Owen to ManUre

[wiw]

I agree with you on why he isn't right for us, but I think he could be perfect for Utd. The way teams wimp out, and the way they push people back at home, negates the need for Owen to have any real pace. Play him off the shoulder, make Rooney do all the work and feed him the ball

In fact, thinking about it, if Owen stays fit and proves a success initially, could they go back to the days of 4-4-2 with Owen playing the Van Nistelrooy role?

[Mono]

I wonder how much action he got at 20/1

[fah-q]

In Owen and Berbatov they have one of the slowest strikeforces since the days of Douglas Bader and Terry Scott.

[EwarWoo]

We don't necessarily need a leader or someone with pace. I'd settle for someone who can get on the end of a cross who knows where the goal is, and he certainly fulfills that.

Unfortunately we're having major issues fulfilling that when Torres is out.

[dww]

I agree with you on why he isn't right for us, but I think he could be perfect for Utd. The way teams wimp out, and the way they push people back at home, negates the need for Owen to have any real pace. Play him off the shoulder, make Rooney do all the work and feed him the ball

In fact, thinking about it, if Owen stays fit and proves a success initially, could they go back to the days of 4-4-2 with Owen playing the Van Nistelrooy role?

I'm not sure the ball comes back too quickly from Owen when he plays right up top and deeper he would negate Rooney. I really don't see it working for United. They have always relied on the pace of their attack and who ever is the furthest forward has to be able to bring others into the game and stretch defenses. Part of the reason teams gave up against United was that they had the players to terrify their defenders without doing anything. that simply isn't true of Owen any more.

I'll concede the point he is much better suited to them than us. However to even be half decent he will have to improve on recent showings a 100 fold.

[red g]

I agree with you on why he isn't right for us, but I think he could be perfect for Utd. The way teams wimp out, and the way they push people back at home, negates the need for Owen to have any real pace. Play him off the shoulder, make Rooney do all the work and feed him the ball

In fact, thinking about it, if Owen stays fit and proves a success initially, could they go back to the days of 4-4-2 with Owen playing the Van Nistelrooy role?

with the signing of valencia i thought they may switch to a 4-4-2 anyway.

[kop-al-74]

My opinion is that this decision is purely based on getting back into the England squad for the world cup.If he hits it off at utd playing along side Rooney,it would be very hard for Cappelo to ignore him whereas if he were to got to Hull,Villa,Neverton etc,he would probably be overlooked.

Lets not forget the influence Utd have on many things within the game.

[wiw]

I'm not sure the ball comes back too quickly from Owen when he plays right up top and deeper he would negate Rooney. I really don't see it working for United. They have always relied on the pace of their attack and who ever is the furthest forward has to be able to bring others into the game and stretch defenses. Part of the reason teams gave up against United was that they had the players to terrify their defenders without doing anything. that simply isn't true of Owen any more.

I'll concede the point he is much better suited to them than us. However to even be half decent he will have to improve on recent showings a 100 fold.

Yeah there's no denying how **** he was but if he's injury-free and gets a pre-season in then who knows

I agree in recent seasons pace/fear etc has been key, but what about when Ruud was there? From memory he isn't actually too bad at bringing others into play. He's clearly the antithesis of a Drogba type but if you play it to feet he's more than capable of knocking it around. As long as he is there to occupy the central defenders and make his clever runs, they can do a lot of the work before the ball reaches him

with the signing of valencia i thought they may switch to a 4-4-2 anyway.

True

[dww]

Yeah there's no denying how **** he was but if he's injury-free and gets a pre-season in then who knows

I agree in recent seasons pace/fear etc has been key, but what about when Ruud was there? From memory he isn't actually too bad at bringing others into play. He's clearly the antithesis of a Drogba type but if you play it to feet he's more than capable of knocking it around. As long as he is there to occupy the central defenders and make his clever runs, they can do a lot of the work before the ball reaches him

From memory at both England and for us when he plays as the furthest forward he barely ever bought anyone into play. I still remain baffled that anyone thought Owen - Rooney was a good partnership when they player for England.

RvN was exceptional at doing what Torres does for us now (albeit without the pace) ,moving CBs out of position and also was strong and good in the air allowing him to bring others into the game when he needed. I don't see it from Owen. When he drops off he can do some of this but without his pace I haven't seen him lead the line effectively in years. If I was a defender I would just drop of Owen these days as he doesn't have the delicacy of game to really bring the ball down and do something instantly if he can't push it past you (which his lack of pace now makes less of a worry).

Maybe a preseason with United will rejuvenate him but I really can't see it. It is a punt by Fergie and he is unlikely to lose much but I'm pretty certain he won't gain much either.

[Assassin]

Hope he fails his medical

I hope he stays fit long enough to pass the medical

[FatTony]

He's gotta say that to the press but, they're his fellow England colleagues. Doesn't mean he really wanted it.

IMO he didn't have to say that, it has nothing to do with international footie. rooney said the opposite when asked, and nobody kicked up a fuss then

[Imy]

Yeah there's no denying how **** he was but if he's injury-free and gets a pre-season in then who knows

I agree in recent seasons pace/fear etc has been key, but what about when Ruud was there? From memory he isn't actually too bad at bringing others into play. He's clearly the antithesis of a Drogba type but if you play it to feet he's more than capable of knocking it around. As long as he is there to occupy the central defenders and make his clever runs, they can do a lot of the work before the ball reaches him



True

Van Horseface was well and truly a goal hanger , he was very succesful as he had Beckham and Giggs supplying the ammunition - Injury free Owen is good but he has different attributes to Nistlrooy and they havn't got that quality out wide any more.

On the whole its a risk free signing for Utd, a good striker for nothing - probably paying him on some type of initiative based wage whose skill and attributes are different to both Rooney and Berbabatov.

[wiw]

From memory at both England and for us when he plays as the furthest forward he barely ever bought anyone into play. I still remain baffled that anyone thought Owen - Rooney was a good partnership when they player for England.

RvN was exceptional at doing what Torres does for us now (albeit without the pace) ,moving CBs out of position and also was strong and good in the air allowing him to bring others into the game when he needed. I don't see it from Owen. When he drops off he can do some of this but without his pace I haven't seen him lead the line effectively in years. If I was a defender I would just drop of Owen these days as he doesn't have the delicacy of game to really bring the ball down and do something instantly if he can't push it past you (which his lack of pace now makes less of a worry).

Maybe a preseason with United will rejuvenate him but I really can't see it. It is a punt by Fergie and he is unlikely to loose much but I'm pretty certain he won't gain much either.

To be honest I think I'll just bow down to your superior knowledge, as usual Although you spelt 'lose' wrongly again. runs away laughing

[ric.williams]

he WILL score goals and quite a lot i reckon, yes he has no pace but he lost that years ago and he has always known where the back of the net is. how anyone can think this is a bad deal for the mancs and great for us is beyond me.

owen is a total cunt. i was having a discussion, which kinda ended up as an argument, with a mate who thought that me calling owen a cunt was out of order cos of all the goals he scored and the fa cup.i felt that he treated lfc like **** and took the piss with his contract and has done the same at every club since. i cant wait to see him later to see his opinion of him now that he looks set to join man utd

[the rev leeroy brown]

he WILL score goals and quite a lot i reckon, yes he has no pace but he lost that years ago and he has always known where the back of the net is. how anyone can think this is a bad deal for the mancs and great for us is beyond me.

i reckon it's a bad deal for the mancs as compared to tevez and ronaldo, owen has been **** for 3 years now. he is a bad replacement going on form for those years. also, to see your club linked with all the big names in europe but turned down by them all one at a time and then sign an injury prone, confidence drained, past his prime ex-liverpool striker is a bit of a kick in the bollocks. it's good for us as i'd rather play against owen then have to deal with villa or benzema.