Michael Owen

Club Statistics



Liverpool



306 matches - 179 goals





Real Madrid



43 matches - 19 goals





Newcastle United



74 matches - 30 goals





Manchester United



49 matches - 17 goals





International Statistics





England



89 matches - 40 goals





General Comments:



Michael Owen is a player who divides football fans, he was unquestionably a very gifted and naturally talented footballer but there were many traits within his personality that held him back from reaching the very top (or stopped him from staying there for as long as he should have).



First of all, at his peak, Owen's finishing was absolutely stunning, whatever angle he received the ball at he seemed to be able to find the net somehow, whether it was through power or placement he finished it. Owen was also a very good header of the ball, which was a surprise considering his height; he got such great spring on his jump and was able to direct his headers so well. People mostly categorize Owen as a poacher, but he was also more than capable of finishing them from outside the box; his goals to game ratio is about one goal every two games which is phenomenal for a footballer at the top level.



At his peak , Owen was also a ridiculously quick player and he also knew how to use pace properly, he was always on the shoulder of the last defender, always ready to pounce on a through ball or deflection and coupled with his finishing; he really was absolutely deadly.



Another strong attribute of Owen was his anticipation & positioning, Owen always seemed to mentally be that split second faster than the defenders around him, he also had that brilliant knack of being in the right place at the time; which is one of the most important attributes for a good striker to have.



However in my opinion Michael Owen had one major problem, he was very injury prone, You will notice i use the phrase 'at his peak' several times in this profile, this is because his career was completely ruined by injuries. He had constant hamstring and muscle niggles which slowley took away the pace that he was so reliant on, he also suffered a serious knee ligament injury at the 2006 world cup, which in truth he never really recovered from.



Will Owen be remembered as great?



Owen's career is a story of what could have been, if he had not suffered so many injuries, i am sure he would have broken the England all time goal scoring record and stayed at the top level for many more years than he eventually did. It is very hard to call someone great when they effectively stopped doing anything of note in their career at the age of 26.



For me Owen's career most lasting impression is what could have been.



Thanks for reading!



Joshd6453