It's fair to say that Owen is far from the most popular player on Merseyside these days. He was never idolised as much as someone like Robbie Fowler anyway, but his decision to join Manchester United in 2009 was the final straw in the eyes of many. The legendary former England striker was an incredible talent at Liverpool between 1997 and 2004, scoring bucket-loads of goals- many of them in the big games- and winning the European Footballer of the Year award in 2001. He was the star of Houllier's team over several years. When the Frenchman was sacked in the summer of 2004, Owen's future was very much up in the air. Real Madrid made a bid for his services, and new Reds boss Benitez didn't seem to have too many issues in selling him. Although the striker gets a lot of stick these days for going too easily and not showing an undying love for Liverpool, he wasn't exactly made to feel indispensable by Benitez. He was just 24 when he joined the Spanish giants, with so much great years ahead of him still. You wonder what might have been, in terms of the shocking injury problems he later endured, had he stayed at Liverpool.
