Crumpy Gunt Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 Michael Owen must look at his own failings By Stewart Robson Michael Owen's fears about his possible omission from the England squad to face France next week - citing Newcastle's slump as the reason - reminds me of similar comments made by Tony Woodcock during my time at Arsenal. When Woodcock, an exceptional player if fully motivated, lost his England place in the mid-1980s, he blamed his plight on the poor results Arsenal were having. I was a team-mate but thought his own indifferent form was a big reason why we were struggling. So I advised him that, rather than blame others, he should take a closer look at himself. As a result, our relationship deteriorated to the point where we did not talk to one another and he later claimed in his autobiography that I was headstrong and failed to listen to senior players. Woodcock's complaints did little to help team spirit. I wonder, therefore, how Newcastle's players will react to Owen's comments when most of them are battling a lot harder in the side than the £16 million striker who has scored only six times in 24 games this season. There must be many Newcastle fans who would rather see Owen focused on inspiring his team-mates to climb up the table than worrying about personal glory. Even before his recent comments I felt that, while most players give up international football to extend their club career, Owen was doing it the other way round. For the past few years, I have not seen evidence that Owen has shown the same enthusiasm, devilment or pace that made him such a potent threat as a youngster. Once he would regularly burst on to through-balls and score superb individual goals; now he is only a penalty-box player and Newcastle, just three points off the drop zone, can ill afford that luxury in their position. His finishing skills are nowhere near as sharp as they used to be and his general play has deteriorated beyond recognition. I have seen him play seven times this year and there are few facets of his game that warrant him being in the Newcastle team let alone playing for Fabio Capello. His runs to break offside lines, which once made him such a threat, are now few and far between. When balls are played up to him, he struggles to hold off defenders. Even when he manages to play the ball off to a colleague, he jogs back to a forward position rather than sprinting there. On the occasions that he receives the ball facing defenders, his lack of dribbling ability means that he rarely attempts to beat his opponent. As a result, Newcastle's forward momentum is lost. When closing down defenders, he appears to do it half-heartedly and intermittently, leaving covering players unsure what he will do. So any defensive game plan that new coach Chris Hughton has devised can be dismantled immediately. The one area of Owen's game that defenders should still fear is his excellent positioning and anticipation that enables him to arrive first when crosses come over. When Kevin Keegan returned as Newcastle manager and played Alan Smith and Owen together, he hoped it would inspire the former Liverpool forward to feed off Smith's battling qualities in the same way as he did with Emile Heskey for England. But Keegan's vision was flawed on two accounts. Firstly, because Smith's old-fashioned style of centre-forward play is easy to nullify and, more significantly, Owen will struggle to play effectively with any striking partner until he rediscovers his enthusiasm and pace. I fully appreciate the severity of Owen's cruciate knee ligament injury but wonder how hard he has worked to get himself back to the top of his game. I also wonder how much his game had declined before that injury. Owen's comments suggest that he and the people around him might be in denial regarding his form and fitness over the past three or four years. Can he rediscover his former prowess? Yes, but only if he gets the right sports scientist to re-ignite his acceleration and the right psychologist to help restore his desire. To transform himself, he must first accept that it is he - and nobody else - who is responsible for his decline. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2008/03/16/sfntac116.xml Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 No arguments here, I think that just about has him worked out. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Decky Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 Exactly, but because of his reputation he will walk into the starting 11 under KK. He made him captain ffs. I hate to be critical of KK but the facts are there, that IS what is happening. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 Exactly, but because of his reputation he will walk into the starting 11 under KK. He made him captain ffs. I hate to be critical of KK but the facts are there, that IS what is happening. Even a poor Michael Owen is better than most of the others we've got at the minute. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Logic Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 What a toothless set of forwards we have. Viduka, overweight, lazy, uninterested. Owen, burnt-out. Smith, can't score. Martins, needs a run. Ameobi, never gets on the pitch anyway. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baggio Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 Exactly, but because of his reputation he will walk into the starting 11 under KK. He made him captain ffs. I hate to be critical of KK but the facts are there, that IS what is happening. Who would you have made captain? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dev Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 What a toothless set of forwards we have. Viduka, overweight, lazy, uninterested. Owen, burnt-out. Smith, can't score. Martins, needs a run. Ameobi, never gets on the pitch anyway. mmm I would say Owen has been acceptable (obviously not for the wages he is on but by normal EPL standard), Martins and Viduka have been good enough when they actually get on the pitch, Shola who knows? and Smith utter, ratshit garbage. But I'd say our problems stem far more from the midfield, where 'toothless' doesn't even begin to cover it. Article is pretty spot on though. Allardyce certainely didn't help his confidence by shoving him back on the pitch weeks too early (even though Owen wanted to so he could play NT) and getting him to pick up another injury pointlessly before Xmas. Every one of these injuries slows him down that bit more. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtype Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 Sports scientists and psychologists eh? too bad we don't have those anymore Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 Sports scientists and psychologists eh? too bad we don't have those anymore It's surprising that we got rid of them when you consider how well we did with them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
La Parka Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 No arguments here, I think that just about has him worked out. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
garth Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 About sums it up really. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cronky Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 A brilliant article that outlines exactly what Owen is offering to the side at the moment. It's a shame we don't have more ex-players who can share their professional knowledge in the papers like that. I'm not sure that Owen is exactly 'blaming others' though. And I don't know that it's down to a lack of enthusiasm or a lack of hard work during the rehab process. Owen's body just won't let him do what it did before. His body-fat index is down to what it was before, but he's bulked up. Trouble is, unlike Shearer, who was a versatile enough player to adapt to a loss of pace, Owen can't. Owen is the problem, not the solution. I think Keegan thinks that he can coach him to be the striker that he (KK) was, but Owen has never been that sort of 'busy' player. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnypd Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 people on here have been saying exactly that for a while now. refreshing to hear someone in the media cut through the reputation and analyse Owen's game for what it is now rather than for what it was 6 or 8 years ago. though i agree with bobyule that it is not so much a case of not trying hard enough (tho owen has been accused of being a half-hearted trainer) it is just that his body is not and will never be as robust as it was when he was younger. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Geordie Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 Absolutely spot on article. I think if Man City come knocking in the summer, we should let him go. Then again, we may have to if the worst happens.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wullie Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 people on here have been saying exactly that for a while now. refreshing to hear someone in the media cut through the reputation and analyse Owen's game for what it is now rather than for what it was 6 or 8 years ago. though i agree with bobyule that it is not so much a case of not trying hard enough (tho owen has been accused of being a half-hearted trainer) it is just that his body is not and will never be as robust as it was when he was younger. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest toonlass Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 My feelings exactly, only when I say it some on here slate me for it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tooj Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 My feelings exactly, only when I say it some on here slate me for it. I think most have been saying it on here for a while. I'd agree with you though at the start of the season when there were a few saying it and getting knocked down for it though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skirge Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 He needs dropped for me, he has done NOTHING to earn a starting place.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Optimistic Nut Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 He needs dropped for me, he has done NOTHING to earn a starting place.. Do people remember Martins' form before he went off to the African Nations Cup? All of a sudden, he's the best thing since sliced bread. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest justin99. Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 He needs dropped for me, he has done NOTHING to earn a starting place.. who has? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dinho lad Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 He needs dropped for me, he has done NOTHING to earn a starting place.. Do people remember Martins' form before he went off to the African Nations Cup? All of a sudden, he's the best thing since sliced bread. I know. OMG MARTINS HITS THE CROSSBAR FROM 40 YARDS OUT!!!CLASSS!!1LET'S SUCK HIS COCK!!!!!11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skirge Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 He needs dropped for me, he has done NOTHING to earn a starting place.. who has? Suppose thats true, but I just see Martins as more of a goal threat than Owen is at the minute. The way we play we need a striker that can create something on their own and Owen just does not seem capable of that he aint going to hit a 20 yard rocket is he. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRon Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 It's a good article, I agree with a lot of it, but I can't be arsed with negative vibes about Owen today. He's going to start tonight, I hope he scores. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benwell Lad Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 Exactly, but because of his reputation he will walk into the starting 11 under KK. He made him captain ffs. I hate to be critical of KK but the facts are there, that IS what is happening. Even a poor Michael Owen is better than most of the others we've got at the minute. So true. He still has class and is a level ahead of some of those he's currently playing with. He had a good game against Blackburn, somehow failed to score and ends up on the receiving end of another press frenzy. Newcastle United 2007/2008 has not really suited Owen's game but put him in a side which is doing well and he'll score for fun. Still our most likely (possibly only) matchwinner. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Logic Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 He needs dropped for me, he has done NOTHING to earn a starting place.. Do people remember Martins' form before he went off to the African Nations Cup? All of a sudden, he's the best thing since sliced bread. I know. OMG MARTINS HITS THE CROSSBAR FROM 40 YARDS OUT!!!CLASSS!!1LET'S SUCK HIS COCK!!!!!11 Or... Martins looks hungry again and up to prove a point. Let's give him another go. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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