Doubters fail to credit depth of Owen's talent
Last updated : 25 September 2002 By Alan Hansen, The Telegraph
In Valencia they were hit by one of the best Champions League performances I have ever witnessed and now, we are being told, Liverpool's most crucial player is stuck in a crisis of confidence that has caused the goals to dry up. If there is one thing I have learned from watching Michael Owen's career, it is that he is the last player at Anfield who will ever lose his confidence.
Let me take you back to the UEFA Cup fourth round against Roma in February 2001. The headlines from then are interchangeable: Owen, we were told, had lost that goalscoring touch. Then, in his first start in eight games, he scored two goals in the Olympic stadium and embarked on a run that brought Liverpool five trophies. Not to mention the European Footballer of the Year award. So don't waste your time worrying about Owen.
The crucial clue to Owen's game is that he is still getting chances. The penalty against West Bromwich that he missed was won by the striker's quick thinking. John Arne Riise's goal was created by Owen's sublime control of a cross from the right. If he was simply being marked out of games then perhaps there would be a cause for concern, but Owen looks remarkably sharp.
The same old criticisms are being levelled at Owen: that his first touch is not good enough or that he is weak on his left foot. Yet since he came on to the scene in 1997, Owen has improved year after year. This season will be no different. At Anfield, defences are playing so much more deeper to deny Owen space behind them but he has reached the stage of his career where he is mature enough to find a way to deal with these tactics. He has time. He's 22.
There is no clear pattern emerging as to who would be Owen's ideal strike partner. With Emile Heskey you know exactly what you are getting and it is a partnership that has served Liverpool well over the last couple of years. Milan Baros looks extraordinarily sharp as well. El Hadji Diouf, after those early goals against Southampton, looks a million miles from the player he was for Senegal at the World Cup.
When defenders play deep to negate the pace of Owen they catch Diouf in the same trap. Look back to the Sweden game in the World Cup when Owen and Darius Vassell, who also have similar approaches, were stifled by a withdrawn defence. That's why a classic formation of one striker up with another playing off him works so well. Like Kenny Dalglish and Ian Rush, Peter Beardsley and Rush or Beardsley and John Aldridge.
Gerard Houllier can be one of the most difficult managers to anticipate on team selection. Sometimes I've been at Anfield and heard the side announced at 2.45pm to find I was five or six men out in my prediction. Nevertheless, it is inconceivable that when Liverpool have a big game that Owen will not be in their starting line-up.
In defence they have struggled a little for the period Stephane Henchoz was ruled out with injury. We know they have options in the middle with Jamie Carragher and Djimi Traore but Salif Diao does not look like a centre-half to me. In the season before his illness, Markus Babbel looked the best defender in the team at right-back and he seems the natural deputy if either Sami Hyypia or Henchoz get injured.
One thing I do know for sure is that Liverpool fans will be delighted with the progress this team have made under Gerard. I can honestly say that the atmosphere at Anfield is better than when I was a player there because this club is now so hungry for success. When the Premiership title arrives, they will go ballistic. There is great expectation as well and a slide into mediocrity will not be tolerated. But Gerard and Phil Thompson know that better than anyone.
