Former Liverpool striker Michael Owen has had a hell of a career. Few young players exploded onto the Anfield stage with the sheer devastation that he did.
“As a young boy, I supported Everton from my early years, basically because my brothers told me to, and I think they supported Everton because my dad played for them,” he reflected, duirng his recent Sky Sports interview.
“So even though I went to Everton, the team I supported, I went to Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, I went everywhere, Sheffield Wednesday, but it was always Liverpool I wanted to sign for.”
Scoring from the outset on his debut
Rising through the youth ranks after firing Liverpool to FA Youth Cup glory in 1996, the Chester-born striker marked his senior debut against Wimbledon in May 1997 with a goal at just 17 years old.
“I’d been told that I was part of the squad in the previous game away at Sunderland, so I suppose I expected to be on the bench in that next game against Wimbledon.
“Of course, as soon as you go one-nil down, then it’s probably the perfect time for a striker to come on.”
“Scoring the goal felt really normal. Of course, inside me, I was bursting with happiness and excitement, but it was all about, come on, we’ve got to score another one and get back into the game.”
“Sometimes I wish you could appreciate these moments when you’re actually doing it… It’s relentless. You score one, it’s the next one, and it’s the next one. And you just don’t really get to appreciate it, I suppose, until you retire.”
It heralded an extraordinary era of blistering acceleration and clinical finishing as he took the Premier League by storm during his first full campaign in 1997-98.
Alongside Robbie Fowler and later Emile Heskey, Owen served as Liverpool’s primary attacking weapon through the late 1990s and early 2000s under Gerard Houllier.
He went on to become a poster boy for the Reds, scoring the two late goals needed to beat Arsenal in the 2001 FA Cup Final, then going on to win the Ballon d’Or later that year (I’m sure he’s mentioned that a few times!).
Move to Real Madrid angers Liverpool fans
When he ran his contract down and made a move to Real Madrid in 2004 the fans turned against him, although he doesn’t regret his decision to go.
“Leaving Liverpool was probably the hardest decision of my career. I never thought the day would come,” he admitted. “When my agent phoned me and said that Madrid are interested in buying you, then to say I was torn was an understatement.”
“I never expected or never wanted to leave Liverpool… and I would definitely have regretted it, because I would never have known what it would have been like.
“Part of me was saying, don’t worry, you can always come back. Ian Rush did it. He went away to Juventus and he came back, and I suppose that’s what convinced me at the end of the day to think, do you know what, I’ve got to do it. I’ve got to go and try it.
“I went to Madrid. I had a great time, but when I wanted to come back, it could never work.
“There was just never the right time, unfortunately, despite my best attempts. So that’s one of the sad things about my career, I never got to come back and to play for Liverpool.”
Instead he went to Newcastle, then Manchester United and then into punditry. Unfortunately the circumstances surrounding his move to Madrid, the failed return to Anfield and the eventual signing for United was enough to put paid to his legend status a a Red for the majority of fans.
Watch the full interview here…
