Michael Owen

Michael Owen
Michael Owen (2014)
Personnel
Surname	Michael James Owen
birthday	December 14, 1979
place of birth	Chester ,  England
size	173 cm
position	striker
Juniors
Years	station
1991-1996	Liverpool FC
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1996-2004	Liverpool FC	216 (118)
2004-2005	real Madrid	36 0(13)
2005-2009	Newcastle United	71 0(26)
2009–2012	Manchester United	31 00(5)
2012-2013	Stoke City	8 00(1)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
	England U-15	8 0(12)
	England U-16	11 0(15)
	England U18	14 0(10)
1997	England U-21	1 00(1)
2006-2007	England B	2 00(0)
1998-2008	England	89 0(40)
1 Only league games are given.

Michael James Owen (born December 14, 1979 in Chester ) is a former English football player . As a tricky, agile and goal- scoring striker , he was considered one of the best footballers in the world in the second half of the 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s and, due to his early successes as a teenager, a “boy wonder” of English football. In 1998 he was voted Sportsman of the Year in Great Britain and three years later he was named Europe's Footballer of the Year .

He experienced his best sporting time at Liverpool FC until 2004 , before briefly moving to Real Madrid (until 2005) and later to Newcastle United (until 2009), Manchester United (until 2012) and Stoke City (until 2013). For Liverpool he won the FA Cup , the League Cup and the UEFA Cup in 2001 - the Premier League top scorer of 1998 and 1999 won the League Cup again in 2003 . For the English national team he took part in three world ( 1998 , 2002 , 2006 ) and two European championships ( 2000 , 2004 ).

From the mid-2000s, he was frequently set back by serious injuries, including a metatarsal fracture at the end of December 2005 and a torn cruciate ligament during the 2006 World Cup in Germany. His last major success was winning the English championship with Manchester United in 2011 .

Career

society

Liverpool FC (1991-2004)

Michael Owen's special footballing skills were already noticed at a very young age. Father Terry , who had played a handful of games for Everton himself, often took him to the children's play area at Deeside Leisure Center . There, at the age of five, he already demonstrated "eye-ball coordination" paired with a shooting technique that corresponded to an eight or nine year old. Although the young Michael Owen initially joined his father's ex-club from Everton, it was local rivals Liverpool FC who eventually became aware of the talent in Deeside. This was later joined by other interested parties, including Brian Kidd from Manchester United , but ultimately Liverpool's youth manager, Steve Heighway, did the most persuasive work. Owen, who was eight years old in the U-11 school team and at the age of ten had scored 97 goals in one season, attended the national football academy in Lilleshall and played international matches in the England U-15 and U-16 youth team .

During his time in Lilleshall, Owen also played in Liverpool FC's youth team in the 1995/96 season. As a 16-year-old in a team with mostly 18-year-old teammates, he scored three goals each in the FA Youth Cup in the quarter-finals against Manchester United (he scored the winning goal here in stoppage time) and in the semi-final first leg against Crystal Palace (4-2) and two further hits in the back game after a 1: 3 after regular time in overtime. In the final against West Ham United , which future stars like Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard had not lost in their ranks and 24 games in a row, Owen was missing in the first game (2-0) due to an appearance at the U-16 European Championship in Austria against Turkey. In the second leg he scored the eleventh goal in five cup games to equalize the 1: 1 (final score: 2: 1), which paved the way for Liverpool's first success in the FA Youth Cup in its history.

On his 17th birthday, Owen signed his first professional contract and was immediately part of the squad of head coach Roy Evans . He played his first competitive game on May 6, 1997 against FC Wimbledon , when he came on for Patrik Berger when the score was 2-0 in the 57th minute and scored the consolation goal 17 minutes later . Five days later he made his debut in the starting XI of the "Reds" against Sheffield Wednesday (1-1). The sporting breakthrough followed in the 1997/98 season, when Owen became the “shooting star” of English football and ultimately found his way into the English senior team. Evans had wanted to carefully integrate him into the team, but with Robbie Fowler's injury things took their course faster than expected. With his speed of action, goal danger and a high speed (especially in one-on-one situations in the opposing penalty area), he quickly achieved legendary status in Liverpool that withstood comparisons with Ian Rush or Robbie Fowler. With 18 league goals he won the top scorer's crown in the Premier League (together with Dion Dublin and Chris Sutton ); the players' union PFA named him the best young professional and voted him into the league team of the year ( PFA Team of the Year ). After good performance at the 1998 World Cup in France, concerns for the second season 1998/99 were high in view of the high loads. However, these were quickly refuted by a hat trick in the third game against Newcastle United and his commitment and willingness to run remained at a high level. Although the season ended in a disappointing seventh place for Liverpool overall , Owen equaled his league result from the previous year under new coach Gérard Houllier and was therefore the top scorer in the Premier League for the second time in a row (he now shared the title with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Dwight Yorke ).

A hamstring from the game against Leeds United on April 12, 1999 resulted in a five-month forced break and although Owen scored a double-digit number of hits again in the 1999/2000 season, critical voices, warning of overload and sufficient recovery times, increased for the first time warned about injuries for Owen. The most successful year in Liverpool for Owen was the 2000/01 season. The season, which ultimately earned Owen the election of European Footballer of the Year , began spectacularly with seven goals within five games, before injuries (first a head, later a back and then another thigh injury) meant that he was in the meantime was no longer unreservedly “set” in the storm. In addition to Emile Heskey , who was in good shape at the time , he often competed with Robbie Fowler for the position of second striker. The first signs of a return to his old strengths were his two goals in mid-February 2001 in a 2-0 away win in the UEFA Cup first knockout round of 16 against AS Roma . In the final phase he was back in good shape at the start of the season and his appearance in the FA Cup final made a lasting impression. The game against Arsenal was more or less one-sided for Arsenal and Owen was also "signed off" for 80 minutes before turning a 0-1 into a 2-1 in the last seven minutes. Four days later, he prepared two goals in the UEFA Cup final against Deportivo Alavés ( 5-4 aet ), which he shared with the League Cup , which he won at the end of February 2001 (where he was rarely used and in the final, however if he only sat on the bench) won the third cup trophy in a year.

In the two following years until the end of the 2002/03 season, Owen achieved the best annual yields in his career with 19 league goals each time. He was no longer the best Premier League shooter, but he made a significant contribution to winning the runner-up in 2001 - the best championship placement in his time in Liverpool. Shortly after his 22nd birthday, he scored his 100th competitive goal for the "Reds" in the game against West Ham United (1: 1). On March 2, 2003, he contributed significantly to the renewed win of the league cup . In contrast to winning the title two years earlier, he was now in the starting eleven in the final and made the decision with his goal to make it 2-0 against Manchester United shortly before the final whistle. This was followed by Owens in the last 2003/04 season in Liverpool FC's dress, which was again characterized by series of goals and injuries. Owen, who in the meantime often seemed to be on his own as a striker and whose striker did not score double-digit hits, scored eight goals in five league games in the early stages before he had to struggle with injuries, especially at the turn of the year, which were partly responsible for a low goal. In the summer of 2004, Owen left Liverpool. In total, he had played 297 competitive games for the club and scored 158 goals.

The time after Liverpool (2004-2013)

In August 2004 Owen moved to the Spanish record champions Real Madrid . Part of the transfer deal was, in addition to the payment of eight million pounds to Liverpool, the personnel Antonio Núñez , who hired in the opposite direction with the "Reds". Not insignificant for Liverpool's decision to give Owen the clearance to leave was the contract, which only ran until mid-2005, after which he could have left the club free of charge. In Madrid, Owen was faced with tough competition straight away, as he was only considered to be the “number 3” in the battle for the two striker positions after the crowd favorite and Real legend Raúl and the Brazilian world champion Ronaldo . So he often had to be content with the "reservist role". Although he still scored 13 goals in the Primera División , the signs were quickly pointing to farewell. Real Madrid signed two more strikers in Robinho and Júlio Baptista after an untitled season in mid-2005 and so Owen saw his chances of playing further dwindling - also against the background of his prospects for the 2006 World Cup in Germany the following year. In addition, he had not been able to gain a foothold in Spain off the field and had mostly lived in a hotel with his young family. With his reserved manner, he clearly differed from compatriots David Beckham and Steve McManaman (who worked for Real until 2003), who had integrated more easily in Spain. After just a year, Owen moved back to the Premier League. A possible return to the old place of work failed because Liverpool was not prepared to pay the transfer fee announced by Real Madrid. Eventually, under coach Graeme Souness , Newcastle United invested £ 17m in signing Owen, who ultimately signed a four-year deal. The club broke the previous record of £ 15million for Alan Shearer , who in turn had inspired the "deal" as Owen's close friend and England team-mate.

He quickly introduced himself with goals in the English northeast before a crack in the groin area in November 2005 led to a first forced break. He returned the following month and scored a hat trick at West Ham United (4-2) before fracturing his right metatarsus on New Year's Eve against Tottenham Hotspur . This injury meant the show off season and only shortly before the end of the season he came to a brief assignment against Birmingham City . As a result of the next serious injury in the form of a cruciate ligament tear, which he suffered during the World Cup in Germany, the prospects for the second 2006/07 season were also bleak. The second long-term injury was also interesting from a sports-political point of view, as Newcastle United obtained extensive compensation payments from the English Football Association and FIFA. Newcastle was initially awarded a partial payment of the salary for the period of Owen's failure, which in view of the weekly £ 50,000 (from a total of £ 110,000) was equivalent to a total of two million pounds. The sum was increased shortly afterwards clear was where, for example, take into account that with Obafemi Martins of Inter Milan is an expensive replacement be required had. With regard to the final amount, however, there is uncertainty; FIFA estimated the sum to be between six and seven million pounds, while Newcastle United club officials put it at ten million pounds. In the last three league games of the 2006/07 season Owen took part in the action again, but remained without his own goal and had to leave the field early after a collision with his teammate Matty Pattison with a concussion. Further bad luck with injuries in the form of a thigh problem delayed Owens' start into the subsequent 2007/08 season, and after an operation on both groins, a muscle tear in his thigh followed in November 2007. After his comeback at the end of the year, he started his first long series of missions for the "Magpies" until the end of the season. His new coach Kevin Keegan had promoted him to team captain regardless of the previous problems and assigned him a new role in the attacking game. Since Owen had lost much of his previous speed, Keegan let him act a little behind the tips. There Owen increasingly played his passing qualities and with seven goals from the last nine league matches he was largely responsible for staying up in the league . In January 2009 it was announced that Owen would not extend his expiring contract for the time being and would monitor the situation of the club until the summer. After Newcastle was relegated from the Premier League, he signed on July 3, 2009 with English champions Manchester United a two-year contract.

Michael Owen (r.) Versus John Heitinga from Everton FC , 2009

Owen received the shirt number 7, legendary at Manchester United, which previously wore icons of the club such as George Best , Bryan Robson , David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo . On September 20, 2009 Owen scored his first goal at Old Trafford : In the 6th minute of stoppage time, he scored the winning goal to make it 4-3 against rivals Manchester City in the Manchester Derby . After a hat trick against VfL Wolfsburg in the Champions League on December 8, 2009, there was speculation in the media about a possible nomination Owens for the English national team with a view to the 2010 World Cup . Owen also scored the first goal in the 2010 League Cup final , but had to be replaced before half-time due to an injury to his thigh. This injury turned out to be so serious that Owen had to take the rest of the season off. After winning the English championship in 2011 - the first and only in his career - Owen's contract was extended for another year on June 1, 2011 with United. The experts took note of the decision somewhat surprised, because in the previous 2010/11 season he had only played eleven league games and stood in the shadow of strikers such as Wayne Rooney , Dimitar Berbatow and Chicharito (plus the loaner Danny Welbeck , who had returned from Sunderland, and others) Transfer rumors on the striker positions). After just four competitive appearances in the 2011/12 season, Owen's time in Manchester ended without a new contract offer.

On September 4, 2012, Owen signed a contract with Stoke City until the end of the season. He announced on March 19, 2013 that he would end his career at the end of the season. On May 19, 2013, Owen played his last game in his club's 1-1 draw at Southampton FC at the end of the season in the Premier League, after being substituted on in the 74th minute.

National team

In the senior team, Owen made his debut on February 11, 1998 in a friendly against Chile . He was also the youngest player used for England in the 20th century. Shortly afterwards he scored his first goal in a 1-0 win against Morocco on May 23, 1998 and the subsequent World Cup in 1998 brought him a breakthrough that was widely recognized internationally. Initially only planned as a substitute for the team, he scored the goal to equalize 1-1 in the second group game against Romania in the 73rd minute shortly after his substitution and he would have almost equaled the 2-1 defeat shortly before the end had he been with his shot on goal did not fail at the post. Then coach Glenn Hoddle promoted him to the starting line-up and especially with his performance in the round of 16 against Argentina he impressed the professional world. After a good quarter of an hour, when the score was 1-1, he started a solo over half the place and put the ball in the goal himself - ultimately the game was lost on penalties (Owen himself had scored).

The next notable success stories followed after the turn of the millennium. Before that, Owen was represented in all three group games at Euro 2000 and was also successful with a goal in another duel with Romania (2: 3), but ultimately the tournament was disappointing with the preliminary rounds. After Alan Shearer's resignation , Owen was the new “number 1” under new coach Sven-Göran Eriksson and with his hat-trick to the spectacular 5-1 away win against Germany , he made the first highlights in this role. At the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea that followed shortly afterwards , he first took the decisive penalty in a 1-0 victory in a new encounter with Argentina. The only two goals in the tournament were scored in the round of 16 and quarter-finals against Denmark (3: 0) and the eventual world champions from Brazil (1: 2).

After five goals in qualifying for Euro 2004 in Portugal , he was again denied his own goals in the group stage before scoring an early 1-0 goal against the hosts in the quarter-finals . The game then went back to penalties and although Owen himself had converted one more time, England was eliminated this way. At the 2006 World Cup in Germany , which took place two years later, Owen managed to report ready for action after a metatarsal fracture, but there he tore the cruciate ligament in his right knee in the last group game against Sweden without any other player . Owen later regretted his involvement in the World Cup in view of the accelerated measures to recover from his metatarsal fracture and the lack of muscles to stabilize the knee.

After this serious injury, Owen never returned to his previous level. He could not take part in the first six qualifying games for the Euro 2008 . Following a test run for the English national B team against Albania, the new coach Steve McClaren nominated him again for the upcoming games against Brazil and Estonia . His two goals against Russia (3-0) on September 12, 2007 were Owens last for the "Three Lions". England missed the Euro 2008 and McClaren's successor Fabio Capello only let him come to a brief appearance in the friendly against France in March 2008 .

Owen made a total of 89 full internationals for England and scored 40 goals. This puts him in fifth place in the English national team's all-time goalscorer list . In English vernacular it is recognized as “St. Michael ”.

Title / Awards

With his clubs

• English Championship (1): 2011
• FA Cup (1): 2001
• English League Cup (3): 2001, 2003, 2010
• UEFA Cup (1): 2001
• European Supercup (1): 2001
• FA Community Shield (2): 2001, 2010
• FA Youth Cup (1): 1996

Awards

• PFA Young Player of the Year (1): 1998
• PFA Team of the Year (1): 1997/98
• Premier League Top Scorer (1): 1998, 1999
• UK Sportsman of the Year (1): 1998
• Europe's Footballer of the Year (1): 2001
• Premier League Player of the Season (1): 1997/98
• Premier League Player of the Month (1): August 1998
• Admission to FIFA 100

Season overview

society	league	season	league		Nat. Cup		European Cup		Other		total
			Games	Gates	Games	Gates	Games	Gates	Games	Gates	Games	Gates
Liverpool FC	Premier League	1996/97	2	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	1
		1997/98	36	18th	-	-	4th	1	4th	4th	44	23
		1998/99	30th	18th	2	2	6th	2	2	1	40	23
		1999/00	27	11	1	0	-	-	1	0	30th	12
		2000/01	28	16	5	3	11	4th	2	1	46	24
		2001/02	29	19th	2	2	10	5	2	2	43	28
		2002/03	35	19th	2	0	12	7th	5	2	54	28
		2003/04	29	16	3	1	6th	2	-	-	38	19th
total			216	118	15th	8th	49	21st	17th	11	297	158
real Madrid	Primera División	2004/05	36	13	4th	2	5	1	-	-	45	16
total			36	13	4th	2	5	1	-	-	45	16
Newcastle United	Premier League	2005/06	11	7th	-	-	-	-	-	-	11	7th
		2006/07	3	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	0
		2007/08	29	11	3	1	-	-	1	1	33	13
		2008/09	28	8th	2	0	-	-	2	2	32	10
total			71	26th	5	1	-	-	3	3	79	30th
Manchester United	Premier League	2009/10	19th	3	1	0	6th	4th	5	2	31	9
		2010/11	11	2	2	1	2	0	2	2	17th	5
		2011/12	1	0	-	-	1	0	2	3	4th	3
total			31	5	3	1	9	4th	9	7th	52	17th
Stoke City	Premier League	2012/13	8th	1	1	0	-	-	-	-	9	1
total			8th	1	1	0	-	-	-	-	9	1
Career total			362	163	28	12	63	26th	29	21st	482	222

Private life

Owen is married and has four children with his wife.

Web links

Commons : Michael Owen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Profile of Michael Owen on lfchistory.net
• Michael Owen in the database of soccerbase.com (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1998-99 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1998, ISBN 978-1-85291-588-9 , pp. 226 .
2. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1999-2000 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1999, ISBN 978-1-85291-607-7 , pp. 229 .
3. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 2000-2001 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2000, ISBN 978-1-85291-626-8 , pp. 244 .
4. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 2001-2002 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2001, ISBN 978-0-946531-34-9 , pp. 232 .
5. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2002/2003 . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2002, ISBN 978-1-85291-648-0 , pp. 315 .
6. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2003/2004 . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2003, ISBN 978-1-85291-651-0 , pp. 326 .
7. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2004/2005 . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2004, ISBN 978-1-85291-660-2 , pp. 311 .
8. ↑ "Michael Owen viewed with respect and regret at Real Madrid" (FourFourTwo)
9. ^ "Owen completes move to Newcastle" (BBC Sport)
10. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2006-07 . Mainstream Publishing, 2006, ISBN 978-1-84596-111-4 , pp. 312 .
11. ^ "Newcastle claim victory over £ 10m Owen pay-out" (The Guardian)
12. ↑ ^{a b} Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2007-08 . Mainstream Publishing, 2007, ISBN 978-1-84596-246-3 , pp. 311 .
13. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2008-09 . Mainstream Publishing, 2008, ISBN 978-1-84596-324-8 , pp. 324 .
14. ↑ ManUnited signs Owen , kicker sports magazine from July 3, 2009
15. ↑ "Michael Owen signs new Manchester United deal" (The Telegraph)
16. ↑ "Michael Owen to be released by Manchester United" (The Guardian)
17. ↑ Michael Owen Signs! , stokecityfc.com dated September 4, 2012
18. ↑ "Owen announces the end of his career" , sport1.de. Retrieved March 19, 2013.
19. ^ "Michael Owen retires: Striker to stop playing at end of season" , bbc.co.uk. Retrieved March 19, 2013.
20. ↑ Hayes, Dean P .: England! England! The Complete Who's Who of Players since 1946 . Sutton Publishing, 2004, ISBN 0-7509-3234-1 , pp. 150 .
21. ↑ "Michael Owen regrets making comeback at 2006 World Cup finals" (The Telegraph)
22. ↑ "Michael Owen hits out at Fabio Capello for his England exile" (The Guardian)
23. ↑ http://www.footballdatabase.eu/football.joueurs.michael.owen.1258.en.html

predecessor	Office	successor
Marc Overmars	Best Young Player of the 1998 World Cup	Landon Donovan