NOVEMBER 4
Owen earns Anfield praise
BBC Sport Online
Michael Owen's Liverpool
team-mates have been queuing up to sing the striker's praises
after his match-winning double against West Ham.
Despite a barren start to the season, the European Footballer of
the Year has now scored 11 goals in his last 11 starts for the
Reds.
And after he struck twice in Saturday's 2-0 win over the Hammers,
Owen's team-mates were quick to pay tribute to his effort.
Goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek said: "For me, Michael is the best striker
in the world. There's no doubt about that.
"There are a lot of good strikers out there but he is absolutely
magnificent.
"His first goal against West Ham is one of the best I have ever
seen at Anfield," he told the club's official website.
"He can score goals out of nothing and that makes him a special
player."
And Vladimir Smicer, who played Owen in for his second, added:
"He's unbelievable really. His finishing is the best of any player
I've played with.
"I have never played with somebody who has scored so many goals."
However, manager Gerard Houllier was more impressed with Owen's
all-round effort than his eye for the target.
"Physically, Michael is stronger," Houllier said of his striker.
"I think he will have a tremendous year.
"I have been stunned by his physical commitment in last two or
three games.
"He works extremely hard for the team. As a striker, he drops back
when he has to and he gets hold of the ball.
"He runs across defenders and he runs off the ball. It looks as
though he's getting there now with his strength and his pace."
Liverpool have now won seven league games in a row and are
unbeaten in the Premiership this season.
OCTOBER 5
How fans helped Owen
back on track
By Paul Walker - PA Sport
The Kop have always respected
and admired Michael Owen and his goalscoring achievements.
But you sensed in the past that the polite, well-mannered
middle-class lad from Chester was never considered one of their
'own'.
Their adulation, indulgence and blind support, went to others.
More rebellious, more of a problem. The back-street boys they
could relate to.
Like Robbie Fowler. He could do no wrong, they loved him, they
idolised him.
The claim was that Owen's name was rarely chanted.
All that has changed now. Particularly when Owen started the
season misfiring in front of goal and getting stick for his pains
from all and sundry.
Liverpool fans, apart from the few who rang radio phone-ins
claiming Owen should be sold, rallied to the Cheshire boy's
plight.
Was he playing badly? No, he was just not accurate enough.
Was he letting his head drop and hiding? No, he was working his
legs off for the cause.
The Kop could see there was precious little wrong with Owen that a
dose of TLC from the fans would not put right.
Suddenly, Owen's name was chanted, the support was there.
A hat-trick came at Manchester City and a stunning front-running
performance that helped destroyed Spartak Moscow in the Champions
League.
Owen did not score, but no-one was in any doubt where the real
damage came from that allowed others to find the net.
The striker went off to a standing ovation, his name booming
around the stadium despite the fact that it was others who had
supplied the finishing.
Owen admits he was hurt by phone-in callers who wanted him sold.
And he was hurt by criticism that he was carrying injuries and
never likely to regain his best.
The reaction from Owen was to double his effort, add more toil and
sweat. And the fans were his biggest spur.
He said, in a Liverpool Echo interview: "What matters to me is
what my fellow players, the fans and the manager and staff think.
"They are the most important people and I can be sure they'll
stick by me.
"I remember the Newcastle game recently when things weren't going
well for me in front of goal but the Kop kept chanting my name.
"You really notice things like that and it lifts you."
He added: "I want to say thanks for that because it's when you
have a bad patch you need that support. I want to repay the fans
and hopefully I can do that."
There was a time when the view was that Fowler could never be sold
because of the adulation from the fans.
But he has gone, Liverpool have evolved into a side of genuine
pace - something Fowler does not have - in every department.
Fowler will still get a big reception from the Kop when Leeds are
at Anfield in March.
But few would say that Liverpool are not a better side since his
departure. And Owen a better all-round player who, at last, is
getting the acclaim from the Kop he richly deserves.
SEPTEMBER 19
Houllier vows to protect
Owen
BBC Sport Online
Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier
has vowed to protect Michael Owen from burn-out by using him in a
reduced role this season.
The Reds striker has managed just one goal - a penalty - this
season and has been relegated to the bench for the past two games.
Liverpool looked out-of-sorts as they suffered a 2-0 defeat at
Valencia in their opening game in the Champions League.
But Houllier admitted he will continue to take some of the scoring
burden off the the 22-year-old shoulders this season.
"I will rest him whenever I get chance," he said. "The temptation
with Michael is to play him in every game.
"But we have learned that if you do that you run the risk of
losing him for three or four months.
"I will be delighted if he plays 70% of our games and just as
pleased if he does not finish top scorer and we are successful."
Houllier also admitted Owen has become obsessed with scoring goals
and his run of just one strike in open play from the past 10 games
has affected him.
"I'm hoping the rest will have taken a bit of the pressure off
him," he said. "He was coming off after every game stressed about
not having scored.
"He was becoming more or less obsessed with scoring a goal - you
could see the relief on his face when the penalty went in - and it
wasn't doing him any good.
"I don't think he's a lad who particularly lacks confidence,
though when you miss chances it does affect you.
"When the goals do come I'm sure there'll be goals galore but at
the moment he doesn't appear to have the freshness."
Houllier said Owen, who is likely to be back in the starting
line-up when they host West Brom on Saturday, had accepted his
decision to give him a rest.
"I've talked to him about it and he only has to look back at his
own experiences to understand my thinking," he said.
"I'm managing a player, a person, but he needs me because I'm
backing him 100 percent.
"He knows I will play him but at the same time we have to be
careful. There's a split second of sharpness that's been lacking."
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