For various reasons, Liverpool fans have very little affection for ex-Manchester United striker Michael Owen, and despite the fact that he's is one of the club's greatest goalscorers of the last 30 years, the prevailing feeling towards him seems to be one of hostile indifference. Many fans still seem to hold a grudge against Owen for his move to Real Madrid in 2004, and this is something that irritates Reds legend Dietmar Hamann, who's called for fans to stop taking it so personally.
Losing Owen to Madrid for a measly £8m was, admittedly, a bitter pill to swallow, and over the last two weeks, the morons have been out in force on Twitter, hurling abuse, and rubbishing the idea of Owen returning to Anfield. This treatment has enraged the normally placid Hamann, who has jumped to his friend's defence. He said:
"He [Owen] joined the biggest club in the world, so stop feeling personally aggrieved when players leave LFC. Its part of the game. Move on.
"Owen scored 100 odd goals for the club and put it back on the map in a difficult period, and won an FA cup single handedly"
Hamann also admitted that he would've loved to have seen Owen back at Anfield:
"Yes I would take Owen back. There is nothing to lose; the place needs a lift, and more than anything he could inspire the people around him".
I don't really see the point in all the antipathy towards Owen. By 2004, he'd been at Liverpool for 14 years (youth and senior career); he'd done his time, and at the point, who could begrudge him the chance to test himself in a different league?
Now, playing for Manchester United is a totally different kettle of fish, and I don't think Owen should ever be forgiven by Liverpool fans for perpetrating such a heinous crime ;-)
Jaimie Kanwar
Losing Owen to Madrid for a measly £8m was, admittedly, a bitter pill to swallow, and over the last two weeks, the morons have been out in force on Twitter, hurling abuse, and rubbishing the idea of Owen returning to Anfield. This treatment has enraged the normally placid Hamann, who has jumped to his friend's defence. He said:
"He [Owen] joined the biggest club in the world, so stop feeling personally aggrieved when players leave LFC. Its part of the game. Move on.
"Owen scored 100 odd goals for the club and put it back on the map in a difficult period, and won an FA cup single handedly"
Hamann also admitted that he would've loved to have seen Owen back at Anfield:
"Yes I would take Owen back. There is nothing to lose; the place needs a lift, and more than anything he could inspire the people around him".
I don't really see the point in all the antipathy towards Owen. By 2004, he'd been at Liverpool for 14 years (youth and senior career); he'd done his time, and at the point, who could begrudge him the chance to test himself in a different league?
Now, playing for Manchester United is a totally different kettle of fish, and I don't think Owen should ever be forgiven by Liverpool fans for perpetrating such a heinous crime ;-)
Jaimie Kanwar
WE ....... DONT LIKE HIM N NOT BECOZ HE LEFT FOR MADRID BUT FOR JOINING MAN UTD ......N THAT IS OUR POINT OF VIEW .....DIDI IF U HAVE A DIFF VIEW THAN THTS U NAH US SORRY....BUH WE HV 1 MORE VIEW AND THT IS " DIDI WILL NEVER WALK ALONE BUH OWEN WILL."
ReplyDeleteOwen is greedy.
ReplyDeleteHe played the sytem.
By waiting to move to RM he reduced his sales value and thus RM could use the MULLIONS to give him A SKY HIGH WAGE.
Disgusting!
I think it is more the fact that Owen chose Newcastle over Liverpool
ReplyDeleteIt was his manner of leaving that caused the - quite natural - antipathy. This was then compounded not so much by the Newcastle move but the Man Utd move. He of all people must have known the effect that would have. Even the Man U fans didn't respect him. So at the tail end of his injury plagued career for us to offer him a lifeline back to the big time, irrespective of our own issues (which he would probably not have solved) was deemed unacceptable by many fans.
ReplyDeleteThere have been four posts on this subject and you have all got different reasons for hating Owen, just goes to prove that there is no pleasing scouseres at all.
ReplyDeleteApart from the fact you can't even spell and your comment adds zero to any sensible debate I don't believe I mention the word hate at all. That seems to be coming more from your twisted little brain. Pathetic.
ReplyDeletePete I completely understand, I feel the same contempt towards Tevez, he didn't spend as long at United as Owen at Liverpool but brought about the same bad feelings toward the player. We live in a greedy world and they fit in it perfectly, but I think it's time to move on, not worth my time. I'll redirect my frustration toward why Sir Alex won't buy a quality holding midfielder like Dembele (We will regret not getting him when we had the chance), worth the asking price and already proven in the Prem. I thought it would be a no brainer after he man handled our whole midfield, would have been the perfect fit.
ReplyDeletePete's comments are spot on. Owen played the system to deliberately run down his contract and therefore his value before he went to RM. That was the start of it.
ReplyDeleteThen when he went to Man U that was the end of it.
Even when he was at Anfield he was never loved the same way the likes of Rush, Fowler and Torres were. That was because it was quite clear from near the outset that he was only interested in himself, not the club. This was evidenced by his preference for playing for England, over Liverpool.
As usual, some of the people commenting are probably too young to remember what actually happened, hence you get all these 'guesses'.
Jamie, you indicate that you don't see the point of the antipathy towards Owen. That does not surprise me.
This was a player who we couldve got 30mil+ for but he made sure that we got peanuts! And then to join the manure... It was too much, aside from that the legend that is fowler was moved on to accommodate Owen in the team, a player who would've given his life for the team and never wanted to leave, Owen can get f****d!!
ReplyDeleteif he had gone to madrid for his full value there would not have been a problem the fact he left for peanuts then expected us to buy him back for more than double a year later is what gripes me he did the dirty on lfc and benitez and thats why benitez did not want him back him and macca did the same unlike fowler who still remains a legend
ReplyDeleteI read somewhere trhat he is an evertonian, if true why the F did we take the cheap guy in the first place, shud have just let him rot in everton.
ReplyDeleteHow can a LFC fan play for United? I just can't digest it. I did work at Old Trafford though, when I was in Manchester for part time income. Now am back in India and I regret working there but couldn't do much about it. Hated when Rooney came along with his wife and girls serving all VIP phonies. Bad memories...!!
ReplyDeleteThe same with McManaman?
ReplyDeleteHe aint LFC fan, he is EFC fan.
ReplyDeleteSo is Carra, but he was committed to LFC 100%
ReplyDeleteSome bitters never realise.
ReplyDelete.......and to add salt in your infected wound Michael Owen came to my beloved Man Utd and won the title....BWAAAAHAAA
ReplyDeleteYes, Precisely. Owen followed the McManaman model.
ReplyDeleteExcept as John Carr points out below, Owen then expected us to rescue him from RM, where he rarely got on the pitch incidentally, twelve months later for double what they paid us for him.
It might have been a 40+million transfer in your pockets at that time considering you paid 35 million for a donkey! ( This donkey now is in the middle of London :) )
ReplyDeletethe fact michael wrote a column stating he only looked out for real,and newcastle results, his choice but don't expect affection from the clubs fans who he snubbed.
ReplyDeleteI was just picking up on (perhaps I should have been more detailed) Enam10's notion that we shouldn't even have bothered with Owen in the first place as he was/is a Everton fan and asked the fella whether the same notion should apply with Macca or Carra. I personally couldn't give a monkeys whether they were Everton fans or not.
ReplyDeletexabi Alonso move to madrid and he his still loved by us liverpool fans unlike Owen in the manner in which he left us and then went to manure...shame we don't want any ex-manure player that has been thrown away by there club
ReplyDeleteA guy with your IQ should have a low voice too!
ReplyDeleteOK, sorry didn't make that connection first time round.
ReplyDeleteI agree.
The shame of it all is that Owen could have been one of the games true legends.
ReplyDeleteInstead, he will be remembered for a few good years at Liverpool, followed by his willingness to warm the bench and the treatment tables of the highest bidder.
For him to claim he won titles at Man U is both laughable and embarrassing.
He has as about as much claim to medals at Man U as I have.
berbatov,veron shhhhhhhh muppet
ReplyDeleteOh yes i go and watch the matches not watch from thousands of miles away on a satellite.
ReplyDeleteWell, Rooney is a donkey IMO. He is now considering playing in the midfield. So afraid of the competition...at least Carroll fights for the place.
ReplyDeleteI for 1 was glad he left, he supposedly went for trophies and European success, and we won the champions league the next season without him......lol would have loved to see his face
ReplyDeleteThen did anyone see his face at the end of last season? He had his tracksuit off to celebrate man u winning title but aguero scored and man city won it.
But it in all seriousness it wasn't the real Madrid move, it was the joining of man u. I can understand him leaving for RM.
If it was the money then we would never had been upset about Torres. We don't see us as a club that top players should leave.
He served us well but ruined his career by leaving.
I have no problem with Owen. Yes, he sold his soul and joined United, but at least it backfired on him and he was a flop. #karma
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing to brag about, the fact that you live so close to that open sewer that you can spend your giro on andy Carroll to play for west is only a geographicle reason.
ReplyDeleteSo why abuse people for that fact. Bitter and twisted
Carroll is fighting all the way from London , £35 million for eeyore, if kenny had haggled I am sure piglet would have joined you for a free trip to that there London
ReplyDeleteAnd to you mr perfect Peter , have you got such a big ego that you believe a comment about all the different reasons on this thread was all about you, sorry to burst your bubble but there was more than you making comments, and my point was that there were so many different reasons and the word hate was used, so sorry to burst your bubble, you are not as smart as you like to assume you are.I R W A
ReplyDeletebest comment
ReplyDeleteFor those who dont remember, Owen ran his contract down the same as McManaman had(not sure if same agent) but stating his agent was on a sabatical,he then went to RM on a free and sky high wages,didnt do much there and wanted the return to the PL,i believe Stevie G and Carra talked Rafa into taking him back only for him to get a better deal at Newcastle and left LFC looking mugs again???Michael Owen sees ££££ in his eyes and not loyalty or any of that ilk and really the Man U thing is neither here or there but to most LFC fans he does`nt get or deserve in my opinion any respect whatsoever BUT, we had GOD return instead. YNWA
ReplyDeleteHe did worse when he left us for Real. He practically robbed the club of transfer fee.
ReplyDeleteWhen he joined United I actually liked that, he was just a drain on their resources and if it wasn't for that move we might have gotten him back at one point.
We hate him so much because we loved him so much
ReplyDeleteThis applies to so many players (Torres included). Football as a fan is a emotional game, you get attached to players of your club. When they leave its a sad day, and you hope they will still love the club, and show respect for it. Just like you loved them. When they then join your biggest rivials and never mention you in fondness, you do hate them.
ReplyDeleteThe opposite of this is Alonso. We loved him dearly, he left us, but ever since has always spoken of us in high regard, while not being disrespectful to his current club. It shows class, and in return he will always be a legend.
Once your playing days are done, and you get old, and sadly pass away, all that is left is the memorys of you in other peoples minds. You create your own immortality by leaving memorys in people who respect you.
i assume your a blue nose, my sincere apologies if not...youd spunk your pants if everton signed carroll and you know it. thats all i've got to say. its true.
ReplyDeleteplus alonso was pushed out rather than demanded to leave.
ReplyDeleteDidi is rite, lets move on fs the only reason why we were linked to him cause he was available with no club n maybe cuda done a job for us d jan transfer window, we LFC got the best outta Owen he was neva the same player after he left us, who gives a f**k bout who else he played for like manure, We got the best outta him n he left half the player n while he was sitting on his armchair watching the mighty reds lift the champions league cup in the greatest final of all time, he knew he f**ked up n thats his prob. WE ARE LIVERPOOL, WE LOOK FORWARD AND WALK ON TOGETHER, TF AS A YOUNG LAD I CHOOSE TO SUPPORT LIVERPOOL FOOTBALL CLUB. we dont look back and pick sore points, we look back
ReplyDeleteand rem good points including Owen winning the fa cup final for us, we rem the Gerard final, rem the Owen final, manure n the rest a his clubs got sweet FA outta Owen, WE got the sweet FA cup outta him. Y.N.W.A
It's not that he f***ed us over. It's that he's a d1ck. Such a kn0bend. Hilariously so. I can't speak for everyone but I just laugh at him. He's a joke. No?
ReplyDeleteThe Real Madrid move didn't really bother me, any player worth their salt would love to play for them - Biggest Club in the World, after all....
ReplyDeleteWhat did bug me was that when he wasn't a regular in the Madrid team Owen started to worry about Eng-Ur-Lund and his World Cup place, and was on the phone to his pals crying and begging to come back. Parry tried to broker a deal for roughly the same amount he left for, but then Souness came up with the "Stupidest Bid in the History of Football". [A record that was held until January 2011.....]
LFC obviously couldn't contemplate buying back a player for £18Mill, so Parry told Owen to sit tight and they would come back for him in the Summer. Madrid obviously were made up by the money offered by NUFC, but if Owen had any balls he could have stuck it out. Unfortunately, and here is the major gripe I have about him, Owen wanted to be an ENGLAND HERO, so he (again) shat on LFC and Parry and jumped at the chance of joining Newcastle just to cement his England place.
As history, and Karma, decreed Owen promptly fncked his knee in the 2-2 draw with Sweden. I am ashamed to say I actually smirked. I am not proud of that. ;)
The ironic thing is, not long after he left, Madrid got injuries so he would probably have played regularly anyway. And scored goals. Loads of them. He could have been a Madrid hero, but his sponsorships and place in the National Team were obviously far more important.
Rafa had the chance to get him back a couple of years later, but can you blame him for not bothering? I can't.
Oh well, we got some good seasons out of him, he carried the team for a few seasons - remarkable for a kid so young, and as razzoron says he won us the FA Cup in Cardiff (still one of THE great days out).
And I'm sure he'll look at his Premier League medal in years to come with the pride of someone who knows he made a real contribution to that particular success........
perfect fit for the MLS tho
ReplyDeleteShould have never gone to ManU. Ultimate sin!
ReplyDeleteIts not the fact that he left.... don't you remember how he left !!! That's the problem!!!
ReplyDeleteHe lied to the club and fans all that season, saying he was going to sign a new deal, he waited until he had a few months left then ditched us.
8m !!!!!!8m for a 24 year old goals scorer in his prime!!!!! moving to Real Madrid.
He left us with no time or the adequate resources to sign a replacement. Rafa's hand were tied from that point because the Cisse deal was done the year before and there was no additional funds to bring in another forward.
Owen is the biggest Judas there is, at least we all knew Torres wanted out for awhile and we got a big fee.
Owen has always looked out for himself first, has always chased the individual glory, always put England first, always been about the money.
Sorry but i cant just welcome him back after all he did to LFC.