30 pieces of silver

I’m conflicted, and I don’t know whether to laugh furiously or start breaking things.

I’ve guiltily admitted it before – Michael Owen is the reason I follow Liverpool. But were it just about Michael Owen, I’d have stopped following Liverpool four years ago.

My “soccer” watching began in earnest at Italia ’90. The US weren’t playing, and even at the tender age of eight, I was an anglophile. I remember the stingy group stage, Platt’s lone goal in the round of 16, Gazza’s tears, and my first experience with English futility from the penalty spot (against the Germans no less). Even the American hoopla four years later, which England couldn’t even qualify for, didn’t turn me back.

And then there was 1998. And that goal against Argentina. And that goalscorer who wasn’t much older than me. I had to find out who he played for. And from then on, I was a Liverpool fan. Thanks to the recent rise of the Internet, I could follow results, watch few-and-far-between highlights, and order VHSs and then DVDs. And I was hooked.

Every year I’ve followed Liverpool, I’ve cared less about individual players, and far less about England. The beauty of club football and the legacy of Liverpool, I guess. But I still admittedly have a soft spot for Michael Owen – despite his Judas transfer to Real in 2004, despite not forcing a move to Liverpool instead Newcastle, and despite him not doing a damned thing for the past three seasons. When I went to England in 2003, the second thing I did after getting off the plane was buy an Owen jersey (I was 20; the first thing I did was buy alcohol). Nostalgia is a hard mistress to dismiss.

But if this proposed move to Manchester United goes through, that soft spot’s dead. And I’m having trouble deciding if I care enough to set fire to that jersey in my driveway (to be filmed, naturally).

What it comes down to is whether Owen will really make a difference, and Ferguson’s motivation for the transfer.

I’ll come out and say it. I think this transfer is completely and totally mind games. Ferguson wants to stick it to Liverpool, and more specifically, Liverpool fans. And what better way than by signing a former “icon” (term used very loosely)?

On record alone, Owen shouldn’t have a prayer at signing with the league champions. Oft-injured, shorn of the pace that won him the Ballon d’Or, and fielding offers from the likes of Hull and Stoke (thanks to that gorgeous brochure put out by his agents). And now United’s in for him? Even though they have Rooney, Berbatov, Macheda, Welbeck, and Manucho (and Campbell, although he’s likely to be sold), and even though they’ve been linked with pretty much every top-tier striker? He’s certainly no Benzema, Ribery, Aguero, or Villa, not at this stage.

Ferguson was clever in purchasing Henrik Larsson in ‘06-07, and this, at best, is a similar deal. But I honestly think Owen has even less in the tank than Larsson did, and he’s five or so years younger than Larsson was at that stage. Plus, isn't that £80m bonanza supposed to be used for transfers?

I can’t be mad at Owen, though. Given the option of playing for a bottom-half team or the champions, well, it isn’t really an option, no matter previous loyalties. A job is a job is a job, and I’d rather a job with the more successful company. There’s little downside for Michael in this move, but that doesn’t mean I have to respect his decision.

Will Owen see games if he signs with United? Probably. Will he score goals? Probably, at least a few. Will he actually have an impact? Less likely, but a distinct possibility. However, the sure thing is that the transfer will prompt reactions like mine, and raise the stakes for next season that much more.

It’s only July and the mind games have started. Outstanding.

One-nil down, two-one upMichael Owen won the cup

With Michael Owen set to go under the knife here in the states, I can’t help but wonder what could have been. The whole situation is just sad. I’ve said it before, discovering Owen in 1998 at the same time I wanted to learn more about soccer led me to Liverpool. He was easily my favorite player until he left for Madrid. Almost as soon as I stepped onto English soil when I lived over there in 2003, I bought a kit with his name and number on it; to date it’s the only kit I own with a player’s name on it.

The thing is, with Liverpool, the more I learned about the club, the less Owen meant to me as a player, as harsh as that sounds. Growing up in America, you can’t help but define teams by star players, it’s the cult of celebrity that follows us everywhere. As I grew up in a city without any major professional teams, every team I root for is based on which team had my favorite player when I was getting into that sport. And while I still root for those same teams, every time that player left the team or retired, I began to care a little less. Not with Owen. Not only was I more obsessed with the team over the player by the time he left, I even thought that he wasn’t the right fit for the way Benitez wanted to play. Of course, Liverpool’s scoring since has left much to be desired (especially last season), but the team plays in stark contrast to Houllier’s hit and hope method based around Mickey.

While he possibly could have challenged Rushie’s all-time goals mark (nearly halfway there!), Mickey never would have been as loved as Rush, or Fowler or Dalglish. Maybe that’s why he left. Maybe he left because he truly believed that he could make it big at Real Madrid, and be the first English player to succeed on the continent in ages. Maybe he didn’t want to establish himself under a new manager, or maybe Benitez told him he was free to look for a new club if he wished.

But the fact remains, he chose to leave Liverpool in the prime of his career, and for a paltry sum to boot. That’s why I’m indifferent to him now as I was indifferent to his possible return before he signed for Newcastle. By no means do I wish him ill, I wouldn’t wish his awful streak of injuries on any player (that didn’t play for United or Everton). I sincerely hope the ACL surgery goes smashingly, as the Premier League needs Michael Owen on form. But he’s just another player. And Liverpool is still Liverpool.