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The Boy's on Fire: Michael Owen

Class may be permanent, but form is only temporary. Here at SquadGod, we want you to take full advantage of these fleeting opportunities.

George Bernard Shaw once said ‘The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.’

Michael Owen is an unreasonable footballer whose game has been built around two things – electric pace, and clinical goal scoring. Over the past few years, Michael has suffered a number of injuries that have, little-by-little, taken their toll on his pace. The striker’s ability to sit on the shoulder of the last defender, and then run on to a pass with only the keeper to beat is almost a thing of the past. All he seems to have left is his eye for goal.

Owens career at Newcastle has been one of frustration. He has spent an extraordinarily long time on the sidelines, and when he has been fit enough to pull on a Magpies shirt, his performances were muted, to say the least.

Kevin Keegan’s return to St James' Park was thought by many to have been the kiss of death for Owen, mainly because the last time these two worked together was for the National team back in 2000. Back then, Owen found himself increasingly marginalised by his manager, and even went as far as publicly criticising his methods in his autobiography. Owen wrote that former England manager Kevin Keegan took him aside during the Euro 2000 finals and said 'Michael, if I was any other manager you would not be playing tomorrow. You've got to improve or we'll have to change.' We all know what happened next.

Since then both Keegan and Owen look to have put this behind them, and in recent weeks Newcastle United have reaped the rewards. Owen may have lost a yard of pace, but Keegan has built a team around his remaining asset – goals. When available, Newcastle now play with three strikers, Obafemi Martins, Mark Viduka, with Owen spear-heading the attack.

Since Newcastle's 1-1 draw against Birmingham back in mid-March, Owen looks to have recaptured his goalscoring form, and has bagged an impressive six goals, notching up an equally impressive 154 SquadGod points. And with two of Newcastle’s three remaining Premier League matches against West Ham, and Man City, there’s no reason why this rich vein of form can’t continue.

The only question remaining is - was George Bernard Shaw a Newcastle fan?

posted by Patrick on 23 Apr 2008