English Premier League: Part 3 Conclusions from Manchester United versus Newcastle United
A man, who might be now regretting his move to Manchester United in last season’s transfer window, is Michael Owen. The last couple of years have been terrible for Michael much like the two before them. Owen’s career has capitulated due to injury; he has lost his pace on the ball. The only thing that makes him of any use now is his ability to finish the chances that come his way.
On the weekend, Michael Owen was left out of Ferguson’s squad which faced Newcastle United. The long standing United manager said that he didn’t include Michael because he lacked match practice. But surely there might be some other reason for Michael’s inclusion. Owen played for United in the pre-season and has seen as much league football as Rooney, Scholes, Fletcher or Vidic since June.
Another point to ponder on is Macheda and Hernandez’s inclusion in the squad rather than Owen. It might finally be time for Owen to realize that he is no longer the striker he once was. At Newcastle, he was a victim of two career threatening injuries. In his first season at United he only made 19 league appearances and scored 3 goals. In March of 2010, during last season’s English Premier League, Michael Owen was again ruled out for the rest of the season due to a hamstring injury which he sustained while playing for Manchester United in the league cup final at Wembley Stadium.
Hernandez and Macheda also have an age advantage over Owen. Manchester United will reap rewards of playing the two talented youngsters more often in the future; therefore it makes much more sense for these two strikers to feature more prominently for United during this season’s league campaign. Owen would also fear the fact that Berbatov is finally hitting some form at Old Trafford. The Bulgarian international has suffered a lot of criticism from the faithful at Manchester United after his big money move from Tottenham Hotspurs. If Berbatov does indeed replicate his form at Tottenham, then it might signal the end of first team football for Owen.
For Manchester United’s opponents, Newcastle United, eight of their starters on Monday night were members of the squad which was relegated from the English Premier League in the 2008-2009 season. In still retaining this relatively mediocre squad of players, Newcastle have failed to learn from their failures in the English Premier League two years ago. On Monday night, it was evident that it is going to be a hard long season for Newcastle. If the inclusion of these eight starters was not enough, Newcastle also gave James Perch a start at the right back spot.
Newcastle were indeed lucky to only concede three goals. If Luis Nani’s cross had been on mark or had Berbatov been more clinical in front of the Newcastle goal, Newcastle would have been leaving with something more than reddened faces. Sir Alex rightly branded United’s finishing on the night as careless. Newcastle play their next league match on Saturday to Aston Villa. The encounter will take place at Saint James’ Park, Newcastle’s home stadium. The Tyneside club will be hoping to achieve something more than a loss at their home ground. It has been a long time since Saint James’ Park saw some English Premier League football. How the fortunes have changed for Newcastle. In mid 1990s, the magpies were competing against Manchester United for the English Premier League title.
For two seasons, namely the 1995-1996 season and the 1996-1997 season, Newcastle finished second in the English Premier League as they had players like Ginola and Les Ferdinand. However, now such facts have become history for the Newcastle faithful, who will be focusing on their bid to retain their place in the English Premier League for the 2011-2012 season.
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