The Odd Couple: Will it work out for Manchester United and Michael Owen?
Four weeks ago, I was playing Football Manager. I was managing Manchester United and was faced with the dilemma of how to replace Tevez and Ronaldo. With 80 million quid in the bank, money wasn’t an issue; however the question of bringing in the “right” player involves more than just money.
Browsing through my shortlist, the expected names appeared: Benzema, Ribery and Ibrahimovic. All of a sudden a crazy thought popped into my head. Why not look at Micheal Owen? Unquestionably talented, excellent goal scoring record, English and above all free! I entertained the thought for a mere split second before quickly laughing it off, after all we all know Michael Owen is finished.
Cue 1 July and the Daily Mail breaks a story that Michael Owen is in discussions with Fergie! Would he gamble where I had dared not? A few days later we would learn that the answer was yes!
Now that Michael Owen is officially a Manchester United player, we find ourselves moving on from the question of ‘Could it happen?’ to ‘Will it work?’
The answer to the question really has two components. First, will he stay fit? Let’s assume that Michael’s injury troubles are past him and move onto the second question. Does Michael fit our system?
The press has focused on the rekindling of the Rooney – Owen partnership that had started so brightly for England. Indeed at Euro 2004 it looked at one stage to be capable of propelling England to glory until an untimely broken foot cut short Wayne’s tournament. I think it’s fair to say that despite a reasonable return, the partnership never really lived up to it’s initial promise. Could that promise finally be fulfilled at Old Trafford?
Personally I have my doubts. My main concern is that Wayne and Michael are quite similar players now. Gone are the days where Michael’s pace saw him consistently on the shoulder of the last defender. His best performances in a Newcastle shirt was when Keegan utilised him just behind the front two strikers. Therein lies the problem, that is Wayne’s preferred position, one which he has been quite vocal about wanting to focus on after a season of playing wide left.
As a result I really don’t think you’ll see Wayne and Michael together all that often this season. Which brings us to Dimitar Berbatov.
It’s no secret that Dimi failed to impress last season. Despite flashes of brilliance and an uncanny ability to retain possession in the face of immense pressure, he constantly seemed to be out of position. What good is holding the ball up and threading a brilliant pass to a winger, when there is nobody in the box to finish off the chance?
It’s that very style of play though which makes me believe that Michael can forge a strong partnership with Dimi. Where as last season there was nobody to finish the chances Dimi’s link up play created, this season we have the quintessential goal poacher in Michael Owen salivating at exactly those kind of chances!
Of course it’s not just Owen that will capitalise from Berbatov’s hold up play. Rooney has shown for England that if he is allowed to get into dangerous positions he is more than capable of finishing chances.
If United go back to a traditional 4-4-2 system as expected then Dimi’s link up play coupled with Michael and Wayne’s predatory instincts will become crucial to United’s chances of retaining the league.
So whilst England supporters will be hoping Owen’s move will allow him to strike up a ‘World Cup winning’ partnership with Rooney, a more likely situation is Owen and Rooney rotating to take advantage of Berbatov’s link up play with the likes of Nani and Valencia.
Micheal Owen to Manchester United, as unlikely as it may have seemed two weeks ago by the end of the season we might just be asking the question, why didn’t it happen sooner? Providing of course he can stay fit!
Welcome to Old Trafford Michael.
Topics: Alex Ferguson, Dimitar Berbatov, Liverpool, Manchester United, Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney
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Masterstroke by Fergie, agree completely with writer, Michael Owen and Berba are perfect for each other, a ‘friend’ of mine who supports your mob was dejected saying Ronaldo then Tevez now this ‘has been’ offered me 60-1 odds on Owen finishing top scorer put a tenner on it anyone else fancy a go ?
July 6th, 2009 @ 15:39I reckon you should bite his arm off at 60 – 1. Owen only needed a bit of support to score goals – Greatly lacking at NUFC but not at MU
July 6th, 2009 @ 17:12The problem in your logic is that if we go back to the traditional 4-4-2 that means only 2 of the 3 strikers will start. And since you seem to so hopefully think Berbatov will be the cog around which owen and rooney play, that means that Berbatov will have an assured place in the 11, even over Rooney? If not then that means that Owen will never get a game. You seem to think a lot like Fergie and i dont mean that in a good way. Berbatov started almost all games last season with Tevez on the bench but it was Tevez who changed the impetus and really was the impact when he came off the bench, case in point – the matches against spurs and Villa. Tevez didnt score a lot last season but lets be honest, he was the catalyst in a lot of the games when he came off the bench. I seem to have a lot less faith in Berbatov than you do.
July 7th, 2009 @ 06:29I think we’ll see more rotation up front this season, especially if we revert to a 4-4-2 system. There is no doubt in my mind that all three of these world class forwards can get goals.
I disagree with the writer on Rooney and Owen being similar. That’s just daft. Owen has never been the type of all-action-player Rooney is and his bursts, even if they’re not as quick as they were, will still see him beat defenders. I think this is exactly what we’ll see. Owen (possibly rotating with Huntelaar, if The Sun is anything to go by) up top, with Rooney or Berbatov operating just behind.
That said, I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Rooney on the wing, either.
Thanks,
B.
ps. Is there a Football Manager update available already?
July 7th, 2009 @ 09:23That’s the tough choice of going back to a front two. Somebody has to miss out. Initially it will be Owen. Rooney & Berbatov will start up front.
Personally I think Fergie has been planning that from the day Berbatov was signed. Let’s assume that we agreed to sell Ronaldo to Madrid last summer. We would have known that when we signed Berbatov. I think Fergie knew that our current system wasn’t really suited for Berbatov, but gambled that a team built around Ronaldo would be enough to win the league and give Europe a fair crack. A gamble which proved correct.
If you look at the first 4 months of last season though, Berbatov and Rooney started most games together in close tandem, as if Fergie was giving them time to build a partnership for the future. Then when it got to the business end of the season we reverted to Ronaldo playing the more central role. With Ronaldo now gone, we take advantage of that early season understanding.
Perhaps I’m looking too much into it, but another here’s another point. With a 4-2-3-1 you could accommodate both Rooney & Tevez (very similar players) in the one formation. In a 4-4-2 there is no such freedom, could that be why we didn’t really show much interesting in securing Tevez. I do agree with you that Tevez had an impact coming on as a sub, but to counter that he didn’t do much when he started.
July 7th, 2009 @ 11:18I think we’ll see way more from Berba this season. His career goals/game stats speak for themselves. His first season was very difficult from the point of view of settling-in. Sometimes he played in a partnershih with Rooney, then with Rooney on the left, with Tevez, with Ronaldo playing thru the middle and sometimes had to make way for Ronaldo altogether. Then there was 4-4-2, 4-3-3, 4-2-4 and even 4-5-1. There was no continuity.
Sometimes less is more. I think fergie will go with berba up-top and Rooney playing off him. Owen will come-off the bench or play as cover and will be told to get into the box and look for chances, any way he sees fit.
If Owen stays fit and makes his mark he’ll see more playing time but I expect to see much more end product from Rooney and Berba this season in a settled unit, without the disruptive (if individually productive) Ronaldo factor.
July 7th, 2009 @ 12:06I think that all the negative publicity and the fans’ reaction somehow affected Berba’s self esteem and performance last season. At the end of the season it was as though he was somewhat afraid to shoot – and trying to get rid of the ball as soon as he gets it. I hope this year he will perform better. Actually, if you look objectively at all the statistics (goals/min. played, assists/min., % mauU wins when Berba starts, mins/goal overall for ManU when Berba plays) he had a quite a decent season – as also the Actim index shows.
July 8th, 2009 @ 03:24Good point Dimitar….and well done defending yourself. I didn’t know that you frequented this BLOG but as you’re here…..GET THE FINGER OUT NEXT SEASON!
July 8th, 2009 @ 11:34