Topic: Owen

[Thespence]

Shearer will pick club captain & current top goalscorer if he is fit, is this classed as blue sky thinking.

[Kid Icarus]

At the end of the day, Owen is the marquee player in the squad, he's the club captain, he's the most proven player we've got in terms of quality.

People are quick to forget how good/important he was under Keegan when fit and confident last season and you'd hope to see more of the same across these 8 games.

He's been a waste of a shirt at times apart from then, though, but surely a fully-fit, confident and on-form Michael Owen is the biggest asset this football club has on the playing side.

I appreciate how much Oba brings to the team (at times) as well though and would put him right up near to Owen with the same parameters applied (fit, confident, on-form), so I hope he's been told the same by Al and will partner Mickey... or we just go 4-3-3 again...

Not wanting to dampen anything - and pure speculation - but it'll be interesting to see how Al rates Oba. To me it seemed like he never fancied playing alongside Lua Lua, the player who I'd consider most like Martins from Al's time as a player here - too unpredictable, not as much of a team player, etc.

Spot on, that.

[Incognito]

Shearer's main job will be to play a system that allows Owen to have the chances to score the 7 or 8 goals we need from him IMO.

[Mistle17]

Does anyone else expect Shearer to build the team/system around Owen?

[Incognito]

Does anyone else expect Shearer to build the team/system around Owen?

Definitely.

[nobby_solano]

i thought you replied to yourself, seeing the avatars being the same hehehe.
i do agree, and if he gets the best out of owen then we'll be doing ok

[Ronaldo]

Keegan got the best out of Owen by giving him a free role in midfield, hope Shearer doesn't do the same because it wont work without Viduka.

If Owen HAS to start, he should be played up front alongside Oba and nobody else. If he plays Owen alongside Carroll or Shola we'll go down and perhaps even finish bottom

[Blefuscu]

Owen will stay if Shearer kept on long term.

The Guardian.

Good news IMO, although I know some will disagree.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/apr/01/alan-shearer-michael-owen-newcastle-united

Hope he will take a pay-cut if he does stay

[Rich]

Keegan got the best out of Owen by giving him a free role in midfield, hope Shearer doesn't do the same because it wont work without Viduka.

If Owen HAS to start, he should be played up front alongside Oba and nobody else. If he plays Owen alongside Carroll or Shola we'll go down and perhaps even finish bottom

Ashley's got it wrong again, by the looks of it. Should have rang you up on Saturday.

[Ronaldo]

I sincerely hope Shearer agrees with me

[Mr Logic]

Owen will stay if Shearer kept on long term.

The Guardian.

Good news IMO, although I know some will disagree.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/apr/01/alan-shearer-michael-owen-newcastle-united

'said a source close to Owen.'

No Owen quotes, may still be true but.

[Rich]

Like I constantly stated when Keegan was here (even when he was bringing Oba off instead of Owen and getting dog's abuse from people sat around me - ended up winning that game from what I recall), all we can do is trust Shearer's judgement.

At the end of the day we're the punters, he's the bloke in there every day seeing training, seeing how players are and making the decisions, along with Dowie (who sounds a sensible bloke, it must be said).

Like Keegan, he deserves the chance to do it his way with as little criticism as possible. Our job is to get behind him and the team. I wouldn't usually advocate blind faith, but it's about all we've got left now.

[Jayson]

Which is likely to be down to the level of quality in defence the top 4 have & a lack of service to Owen because of that huh

Which is what he'd say too.
Doesn't make it correct though.
Whining about "the quality of defence" is what players who aren't scoring do.
Truly great players, like Owen once was, don't need that excuse.
The fact he (and you) needs that excuse says it all.

What Ian Wright says is absolutely on the nose.
Its the mentality on the horses, and the non-stop injuries that have cost Owen his England place more than Newcastle's form.

As i said, A LACK OF SERVICE to owen because of that. He has never been a player to make chances out of nothing.

Thats called reality. You cannot say level of service and the standard of the rest of the players in the side should have absolutely no effect on Owens form. 

[Jayson]

Keegan got the best out of Owen by giving him a free role in midfield, hope Shearer doesn't do the same because it wont work without Viduka.

If Owen HAS to start, he should be played up front alongside Oba and nobody else. If he plays Owen alongside Carroll or Shola we'll go down and perhaps even finish bottom

Based on..........

Owen being behind the strikers = more space for him, simple as that. Helpful when you have a big lad to hold it up for you, but both Lovenkrands & Martins are good enough at moving with the ball to be able to find owen in space themselves.

[Ronaldo]

You play Owen, Lovenkrands and Martins in the same team and you're not going to retain the ball in the final third nearly enough

[Raconteur]

Keegan got the best out of Owen by giving him a free role in midfield, hope Shearer doesn't do the same because it wont work without Viduka.

If Owen HAS to start, he should be played up front alongside Oba and nobody else. If he plays Owen alongside Carroll or Shola we'll go down and perhaps even finish bottom

Based on..........

Owen being behind the strikers = more space for him, simple as that. Helpful when you have a big lad to hold it up for you, but both Lovenkrands & Martins are good enough at moving with the ball to be able to find owen in space themselves.

Based on observation really - those (very) few games where the much vaunted 4-3-3 was used involved Viduka holding up the ball with back to goal, Martins coming in from out wide and Owen linking midfield and attack.

Discounting Viduka, the only way such a system could be employed this season would be with Stroller, Carroll or even Smith as the "target" man - in which case the lack of quality would see the ball exiting the final third faster than it arrived (and considering it would likely be lumped forward from the back, that's pretty fast!)

4-4-2 is much more appropriate given the resources available to Shearer - I hesitate to anticipate his team, but I would expect Owen-Martins or, disturbingly Owen-Ameobi, and probably Duff and Jonas on the wing.

Personally, I think the best (only good?) thing Houghton ever did was "drop" Owen for the Arsenal game...

[TRon]

Shearer is the manager and even though I've been less than impressed with Owen this season, if Al backs him to do the business I'm not going to argue. Having said that, Owen has eight games in which he has to justify Shearer's backing with goals. Knowing Al, he'll make sure the service is provided one way or the other.

[Slugsy]

Completely agree with Al to bring him back, best striker we have in this club by a country mile. Jesus, its not like we have done well when he hasn't been in the side.  If he is fit, he has to start.

[Lorry In Boat]

It was obvious as soon as Alan recounted the story about him and Venables in '96, that we was referring to how he was going to treat Owen. I reckon getting Owen confident and scoring goals is Al's top priority.

[Yorkie]

You play Owen, Lovenkrands and Martins in the same team and you're not going to retain the ball in the final third nearly enough

But you're going to scare the life out of most defences. If there's a way of putting those three in the same team, and keeping the ball on the floor and pushing forward, it could be a very interesting end to the season. I hope Shearer's got something up his sleeve. He doesn't have the luxury of a honeymoon period that Keegan had; he needs to make changes now really. It would be naive to rely on the buzz, but i don't for a second think he'll take that approach - he'll implement his own ideas straight away, such is the determination and single-minded nature of the man. What he's got in his advantage is a better squad this season - especially if Barton's return is just around the corner. If he can motivate the likes of Jonas, Owen, and more importantly Martins (and even maybe Xisco), we'll stand a very good chance of staying up.

It's a squad littered with quality and i've said that from day one. If Shearer's got his head screwed on then we'll be reaching the finish line at a brisk jog.

[CaliMag]

Shearer is the manager and even though I've been less than impressed with Owen this season, if Al backs him to do the business I'm not going to argue. Having said that, Owen has eight games in which he has to justify Shearer's backing with goals. Knowing Al, he'll make sure the service is provided one way or the other.

I was thinking the same thing. The problem with the scenario however is that Owen is not nearly the target man Alan was even in his latter seasons.... and we don't currently have anyone like a Nobby in the team - someone with vision AND crossing ability. There will definately be a return to an attacking formation, and most certainly back to a 4-4-2 with Owen automatically on of the strikers... but who will be the providers? I am looking forward to what Alan decides - I could see him leaving Jonas off and going with R Taylor and Loven on the wings.

[tmonkey]

Would love to see Owen in that midfield role again. Even in games where absolutely nothing was happening for us last season, with no creativity being shown by anyone, all it took was a decent ball into the box and there was Owen, ghosting into the box unmarked from his midfield position, in the right place at the right time with only a simple header or volley to put either side of the keeper.

Maybe we'll see Xisco in Viduka's role.

[CaliMag]

Would love to see Owen in that midfield role again. Even in games where absolutely nothing was happening for us last season, with no creativity being shown by anyone, all it took was a decent ball into the box and there was Owen, ghosting into the box unmarked from his midfield position, in the right place at the right time with only a simple header or volley to put either side of the keeper.

Maybe we'll see Xisco in Viduka's role.

I'd love that too, but I would be very surprised if Shearer went that direction.

[cubaricho]

Shearer will use Xisco, mark my words.  He rated him highly before he took the job and will do so now that he sees Xisco on a day to day basis.  I feel like Xisco is made in quite the same mold as Shearer (with more ....you know), he works in quite the same way that Shearer does on the pitch.  He holds the ball(s) (heyo!) up well and distributes well too.

[womblemaster]

would rather see xisco on the pitch and performing than going backwards and having ameobi there.

HOpe shearer has the balls to show ameobi the exit.  FOllowed by viduka, a cert, then martins.  ALthough martins replacement would have to be world cclass, we need a forward with more brain cells.