The One Man Club

There was always a fair bit of discomfort every time that Michael Owen returned to Liverpool in the past. Those calls asking what he was doing in Istanbul we're initially funny but eventually the feeling was that they gave way to some serious spite in his direction. Some clearly enjoyed his injuries and the way that his career spiralled downwards hitting the low point of relegation with Newcastle last term.

In light of this, it is very easy to imagine the reaction as he returns to Anfield next Sunday. Owen didn't really help himself with his claim that Manchester United are the biggest club in England but it would be naïve to think that it was simply that statement which will give rise to the reaction that awaits him.

Michael Owen never really had a special relationship with the fans. He was seen as a speciall player who carried Liverpool for a couple of seasons yet there was never the adulation that Robbie Fowler enjoyed or with which Fernando Torres is bestowed nowadays.

Explaining why that was the case is difficult because there isn't really a specific reason. If anything, everything was in place for him to be the undoubted hero in the fans' eyes: he came through the ranks, he scored innumerable goals and helped Liverool win a number of trophies. Yet something didn't click.

What did it for him probably was England. Michael Owen enjoyed playing for Liverpool but what he really loved was doing so for England. And that is something that grated. It was as if Owen saw playing for Liverpool merely as preparation for England games.

Matters came to a head when he finally decided to force the club's hand in to selling him to Real Madrid. Liverpool had a new manager who needed his key players in order to rebuild. Owen, however, saw this as wasting a couple of years - with the resulting impact on his national standing - as Benitez relayed the foundations. So he decided to jump ship.

A year later he had the opportunity to rectify matters but when Liverpool asked him to hold strong and refuse any offers in order to force Real to lower their asking price he buckled and instead went to Newcastle.

That second rebuttal killed him in the eyes of the fans. It also killed off any possibility that he would join Liverpool whilst Benitez was in charge who probably as he was never going to be the one to forget that the player had rejected him twice.

It is why Liverpool made no move to sign Owen this summer even though he clearly wanted to return and despite his availability on a free. Liverpool weren't going to sign him not even if this meant that he was going to join Manchester United.

Yet, perhaps not much has changed. Underlying his decision to move to Old Trafford is the desire to win back a place in the England squad. Just as Liverpool were in the past, United are just another vehicle through which Owen wants to prove his suitability to play for his country.

So, come to think of it, next Sunday Michael Owen won't be playing for Manchester United. He will be playing for Michael Owen. Just as he always has.

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