It’s been most amusing hearing various reactions to Michael Owen’s surprise switch to Old Trafford. Be it Liverpool fans fuming at the thought of their former idol wearing the red of the “Mancs”, to United fans who are scratching their head at Sir Alex Ferguson’s latest transfer punt.

If you believe some, Fergie only bought the pint-sized part-timer to get inside knowledge on a few horses he wants to invest in before retiring.

Owen, not blessed with an ability to repel the advances of the doctor’s table, certainly likes his horses, but I do think that Fergie may be onto something here.

For starters, even if Owen does not get close to the dizzy heights of 1998-2001, he is almost certainly going to contribute to the goals column.

At relegated Newcastle, he was surrounded by mediocrity and confusion, but he will find a host of world stars at the Premier League champions.

I can easily see him doing a job much like Henrik Larsson a few years ago. He might not play a high percentage of games, but his experience and his instinct in front of goal will mean more room for the others to flourish.

Much has been made of Manchester United’s lack of transfer activity, but I struggle to see how they will suddenly cease to be a force because Cristiano Ronaldo left.

Yes, the red-nosed dictator has 80 million squid squirming in his pocket, but the world knows that he got about 30 million over the odds.

For a single-minded wide man not inclined to chip in with tracking back, Madrid have certainly paid over the odds. I would venture to say the more rounded, less fussy Kaka will out-perform the Portu-geezer anyway. And they still won’t win anything, because their squad is built for a sprint and not for a marathon.

They will surely rack up some cricket scores along the way, but Barcelona look the much more balanced unit in Spain. But United should be fine — as long as they can ignore Nani’s quote of the year when he suggested he was ready to step into the departing Ronny’s shoes!

I still think they have more than enough to scoop another league title. For starters, United have been a team that revolves around the whinger for the last two seasons.

Intuitive players like Wayne Rooney have had to be sarificed in order to get the best out of Ronaldo. Even Dimitar Berbatov, a notoriously laid-back marksman blessed with delicious control, has had to alter his game in order to service “Ronny’s” demands. In all honesty, I think United will grow stronger in Ronaldo’s absence.

Sure they will miss his danger at free-kicks, corners and just about anywhere inside the opposition half, but the burden of goals will now be spread amongst three or four players, as opposed to one or two.

What has surprised me is the uproar over Carlos Tevez leaving. For all his industry, the Argentinian is just a foreign version of Rooney — with considerably less goals. The fans only adored him because he tried. Certainly he tried more than Berbatov and Ronaldo, but a striker should be judged by his figures in the box and not by his work-rate outside it.

He said he left because he did not feel wanted. After an effective two-year trial, I am not surprised that Fergie saw the light and decided he was not worth all the hype anyway. If United can get a top striker and another winger, I think they will be more than just competitive. They still have Owen Hargreaves to return — and he is as hybrid as a footballer gets. Stick him anywhere, and he will do a job. It’s a pity he is so injury-prone. Much like that other Owen …

As for the rest of the Premier League, City seem well on the way to becoming the new Chelsea — and that’s not just because they suddenly want to poach “Mr Bridge”, John Terry.

The vast money that they keep on throwing at average or over-the-hill players is almost comical, but they will be entertaining at worst. Liverpool, supposedly United’s biggest threat, have spent more time trying to persuade players to stay instead of trying to strengthen. Glen Johnson’s arrival is all well and good, but he will not suddenly win them the league.

It is at the sharp end that Liverpool need some personnel, because as good as Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres are, they can’t do it alone for a whole season. Besides, the last time I checked, Torres was so far inside Matthew Booth’s pocket, he almost passed for just another foreign tourist sampling the bright lights of Jozi …

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This entry was posted on Monday, July 6th, 2009 at 9:13 am and is filed under World Soccer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.