DO we care that Michael Owen’s signed for Manchester United?
If you judge these things by the strength of venom expressed on the various website blogs, then you’ll be clear that some form of inexcusable treason has been committed, and that many would be happy to see Owen’s Liverpool record expunged and his goals assigned to someone more palatable, perhaps Eric Meijer.
Clearly this traitorous act shows that he never really cared about Liverpool, was in it for himself, was more an England man etc, etc, etc.
Most of the invective hurled at Owen since his departure from Anfield has been wide of the mark, and you can hardly blame him now if, faced with the prospect of playing for Hull or Stoke, he bites Ferguson’s hand off given the chance to play in the Champions’ League next season and in the company of colleagues slightly more competent and committed than he became used to at St James’s Park.
His arrival at Old Trafford is two stages removed from Wayne Rooney’s shift down the East Lancs, whose impatient rejection of David Moyes’ careful grooming belied his professed dedication to the blue cause.
It’s not as if he’s rejected us further either, having clearly attempted to engineer a move back to Anfield on two occasions, both rebuffed on sensible commercial grounds rather than borne of any lingering grudge.
So for me there’s no reason to pillory Owen on any emotional grounds; time has lessened any attachment of this sort and anyway, nothing can remove the memories of his inspirational deeds in a Liverpool shirt, the 2001 FA Cup final the highlight among them.
No, my deliberations have revolved solely around whether his move weakens, or strengthens, our chances of winning the Premiership next season.
Which is of course the same as saying has Fergie stuffed up?
Despite the loss of his blistering pace, I’ve no doubt that Owen remains one of the best strikers in the business, and he’ll definitely benefit from playing alongside decent players compared to the dross at Newcastle.
But the key question is just how often will he be fit to play?
Everyone knows that Owen needs four or five games after an injury to get back into the flow and start scoring goals; this was even true in his heyday at Anfield.
His recent record suggests it’s a fairly safe bet he will get injured at some stage, and he will be injured again before he gets up a head of steam.
Add in the nature of Fergie’s ‘squad system’ (as opposed to Rafa’s ‘rotation’) and you begin to doubt that Owen will ever get a run of games which will see him contribute effectively to United’s title challenge.
So this looks like good news to me; and Michael may yet claim a further part in Liverpool’s history by helping us land that elusive first title since 1990.
