| Subject: Editorial: Is Michael Owen Really World Class? |
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Son
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Date Posted: 19:42:04 04/01/03 Tue
SO Michael Owen is once again banging in the goals and everything is right in the world. Normal service has been resumed, as England's favourite boy next door once again proves he's world-class, reborn as the sacred cow his cheerleaders have been loudly worshipping ever since that goal against Argentina.
Or perhaps not. Owen's strident supporters have been quick to seize on any criticism of their golden boy, however muted such fault-finding may be. The party line is that, as illustrated by recent performances, Owen is a genuine World Class Footballer and anyone who dares to think otherwise is an imbecile. In which case, looking at the overall picture, this particular imbecile thinks it's the Owen fans who are suffering from delusion.
There's an odd contradiction at work when it comes to discussing the boy wonder. Back when Owen was in the doldrums - just one goal in 15 league games, remember, during a quite dreadful mid-season run - his many, vociferous defenders told us that it was a mere blip in form and that his class would soon return. In which case, why are some now loudly claiming we should judge he's back to that best after just a handful of goals and a couple of decent performances?
Putting this paradox to one side, it seems there is a mood of opinion that Owen is beyond criticism. So many journalists and pundits rashly nailed their colours to the 'Owen is World Class' mast that they cannot bring themselves to admit otherwise. Facing up to the fact that Owen is not the saviour they cracked him up to be is simply unthinkable.
This is not to say that Owen is not a very good player. His consistent position at the top of the scoring charts proves that , and his 20+ goals so far this term indicate that, even when playing relatively poorly, he is still the most prolific and best English striker around. Note the qualifier 'English' however ?Owen may be first among many in his own country but he is not world class.
'World class' is a term grossly overused these days, to the extent that honest toilers like Nicky Butt can have a decent world cup and be bracketed in the elite category. But let's get a grip on reality here: only a select few players can be included in such a rarified bunch and Owen is not yet one of them, no matter what his supporters claim.
Consider this as a model: there are four, possibly five teams that have a realistic chance of winning the world cup. This means that, as a maximum, at any one time there are around 50 players who can truly be described as world class - and that's a generous overestimate.
Now narrow it down to striker positions. That leaves around 10 out and out attacking players who are world class. Let's be really generous and extend the list to four other 'world class' forwards who perhaps do not play for one of the global contenders. Is Owen one of the 14 best strikers in the world? Has he been so for a consistent period since he first reached apparent elite status in 1998?
His admirers would no doubt quickly say yes, but his inclusion cannot be automatically assumed. Henry, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Zidane, Figo, Raul, Totti, Crespo, Batistuta, Bergkamp, Scholes, Del Piero, Shevchenko, van Nistlerooy Mendieta, Kily Gonzalez, Sheringham and Shearer are just some of those who can lay claim to membership of the world's striking elite on at least an equal par with Owen.
Looking at club level weakens Owen's case even further. Would Owen be a first choice striker at either Arsenal or Man Utd ahead of Henry, Van Nistlerooy or Scholes? These players star for the only English sides with a credible claim for world class status and yet it's unlikely that any would be sacrificed for the sake of picking Owen.
The Owen fan club is nothing if not resourceful, however. Rather than concede their chosen favourite might not be what they have said he is, they have looked to other reasons to explain his often miserable form.
These vary from debilitating injuries to playing too many games at a young age. Certainly Owen has suffered from a punishing schedule that surely placed far too much stress on an immature physique ?his recurring hamstring problems are testament to that. But the really great players adapt and come back stronger. Ronaldo, del Piero and Shearer are just three who have altered their game to suit their changed circumstances and become better, more rounded players in the process.
Owen by contrast appears to have stood metaphorically still, reliant as ever on his pace and ability to burst into the penalty area with a quick dash. Unfortunately for him, defenders appear to have cottoned onto this and now simply drop deep, inviting Owen to charge up blind alleys where they can negate his speed. More often than not, when Owen does break through into a threatening position, it's courtesy of a ricochet or deflection, as he scraps and stumbles his way into the box: hardly the stuff of a player once reckoned by one commentator to be better than Jimmy Greaves.
But most perversely of all, the Owen fan club argue that the reason for their man's lack of progress is because Liverpool do not play to his strengths, with the suggestion that a move might be in his interest. Maybe it would be. The again, maybe it would more glaringly expose his current limitations. For the current Liverpool side has, if anything, been built around Owen, to the extent that Gerard Houllier ripped up the Anfield tactical textbook to provide his star striker with the platform most conducive to his strengths.
But don't take my biased word for it. Here are the thoughts of a senior coach with many years experience: "Liverpool have always traditionally played with the ball to feet and their attacking players facing away from goal when they receive the ball. Right through from Ian St John, to Dalglish to Rush, right up to Fowler, that's been the Liverpool way.
"With Owen, it's different. He's at his best facing the goal and running onto the ball. Houllier has decided that's his best tactical option and has changed the team accordingly. Out went Fowler, in came a big target man in Heskey and suddenly Liverpool are lumping long diagonal balls over the top for Owen to run on to or for Heskey to nod down. It's crude, but effective ?but only if Owen is at the top of his game."
Owen is clearly not at the top of his game. At international level, Sven Goran Eriksson may have faced up to the lack of talent at his disposal and employed a similar system to get the most out of his first-choice pairing, but Owen and Heskey's ineffective performance in Japan and Korea betrayed the poverty of such a limited strategy –and the reliance on a player not living up to his billing
For their latest excuse, the Owen cheerleaders have come up with another ruse to explain their man's underwhelming displays. Apparently, in order to build strength in his dodgy hamstring and ensure his long-term fitness, Owen has been indulging in some pretty serious weight training. As a result, he and his unofficial publicists claim that his sharpness has diminished and that the edge has been taken off his speed.
Strangely, muscle work as a natural course of rehabilitation doesn't seem to have effected too many other players in quite the same way, but we'll put that to one side. More significantly, such a claim raises an important question. If Michael Owen loses his speed ?and surely over time, that part of his game will further diminish as he ages ?then what else is there left?
At the moment, not a lot. This is not to say that Owen will not mature into a more rounded player who provides as much as he exploits, but it leaves him, at the age of 23, at a crossroads.
If he is to truly achieve world class-status he would do well to take a leaf out of the book of two other strikers. The great players make as many chances as they take and can even thrive in environments that do not best suit their talents. Take Gabriel Batistuta who, while playing for a good but not exactly outstanding Fiorentina side, became arguably the word's best striker. Similarly, Alan Shearer, faced with the necessity to change his game after a terrible knee injury, remodelled himself as a much more complete and effective team player.
Michael Owen is an excellent footballer and would walk into almost every Premiership side. His emergence at France 98 heralded the emergence of one of the brightest English prospects for a generation, but all too soon he was saddled with expectations he could not possibly hope to live up to.
At the time, his erstwhile England manager Glenn Hoddle was slaughtered by some sections of the media when he dared to suggest that Owen was not a natural goalscorer. Hoddle may have confused his message with customary clumsiness, but five years later, it seems he may have had a point. Certainly, Hoddle's caution seems wiser after the event then the near hysteria of the Owen devotees. Ironically, their favoured son could do with a bit more of Hoddle's honesty than their own blind faith.
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