One of those spectacular careers whose breaks were applied a little to quick due to the brutal hand of injury.This is the story of a teenage stalwart destined for greatness, momentary greatness nonetheless, but greatness. The story of a boy who'd passed his glory days before he turned Man. The story of the departing number 7 of United, the story of a star that , just for a little while, burned bright.
On 6th May 1997, Liverpool played their last game of the 96-97 Premier League season. They were away Wimbledon and lost 2-1, but on that day a seventeen year old striker scored the solitary Red goal. 1 year later he was joint top scorer in the Premier League with 18 goals with the likes of Chris Sutton and Dion Dublin. Fast forward 14 years and the striker lay in waste in a Manchester United team in transition, making just a hand full of appearances. This story is about a row of dominoes, one event leading to another, a chaos theory some would say, to end the glow of a young flame.
98-99 Season. Michael Owen has scored 23 goals in 40 appearances in all competitions. Liverpool are playing at Elland Road, away to Leeds. The 19 year old tore a hamstring and fell to the ground and the Kop that day saw a sight that would become a disturbingly common occurrence in the young man's career both home and abroad. The first domino had fallen.
99-2000 Season. Owen struggles to make appearances due to reoccurring hamstring injuries but still amasses 12 goals and Liverpool qualify for the UEFA cup. The turn of the Milena also bought the Euro 2000 and English fans saw it as an opportunity for England to rise from the ashes of the 98 World Cup in France. Owen was injured. England lost out in the group stages to Portugal and Romania.
2001 F.A Cup Final. Liverpool are on the road to winning a treble of the UEFA Cup and the two domestic cups. They faced a strong opposition in the form of Arsenal, runners-up in the league.In A open game but without any clear cut opportunities the first goal came at the 71st Minute and it was the Gunners who got their noses in front. The Kop were devastated. Gerrard Houllier made a set of attacking changes. 82nd Minute, Garry McAllister gets a free kick near the Arsenal penalty area. The kick missed but Arsenal failed to completely clear the resulting loose ball and Owen rose to the occasion equalising with a poachers goal. 88th Minute. The tie seemed doomed for Extra time. Michael Owen and Liverpool had other plans. Owen gets a wonderful ball, dribbles through a few from the flanks, cuts in and beats David Seaman at the far post. The then Scouscer got the man of the match champagne and the Final till now is known as the Michael Owen final.
A game against Spurs and Owen is injured again. It's the troublesome hamstring. Liverpool rule him out for six-weeks. The next domino.
13th August 2004. Real Madrid have successfully bid for Michael Owen, reinforcing their star studded line-up, called the Galactico-s.With a slow start to his Madrid career, he was often confined to the bench and drew criticism from fans and the Spanish press for his lack of form. A successful return to action with the England squad in October 2004 seemed to revive his morale, however, and in the first following match, he scored his first goal for the club, the winner in a 1–0 Champions League victory over Dynamo Kyiv. He ended the season with thirteen goals in La Liga, with the season's highest ratio of goals scored to number of minutes played. No injuries but he was going back to England.
24th August 2005. Roughly a year after moving to Spain, Owen was moving again, this time to Tyneside to Newcastle United. December 31st. Another game against Spurs, and another injury. This time a broken metatarsal. Being ruled out for months, one can assume that the partying wasn't exactly jubilant at the Owen household that New-Years. The third Domino. Thud.
24th March 2006. England are playing at Sweden in the first match of the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Owen is on the ground again and this time within the first minute. This time its the knee and it is a ligament tear. England rule him out for 9 months sparking a fresh Club vs Country row about who carries the liability for an injured player while on National Duty. Amongst this confusion, another Domino fell, unheard by many. The young man's career was in tatters.
2007 February. Owen's back in training and the press is going crazy about the young man who caused such a big Hullabaloo in the footballing world.(It wasn't his fault of course). A few months forward, he was out again picking a thigh injury in pre-season. The fifth domino fell. Four fresh injuries that season meant Owen was suddenly out of the starting line-up. Rumours of a transfer loomed but no one offered.
3rd July 2009. Sir Alex makes a surprise move to sign the free agent who was out of contract. Newcastle were out of the Premier League and Owen refused to resign a contract. So he signed for United. He scored on his debut as he had done with Liverpool, and gave united a 4-3 win against neighbours City in what the Citizens called 'Fergie Time'.
28th February 2010. Owen scores United first goal in a 2-1 victory over Aston-Villa in the League Cup Final, but subsequently pulls a hamstring. United rule Owen out for months as the ol' hamstring requires surgery. Another Domino
2011 Season. United won the league again, and in style. Pipping Chelsea to the title in the second last week, United, already champions, were loosing at home to Blackpool in the final game. United came right back winning 4-2 with Owen scoring the final goal in trade-mark Michael Owen style.
United struggled in Europe the next season and Owen pulled his thigh in a match against Romanian minnows Oetul Galati. United fell out of Europe's elite and Michael Owen lost another standing domino. United rejected a contact renewal, and now the teenage prodigy, the line of dominoes lies in transfer limbo. Where he goes next is still a mystery but as we bid farewell to another Number 7,
we pray and hope that there are no more falling dominoes, that the series of injury that has marred a players brilliance come to an end. We bid thee adieu MICHAEL OWEN.
On 6th May 1997, Liverpool played their last game of the 96-97 Premier League season. They were away Wimbledon and lost 2-1, but on that day a seventeen year old striker scored the solitary Red goal. 1 year later he was joint top scorer in the Premier League with 18 goals with the likes of Chris Sutton and Dion Dublin. Fast forward 14 years and the striker lay in waste in a Manchester United team in transition, making just a hand full of appearances. This story is about a row of dominoes, one event leading to another, a chaos theory some would say, to end the glow of a young flame.
98-99 Season. Michael Owen has scored 23 goals in 40 appearances in all competitions. Liverpool are playing at Elland Road, away to Leeds. The 19 year old tore a hamstring and fell to the ground and the Kop that day saw a sight that would become a disturbingly common occurrence in the young man's career both home and abroad. The first domino had fallen.
99-2000 Season. Owen struggles to make appearances due to reoccurring hamstring injuries but still amasses 12 goals and Liverpool qualify for the UEFA cup. The turn of the Milena also bought the Euro 2000 and English fans saw it as an opportunity for England to rise from the ashes of the 98 World Cup in France. Owen was injured. England lost out in the group stages to Portugal and Romania.
2001 F.A Cup Final. Liverpool are on the road to winning a treble of the UEFA Cup and the two domestic cups. They faced a strong opposition in the form of Arsenal, runners-up in the league.In A open game but without any clear cut opportunities the first goal came at the 71st Minute and it was the Gunners who got their noses in front. The Kop were devastated. Gerrard Houllier made a set of attacking changes. 82nd Minute, Garry McAllister gets a free kick near the Arsenal penalty area. The kick missed but Arsenal failed to completely clear the resulting loose ball and Owen rose to the occasion equalising with a poachers goal. 88th Minute. The tie seemed doomed for Extra time. Michael Owen and Liverpool had other plans. Owen gets a wonderful ball, dribbles through a few from the flanks, cuts in and beats David Seaman at the far post. The then Scouscer got the man of the match champagne and the Final till now is known as the Michael Owen final.
A game against Spurs and Owen is injured again. It's the troublesome hamstring. Liverpool rule him out for six-weeks. The next domino.
13th August 2004. Real Madrid have successfully bid for Michael Owen, reinforcing their star studded line-up, called the Galactico-s.With a slow start to his Madrid career, he was often confined to the bench and drew criticism from fans and the Spanish press for his lack of form. A successful return to action with the England squad in October 2004 seemed to revive his morale, however, and in the first following match, he scored his first goal for the club, the winner in a 1–0 Champions League victory over Dynamo Kyiv. He ended the season with thirteen goals in La Liga, with the season's highest ratio of goals scored to number of minutes played. No injuries but he was going back to England.
24th August 2005. Roughly a year after moving to Spain, Owen was moving again, this time to Tyneside to Newcastle United. December 31st. Another game against Spurs, and another injury. This time a broken metatarsal. Being ruled out for months, one can assume that the partying wasn't exactly jubilant at the Owen household that New-Years. The third Domino. Thud.
24th March 2006. England are playing at Sweden in the first match of the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Owen is on the ground again and this time within the first minute. This time its the knee and it is a ligament tear. England rule him out for 9 months sparking a fresh Club vs Country row about who carries the liability for an injured player while on National Duty. Amongst this confusion, another Domino fell, unheard by many. The young man's career was in tatters.
2007 February. Owen's back in training and the press is going crazy about the young man who caused such a big Hullabaloo in the footballing world.(It wasn't his fault of course). A few months forward, he was out again picking a thigh injury in pre-season. The fifth domino fell. Four fresh injuries that season meant Owen was suddenly out of the starting line-up. Rumours of a transfer loomed but no one offered.
3rd July 2009. Sir Alex makes a surprise move to sign the free agent who was out of contract. Newcastle were out of the Premier League and Owen refused to resign a contract. So he signed for United. He scored on his debut as he had done with Liverpool, and gave united a 4-3 win against neighbours City in what the Citizens called 'Fergie Time'.
28th February 2010. Owen scores United first goal in a 2-1 victory over Aston-Villa in the League Cup Final, but subsequently pulls a hamstring. United rule Owen out for months as the ol' hamstring requires surgery. Another Domino
2011 Season. United won the league again, and in style. Pipping Chelsea to the title in the second last week, United, already champions, were loosing at home to Blackpool in the final game. United came right back winning 4-2 with Owen scoring the final goal in trade-mark Michael Owen style.
United struggled in Europe the next season and Owen pulled his thigh in a match against Romanian minnows Oetul Galati. United fell out of Europe's elite and Michael Owen lost another standing domino. United rejected a contact renewal, and now the teenage prodigy, the line of dominoes lies in transfer limbo. Where he goes next is still a mystery but as we bid farewell to another Number 7,
we pray and hope that there are no more falling dominoes, that the series of injury that has marred a players brilliance come to an end. We bid thee adieu MICHAEL OWEN.
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