Owen the Red Legend

Michael Owen scores the match winning goal in his first outing with Man Utd, after coming on as a substitute in a exhibition match against a Malaysian Selection XI.

I have said it before and I will say it again. Michael Owen is going to be the season's trump card for Sir Alex and the surprise of this season.

Even though Owen is such a proven player on international and club level, his doubters seem to cling on to every injury he has had and harp on his less than impressive season with Newcastle. They try to disown emphatically one of England's most gifted strikers in recent years. And although the emergence of Rooney has kind of turned the attention of Fabio Capello, you cannot deny that Owen is the epitome of lethal finishing and the classic fox-in-the-box goalscorer that every manager loves. To me, Owen is going to be a crucial piece in the jigsaw for Man Utd's style of attack.

Last season, Sir Alex lamented the lack of finishing despite the abundance of goalscoring opportunities created by a talented foursome of Rooney, Berbatov, Tevez and Ronaldo. Incidentally, all these players are genuises in their own kind of attacking play but still, all of them lag behind in the quality that Owen excels in, the knack for finishing of half chances.

I don't care what football club you are into, you could play pretty and create dozens of chances in a match, but every decent football coach will tell you that no statistic matters more than the number of goals you score in a match or a season and for that matter, Michael Owen gurantees you goals. He is not going to be a Ronaldo who nutmegs and makes fools out of defenders with countless stepovers, neither is he going to battle tigerishly and as hard as Carlos Tevez BUT Owen will give you goals... And I will gladly swap that treasured statistic for all the joga bonito Ronaldo and Tevez gives you on the pitch. Of course, having everyone of these talents on the same pitch will be the ideal situation but I am more than happy with the reality of having Owen in Man Utd's attacking lineup for the season.

A hungry striker is the most dangerous player on the pitch. A striker with something to prove will prove it with the number of goals notched for his club. A striker who feels that his best play is in a team which is confident and poised is the best thing a manager can ask for to lift an established club to another level altogether.

To all critics of Michael Owen, give the man some time... in fact just wait for the season to start. I am confident we are going to witness the re-emergence of Owen on the big stage. I am confident he is going to surprise more than a few defenders, and definitely more than a few of his critics when he strides onto the pitch with his new found confidence and his new teammates.

Michael Owen is going to become a quick legend with the fans of the Red Devils... A genuinely nice guy... formerly from a rival club and yet hungry like the rest of the team for success and silverware. Mind you, he is an English too... that means no showboating or flamboyant disregard for teamwork. Owen is going to be a Red success, I can so feel it...