Joe Rimmer reflects on Michael Owen and his time at Liverpool, 23 years on from FA Cup glory against Arsenal.
It was midway through the second half when Michael Owen finally struck.
Liverpool fans had seen this type of goal countless times before. Steven Gerrard with a searching ball, Owen breaking clear of the defence and finishing with minimum fuss.
Owen’s goal helped Liverpool to a 1-1 draw with Newcastle. His 16th in just 29 Premier League games for the Reds that season, a haul that would ensure Gerard Houllier’s side would qualify for the Champions League.
It was Owen’s 158th goal for Liverpool. It would also be his last.
Fans didn’t know it then, but Owen’s departure would cap a summer of change at Anfield in 2004.
Just 24 at the time, Owen’s contract had just one year to run and when he made his desire to join Real Madrid clear.
Liverpool had little choice but to sell the England forward for a knock-down fee of just under £10m.
It was the first major blow in Owen’s relationship with Liverpool fans and it wouldn’t be the last.
Owen enjoyed a decent season for Real Madrid, scoring 16 goals in total for the Spanish giants despite never becoming a regular in the side, but in his absence the Reds prospered.
Under Rafael Benitez, Liverpool won the Champions League in the most dramatic of circumstances.
Owen had left the Reds in an effort to win Europe’s biggest prize and would be left wondering what might have been if he’d stayed put at Anfield.
It’s easy to sneer at Owen’s misfortune. But rewind back to 2004 and it’s clear why Owen choose to depart.
Breaking into the side as a 17-year-old, Owen had become Liverpool’s talisman under Roy Evans and then Houllier.
The Chester-born forward was a freak of nature, scoring countless goals as Liverpool looked to reestablish themselves as a force at home and in Europe.
Just look at the numbers.
In Owen’s first full season as a senior player in 1997/98 he scored 23 goals. He matched that total the following season. Beset by injuries, a 19-year-old Owen notched 12 in 1999/2000 before hitting 24, 28, 28 and then 19 in his final season.
Liverpool won a treble of trophies in 2001, with Owen turning the FA Cup final on its head against Arsenal with one of the most decisive contributions of any final.
He also spearheaded the Reds’ charge into the Champions League for the first time.
Personal glory followed when he scooped the Ballon d’Or later that year. Owen was a genuine superstar for club and country.
For those who were there throughout the 2000/01 season, the FA Cup final, as well as many other moments, will live long in the memory. But for a large portion of fans, Owen’s contribution has long been forgotten.
Still just 21, the world was at his feet, but one thing was missing. The love of the Kop.
Chants for Owen were barely heard. Very little songs on the terraces, no matter how many goals he scored.
Owen never enjoyed the affection that, say, Robbie Fowler was afforded by Liverpool fans, despite his achievements at Anfield.
A local lad, Fowler didn’t fit the same – often misjudged – squeaky clean image Owen seemed to portray. Fowler was also overlooked by England, whereas his team-mate was the figurehead of the national team.
There also seemed to be suspicion towards Owen. Perhaps Kopites simply knew they’d get hurt. And hurt them he did.
Not just with that move to Real Madrid, but with the mess that followed.
The move to Spain was no different to many others that have departed Anfield. Liverpool were once again at the start of a long rebuilding job with a new manager who wasn’t one to beg a player to stay put.
True, Liverpool didn’t get the money they should have for Owen, but the likes of Philippe Coutinho and Luis Suarez have both received criticism for doing the exact opposite in recent years.
The player’s desire to move to Spain and test himself at Real Madrid was, in all honestly, understandable.
Owen was desperate for a move back to Liverpool a year later, only for Newcastle’s £16m bid ending Benitez’s interest in a reunion.
Even then, Owen negotiated a get-out clause with the Magpies to ensure his Liverpool return could one day happen.
“The Real president knocked on my hotel room door and said ‘you are staying or you are going to Newcastle,” he explained last year.
“I spoke to Liverpool and asked if they would match it but they said £10m was their maximum.
“At Newcastle, I had it in my contract that I could go back for a set amount. I agreed to go to Newcastle on the basis that I could still go back to Liverpool.”
Sadly for him, that boat had long since sailed.
A miserable time on Tyneside followed, before Owen made the decision that would forever burn his bridges with Liverpool fans.
With Newcastle relegated and Owen without a club, the striker’s management company made a 32-page brochure to try to find the Ballon d’Or winner a new team. The document spoke of Owen’s goalscoring feats, brand value and looked to allay any fears over his fitness.
It smacked of desperation.
And Owen was desperate. He was desperate for a move back to Anfield.
He tried at every opportunity to move back to Merseyside, even asking Jamie Carragher to put in a good word.
But it just wasn’t going to happen. Instead, Hull, Everton and Manchester United were the only Premier League clubs offering Owen a contract.
He was 29 and at the lowest ebb of his career when Alex Ferguson arrived at his door. The Scot lifted Owen’s spirits at a time when he was facing up to playing for Hull or arch-rivals Everton.
It’ll never be an excuse for some Liverpool fans. Owen will always be a dirty word to them after making that decision.
But put yourself in his shoes and the eventual choice, made with his head rather than his heart, made some sense.
And that is probably what plagued Owen throughout his career.
