Michael Owen’s recent quest to get back into Football has landed him in Stoke as he no longer became a free agent after signing a deal with ‘The Potters’.
This signing could be a blessing in disguise and help out both Mr Injury prone and Stoke City themselves.
As a young football fan Michael Owen in his Liverpool days was my hero. Before that horrific hamstring tear one evening playing against Leeds- I remember it well as I was nearly reduced to tears as I sat watching helplessly as my hero’s career was on the line- Owen was sensational.
Owen knew where the goal was so to speak and anything he touched turned to a goal when he was in the peak of his career. Since then he has had many bad moments in his career, he had little success at Real Madrid, Newcastle and Manchester United, being a Liverpool fan that was hard for me to take, seeing one of my idols as a kid sign for them.
However all of Owen’s failures have been down to regular occurrences of nasty injuries one of which springs to mind is when he injured his knee at the World Cup in 2006 against Sweden.
Although Owen has had his problems in the past this signing could give him that glimmer of hope that his final few seasons before retirement could be successful. This is if, and it’s a big if he stays fit and injury free.
Owen is at a club that suits his style of play down to the ground. He will be playing with a strike partner that is big and strong in either Peter Crouch or Jonathan Walters who will be able to win the ball in the air and knock it on for Owen to turn those one on one chances into goal.
The system of a having Owen playing upfront with a big striker has worked in the past. It worked superbly when he played with Emile Heskey at Liverpool and I believe it could work well here.
Stoke thrive on aerial threat from corners or from Rory Delap’s outrageous long throws and with a small striker like Owen he can be lurking around the penalty area waiting for a knock down to score. And I believe if Stoke are to be successful this season then that will be the tactic they may have to deploy.
Below is what we all remember Michael Owen for.
Daniel Clark
@ClarkyD92