Photo by ISI Photos
Call it one of the more shocking soccer stories to emerge today. Japanese club JEF United Chiba is reportedly lining up a bid to lure English national team striker Michael Owen to the J-League.
Now, let me start by saying that I’m not buying that report in the least. It would be one thing if it were a top Japanese team, and even then it would be pretty far-fetched, but for some bottom-feeding Japanese club to "express" interest screams of a weak attempt to stir up some buzz (did Alexi Lalas go to Japan)?
So there’s my question. Would you want Owen as your team’s designated player? Tell me your MLS team and tell me whether or not you would want your team to break the bank to bring in the former Liverpool star.
As much as I’m not buying the story I couldn’t help but think about Michael Owen and whether he would be worth a Designated Player slot in Major League Soccer. He showed in the final months at Newcastle that he can still do damage as an attacking player, but there is always that image in the back of your mind of one of his legs buckling in ugly fashion. This is all assuming he would even want to live in the United States, which I’m not sure is something he has ever expressed wanting to do.
What do I think? I’m not sure it would be worth the injury risk and lack of box office impact. Would his arrival really sell a bunch of tickets? Would he make teammates better? Would he be a media-savvy marketing tool? Would a New England or Toronto or Houston be a good fit for him?
Share your thoughts below.
Did someone really just compare Chris Rolfe to Michael Owen?
No, MLS teams should not consider Michael Owens. He’s too expensive and he’s hurt all the time.
While Owen as a DP in MLS is intriguing, there is NO WAY he’ll come to play here at this point in his career. There are still too many EPL sides that would like to have him and are willing to pay $$ that MLS does not have to get him. Even if MLS could come up with the $$ I doubt he would be interested at this point. Interesting discussion, but not even close to likely.
It would be cool to see him anywhere in the MLS (same goes for Henry). Maybe after being the Football Retirement League for 20 years, the MLS will get some respect. 🙂
Can you say “field turf injury, out for the year”?
Posted by: East LA Chiva | May 13, 2008 at 01:51 PM
***
Yep. Love him, but Owen wouldn’t last more than two games on turf.
If someone is going to waste money on a person who is going to sit on their bench for 3/4 of the season, why waste it on him.
This is a waste of time, and a bad idea…. and by that i mean Alexi Lalas already has it in the works
FC Dallas — and absolutely.
Hopefully FCD learned their lesson about using a DP spot on washed up talent last year. Owen would attract attention, but it would be in the press box as he is a member of the Jon O’Brien Memorial Rehab Club anymore.
and i cant believe people are saying “he wouldnt fit in” or “Wouldnt be a big name” – get out of here. he could start and be the best player on pretty much any MLS team besides the galaxy because of Beckham there (not because of Landon). and he would be the second biggest name to Beckham by far, and would definitely have some marketing success. the fact that some fans think he wouldnt fit in with their team is comical…looks like some people need to change their “supporter’s view”
stupid question. owen will never come. he will end up at a top club (everton, west, aston villa). he’s only 28, and has showed some signs of returning form this season – lets not forget what he has already shown us he can do in the past and also that his return this season was after a long injury spell. my money is on owen at one of the 5-10 clubs next year and that he plays well. he’s way above the MLS still: lalas knows, owen knows it. waste of a question.
Anyone that doesnt think Owen would be a great catch for MLS is kidding themselves. Imagine this trio stateside…Beckham, Owen and Henry. Those gigantic names coupled with the Blancos, Donnovans, and Angels and you have the beginnings of something serious.
Owen would be a perfect compliment to Ching. They’d both be occupying seats on the bench injured for half the season.
Look, if there is anything that the Red Bull experience with DPs shows, it’s that the first criteria for a good DP is….they have to be on the field most of the time. If they’re hurt, if they get lots of NT callups, then it doesn’t matter if they glitter on that off-season tour of Australia or provide a nice picture for the media guide.
Most Red Bull fans are down on Reyna not because he’s a bad player but because he’s hurt so often and even when he does play, he’s often 50-50 going into the game. In a league like MLS, you need to have a DP you can build a team around. That’s exactly what Angel was to the Red Bulls last season–a guy you penciled in, had no doubt has to what kind of player (and what impact he’d have) regardless of the field, the opponent, home or away, the team could afford to start weaker or younger players next to him confident that he’d do the heavy lifting and allow a younger player to feel less pressure.
Signing Owen is like signing Ronaldo and only 1-2 steps smarter than signing Wanchope. An aging player can be a good signing for MLS but it needs to be an older player with a history of health.
Angel + Owen….yes indeed.
As a Revs fan, I’d take him.
i’d use a dp slot on him. i think the best positions to use a dp slot is at forward or attacking mid, and i believe someone of his caliber would light up the mls. he’s better than angel imo, so i believe he’d be worth it. i also believe he’s plenty mktable, and would put people in seats…maybe not like blanco and beckham, but i do think people would pay to see him play.
I’d be open to it
If you guys think Reyna and Angel have injury problems…. Owen is a piece of glass…
Let’s see….. small, injury prone striker. No thanks we alraeady have a younger version of him in Chris Rolfe.
Besides we’ve already got the best DP in the league. Temoc! Temoc! Temoc! Temoc!
Go Fire!
I still don’t buy that he is unmarketable…Owen is relatively young, attractive, is a goal scorer, a worldwide star who has played for two of the world’s biggest clubs and speaks English…what the heck else do you want Dominghosa?
Totally Ubsubstanciated Rumor I just made up:
Peter Crouch upset with his liverpool option comes to Columbus Crew and sets the MLS on fire
Will, and anybody else, the question wasn’t whether it would happen. The question was whether MLS fans would want their teams to use a DP slot on him. Simple exercise.
The only reason i see Owen as a bad fit for the MLS is he is injury prone, epically in his legs. Having so many games on Artificial pitch would not help that investment. I think he would draw some ticket sales but, not enough to offset the fact that he would be on the bench due to knee injuries too often to be an effective DP.
That being said, I’m a huge Owen fan and wish him well, although I hope he doesn’t torch Gooch later this month!
I may be overstating myself on this issue. But the biggest thing is Owen’s injury woes. Last season was a disaster for Beckham on the field.
As a Crew fan I personally would rather have Djibril Cisse at a fraction of the cost. And he flirted w/ coming here last year.
He’s too expensive, it won’t happen. Beckham was the exception, since he’s essentially a marketing tool for the whole league. No other DP will command much over two and half million.
I’d love to see it. He is (aside from former Liverpool Teammate S. Gerrard) my favorite English player.
As far as the U.S. market goes, Owen doesn’t fit too well in the big-name, marketable aspects.
JPA scored tons of goals last season and his impact in the commercial market and in home-and-away attendance is minimal.
Although NYRB’s and MLS’s marketing office probably takes at least half of the blame for that.
Would the MLS market Owen any different? Maybe. But it has yet to happen to any other DP outside of Beckham.
Can you say “field turf injury, out for the year”?
PS
If there was a chance TFC might have a go/chance cuz of Carver’s old Magpie ties.
I’m a Red Bull fan, and though I think Michael Owen is the type of guy who would be great for MLS, both on and off the field, I would prefer Red Bull wait and add a less injury prone guy as a DP for the opening of the new stadium. Thiery Henry comes to mind, though he’s had his own injury problems of late as well. Other guys like Luca Toni, Mateja Kezman or Miroslave Klose who are currently around 29-30 and still have some good years left would be fantastic, though likely unwilling to play in MLS until they’re a bit older.
check that Blanco might be bigger here due to the large hispanic population, but Owen is bigger than Blanco worldwide
Hmmm, so Michael Owen has 1 year remaining on his contract? So does Landon Donovan. I could totally see the Galaxy going after Owen to replace Donovan.
Dominghosa,
Your description of an MLS DP has yet to be realized. Of all the DP’s MLS has, only Beckham fits that category. I do agree with you though.
Dominghosa how is Owen not marketable? He is the second biggest name after Beckham if he comes to the US, he speaks english which means he could be in commericals and such, He has played in 3 world cups and is nearing the all time leading scoring mark for England. Other than injury concerns, i think he would be a great fit
That said, I like what he has done in the second half of the season for Newcastle.
And his age is a big plus, all that said, I think there is no chance in hell this happens, as a number of big PL teams would welcome him with open arms, including LFC…
Chris – I was going to say the same thing. I’m a FC Dallas fan, and I don’t know if he’d fit into the roster too well, but I can see him partnering with Ching pretty well. I think a lot of his problems right now are based on the fact that he’s partnered with another smallish speedster in Martins. I don’t really know all the front pairings for all the premiership teams but I have a feeling that putting two small quick forwards on the field against english club teams doesn’t work out too well. He might benefit from having a target man like Ching.
Of course itd be amazing to have him over here but i wouldnt count on it. I wouldnt count on him in Nippon either
If he was healthy, Owen would become the best player in MLS…if Angel and Emilio can score 20+, Owen could put in 30, if his knee held up…I think he would be an excellent fit for the Revs due to the Liverpool connections…
I second Jeff. I would LOVE to see him in columbus pouring in the goals. Me and my friend were joking about this last week talking about strikers who the crew could use a DP slot on. I wanted McBride, but Owen would be even better and he would be really marketable since he already speaks english and is a world star
It might work in Toronto. But I don’t see it in any other market. MLS DPs need to be big-name players or offensive players who have contributed in a top league, are fit and not injury-prone, can be marketable, and are hopefully younger than 33. Otherwise, what’s the point?
A lot to ask. But that’s what this league needs in a DP.
Owen doesn’t fit in the big-name, non-injury prone, can-be-marketable aspect of a MLS DP.
Marcelo Gallardo also has yet to fit and may never.
He’s 32 but he isn’t very marketable. But I’ll give him the first half of this year to adjust to the league. He better bring it soon after that, though.
Crew fan here… and a Newcastle fan… and HELL YES!
I would loooooooove to have Owne banging in goals for the Crew as a DP. Can you imagine Owne shredding MLS defenses with Schelotto feeding him and Moreno holding possession while Owen, Rogers, and Gaven just run past everyone? It would eb a thing of beauty.
That said – Owen would never, ever want to live in Columbus. Hardly a ‘cool’ town whatever its perks. Certainly not as cool as NY/LA/Chicago, or Newcastle.
I’m with JK, him and Angel would be great up top in New York, but I read somewhere recently, maybe even the on the NY Times that he really loves living in the UK and I don’t think he would be interested in coming to the States. I’m a big Owen fan and would definitely be happy to buy an MLS jersey with his name on it if he ever did come to the US.
To be clear…I think he would play up top in the MLS not so much as a playmaker.
I am a Crew Fan and I would welcome him with open arms. They need a true #9 and he would fit that role. Might help with attendance too.
NateinSF – did you see how he transitioned to a CAM so late in his career? He has been great and has enjoyed a good bit of success. I think he would be a great add, and along with Beckham, will give the league more name recognition.
Think big picture.
IIRC, he has another year on his contract (ends in June 09), no? wouldn’t that mean MLS would have to pay a transfer fee – given what Newcastle paid for him (17 million pounds), and claims in the past (I think freddy shepard once said that anyone willing to pay 10 million pounds fr him could have him), I can’t see MLS shelling out 20+ million dollars, can you?
On that point, I always thought that MLS never pays transfer fees – am I totally wrong?
For Red Bull, an Angel/Owen combination up top would be nice to see. Owen would be a nice replacement for Jozy, however DP money would be better spent on an attacking midfielder.
Owen is the perfect example of an overrated english national team player. No way
Hmmmmm. I actually think he would be a great fit with the Dynamo. To have a (relatively) speedy striker to partner with Ching is very enticing. That said, I’m not sure he’d be worth the money… But I wouldn’t reject the notion out of hand.