One could almost forget that this was a man who once shared a dressing room with the likes of Raul, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo and Luis Figo, but it was only eight years ago that his fellow Galacticos were pinging the ball across the pitch to him. Fast forward through those seven years, and Owen's situation was in stark contrast, as at the end of 2012/13, he found himself retiring from the game in the company of Ryan Shotton, Dean Whitehead and Geoff Cameron. But was he ever really a success at the greatest club on earth? One could argue that the turning point of Owens career occurred 2004 when he left Liverpool for the Santiago Bernabeu and not for the better: not only did his former side immediately claim the Champions League in his absence, but Owen found himself warming the bench for the first half of the season. Despite a decent scoring record - of 18 goals in 41 appearances - only 15 of his appearances were starts. Since then, his career has been littered with poor decision making in terms of club-hopping and numerous injuries, which have hampered the progress of one of the most feared marksmen of the early 00s. Michael Owens career ended with an air-kick for Stoke City, in a Premier League season-ender with Southampton. It was a sad sight to see the former European Footballer of the Year curtail his career in such an undignified fashion: he looked off the pace, as indeed he had done all season during which he had only managed a single goal for the club and made the average punter relieved that it was probably for the best that he was bowing out of the game, even at the premature age of 33. He did receive a standing ovation, but you have to think it was more for what he once was, rather than what he had become.
Recent Journalism & New Media graduate. Insatiable thirst for all things football, and hopes to break into the field of sports journalism in the near future.
Have made a significantly insignificant playing career out of receiving several slaps around the head for not passing the ball.
