britannia Stadium on a one-year deal, which, will surely be his last tilt at regular football in the top flight.
The story of Owen’s footballing career arc is quite a fluctuating one; starting at the very top – through the youth at Liverpool, bursting onto the scene and scoring on his debut at Wimbledon aged just 17 – and quickly finding his feet at international level too. He raced to 40 goals in just 89 appearances for England, threatening to topple Bobby Charlton’s record of 49 in double-quick time.
But it fell away for Owen – injury blighted him and, following a mega-bucks move to Newcastle United via a short stint at Real Madrid, he has very sporadically featured in games in the last seven years. Indeed, in his stint at Manchester United (his most recent club), he started only one league game in the last two years, back in October 2010 – a very damning statistic for any potential suitor.
All told, it could potentially be a radical move for Owen at this late stage of his footballing career; he was happily warming the bench at Man United, earning his corn being a bit-part player at a massive football club. His move to the Britannia Stadium could, potentially, see more games for him, more chance for him to show that old predatory instinct, which, Michael himself would surely insist, has never gone away. This is, granted, Jonathan Walters and Peter Crouch fall out of favour with Pulis – unlikely given that both have started the season with goals to show for their endeavours.
Greatest respect to Pulis and Stoke though, this is no Man United – the options at the manager’s disposal aren’t as potent as what Ferguson has (and had) at Man United – and, in that respect, there is every chance that Owen could seize this opportunity with open arms. Who knows? A late substitute appearance for him in the next game or two – a sniff of a chance – one goal would give him the world of confidence. And let’s be honest, even though he’s lost a yard or two of pace, his finishing is still exemplary – you could absolutely count on that.
It’s often been noted, in recent times that Owen is more passionate about horse racing (and the horse he owns) than about football and you know what, big deal. Not all footballers are paid to enjoy, love, soak up the game that we, the fans, romanticise over – as long as they do their job, it shouldn’t matter if their passion for it isn’t as great as mine or yours. If Michael is happy to take his wage and make the odd appearance – that’s no skin off his nose.
You only feel that, given light of his last six years and the fact he has racked up only 54 league starts in that time, his time in football is coming to a very sad, slow conclusion. And that is a real shame, when you consider that he was once the most sought after English striker – a man who regularly scored 20-25 goals a season for Liverpool in his pomp.
The work ethic that Pulis has instilled at Stoke can only be a good thing for Owen – he will be made to fight for a place in the team and should know that it won’t be easy simply getting there. His fitness is without question at this current stage; he has been utilising his own health programme devised by coaches at Man United.
This should put him in good stead for one more crack at Premier League football. However, should he fail to deliver at a club which was, in all possibility, not his first choice to join post-window, then it will go down as one of the great shames in English football – that exciting prodigy Michael Owen failed to live up to his early career heights and instead had to reflect on what could have been.
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