Hero Or Zero #7 - Michael Owen

[Red Astaire]

At @SummerOnions suggestion todays player is the little midget himself. Michael Owen. This should be an interesting one. A hero for me but probably not for some. I fucking loved him when he first burst into the team. He was an amazing player with speed to burn. Back in the day it seemed the players coming through the youth system were amazing and he was another one.

Of course there was that FA cup final when we got bossed by a very good Arsenal (The only time I have ever seen Gerrard get owned in midfield) Then he popped up and well the rest is history. Lots of other memories as well.

Downside is he never really seemed to embrace the club. He preferred England I always thought. He fucking stitched us when he left for Real Madrid and then playing for the Scummers. All that aside I will only judge him on his LFC career. 118 goals in 216 games. Not bad for a mercenary Welsh midget.

EDIT : - I quite like his commentary as well. He speak well, clearly and has good observations. Pretty much the opposite of Chris Waddle or Alan Smith.

 

[JonesyRed]

Hero for me, obviously the goals, but that FA cup final, we were never in the game, two pieces of magic and suddenly we had won and Arsenal had no time to respond. His post Liverpool career obviously has let him down, few would blame him for Real Madrid, but then he barely played. The rest well less the better. However on his commentary career so far, he is rubbish, boring and not adding any insight even the simplest Football fan couldn't see.

 

[Piedro]

Hero for me. Just for the 2001 Fa Cup final.

One of the best days ive ever had supporting Liverpool.

 

[LeTallecWiz]

Yes, he's a boring twat who played for the Mancs ... but he's a hero ... A phenomenal goalscorer.

 

[Piedro]

He was one of those Strikers, you knew if he went one on one with the keeper then it was a goal.

 

[Portly]

The Kop never really took Owen to their hearts as they did with Fowler.

He wasn't Local. 😉

I think his career might have been even greater had Roy Evans not over-played him in his first season, and lumbered him with that complicated hamstring/spinal injury that set him back so much.

 

[localny]

Total hero. I mean, we know all the other stuff. Stiffed us for a decent fee on the way out, but still, one of our best players in the past 15-20 years

 

[Athens]

EDIT : - I quite like his commentary as well. He speak well, clearly and has good observations. Pretty much the opposite of Chris Waddle or Alan Smith.

Are you taking the piss here man?

I remember Owen making his debut and I was so jealous of him as he's just a few weeks younger than me. He was scoring against wimbledon (If i remember correctly) and I was pretending to be doing my chemistry homework.

 

[Red Astaire]

Are you taking the piss here man?

Well it's more that I find myself quite liking the BT coverage. He is a bit monosyllabic I grant you but he's surprisingly ok at commentating.

 

[refugee]

Cunt

 

[Richey]

Hero without a doubt. No matter how he left and what he did later on, no one who had that kind of goalscoring record for us could be dismissed as a 'zero'.

 

[SummerOnions]

Hero. He was probably the first player i properly remember being boss for us. Fowler was sold around about the time I started to get into footy.

The first memory of football is Owen vs Argentina in 98.

Anyway, the fucker scored goals. Lots of them. Like all the fucking time. And we were really shit a lot of that time as well, we played turgid fucking awful football for 82 minutes and suddenly Michael Owen just popped up from wherever someone twatted a long ball to him and smashed it in.

He was boss with Heskey that one season Heskey was boss as well, even though he was played out on the left-wing

In short, i'd say hero just cos he was the only reason to watch Liverpool in that period

 

[Markeh]

The fucker really annoyed me when he left.

We had Baros returning from the Euros as top scorer, Cisse coming in as top scorer from the French league and Michael Owen. Things seemed great, then the wee shit sat on the bench for a CL qualifier so he didn't get cup tied.

He won the FA cup for us on his own against Arsenal and scored some great goals so he's a hero for what he achieved in his time at the club... but I can't bring myself to like him.

 

[Rosco]

I don't know how anyone could say anything other than hero, despite the fact he is easily unlike able

 

[6TimesaRed]

*gets out the popcorn*

 

[peekay]

Hero..No doubt about it...

 

[Jack D Rips]

For me he is a non person. The sneaky way he left for RM I could have gotten over and maybe even understood, but what he said and did since he came back from Spain wipes the good bits out.

Neutral.

 

[peterhague]

I don't really care much either way. I don't hate him or anything, and I think the club probably contributed to his injury problems that ruined his career.

Was always a weirdly streaky goalscorer, incidentally. I think I remember him regularly have seriously long barren spells followed by little gluts.

 

[Squiggles]

Hero, but never a legend.

 

[SummerOnions]

Ha I just remembered he starred (is that right?) in a kids tv show called Zero to Hero!

His career went the opposite

 

[Oncy]

Proper hero

What an odd choice.

 

[Spionkop69]

Hero.

 

[Red Astaire]

What an odd choice.

Well I figured that the shoddy way he left the club, The fact he played for the mancs and the fact that he is possibly one of the dullest people on the planet might have swayed opinion. Still even after all that there is no denying how fucking mint he was for LFC.

 

[SummerOnions]

It's not often Owen gets talked about in a good light though is it.

What about McManaman?

 

[Silver Sean]

Complete hero until 13th Aug 2004. From that moment on he has become a bigger and bigger zero until he has disappeared over the hill to Zerodom.

 

[gene hughes]

Zero

Fuck you all.

 

[Tal]

Zhero.

 

[Judge Jules]

For me he is a non person. The sneaky way he left for RM I could have gotten over and maybe even understood, but what he said and did since he came back from Spain wipes the good bits out.

Neutral.

Largely agree. His playing days do deserve the "hero" title IMO, but his prolonged sulk after we failed to respond to his "Come and get me" on returning to this country is the opposite of heroic.

As for his punditry - Yawnsville USA.

 

[Dreambeliever]

Zero for me. Like Mark on BBC now he's so negative towards the club you'd think he never played for us.

 

[gene hughes]

For me you can be a great player but not a hero. That's all. I don't respect Owen.

If you do a hero or zero on Fowler I'll also say zero, for example.

Some of you lads are slags by the way.