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Michael Owen to Aston Villa

Monday, 06. 8. 2009 – Category: Aston Villa, Newcastle, Premier League

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Michael Owen to be not playing very much for Aston Villa next season?

Going against conventional wisdom which states that a players value can be measured by what they contribute on the field, Aston Villa have offered the welsh midget a 2 year, £55,000 contract to bring his medical staff to Villa Park.

The hope is that he will be able to “re-ignite” his partnership with Emile Heskey, he’d certainly provide a greater degree of accuracy than Gabby Agbonlahor, but it’s difficult to imagine where he’d fit in to the Villa line-up, which is built around the pace and movement of Agbonlahor and Ashley Young and the physical presence of Emile Ivanhoe or John Carew. Owen has lost his pace and mobility which previously (i.e. 8 years ago) made him such a threat. He still has a decent goal return, he averaged 1 goal in 3 for Newcastle last season, but the problem he creates for the teamis that he does nothing apart from score goals, so the rest of the team needs to work harder to compensate.

Football has evolved since Owen was in his pomp and the expectation for forwards to contribute defensively, has meant that the poacher striker, which Owen has tried to evolve into, is generally surplus to requirements.

His injury record is terrible, he’s only made 58 league appearances for Newcastle in his 4 years there, and he’s not getting any younger. He’s a risk, and even on a free at the wages mentioned by Aston Villa, you’d expect a bit more than an occasional substitute. That being said, if he was playing at a club that had a reasonable chance of silverware, or Europe at least, perhaps he’d up his game.