English football is always an interesting topic, especially nowadays when lots of exciting stuff is happening around it.
It was our great pleasure to talk with the one and only Michael Owen, English football legend. We discussed the current state and the future of Liverpool, Manchester, and England's national team, looking at the upcoming World Cup.
Watch the interview here or scroll down for the full transcript.
Who was the most underrated player you played alongside at Liverpool?
Well, he wasn't underrated, well, he probably was underrated, which is what I'm going to say. But the answer to that, I've always said, is Sammy Hippier. I know people think he was a great player, but he was great, he was top class.
And I think he's possibly underestimated, hardly ever missed a game, two-footed. I mean, you put him in a possession game, his passing was incredible. The only thing Sammy didn't have was pace, but he never got caught.
He was very intelligent, and he could edit, he could score goals. He was probably the most underrated. Sammy Hippier was top class.
What do you think the future holds for Andy Robertson and will he go down as one of Liverpool’s greatest ever left-backs?
Andy Robertson will definitely go down as one of Liverpool's greatest ever left-backs.
I think people have written him off. I mean, anyone would think that. Andy Robertson's 36 or something, the way people are talking about, you know, that Liverpool needed a new left back and everything else like that.
Andy Robertson's been just the most incredible player.
And he still gets up and down that wing. Still got loads of energy, still playing at the very top of his game. So, it's a strange old game, football, but yeah, I think he's been pensioned off in many people's eyes, and you look at his age and you look at the way he plays and there's absolutely no reason for anybody to even suggest anything like that. So, Kirk has coming in. Yes, it obviously adds a different question mark and dimension to the whole scenario.
But Liverpool need good players in every position, and it's just down to Andy, I guess, and the club to decide whether not playing as much is gonna sit well with him at his age because he's still got a lot to offer, I would suggest. So that's a question mark for any player.
And that's not beat around the bush. He is coming into the final stretch of his career, but he still has a stretch left. And whether he wants to be playing second fiddle at this stage of his career, maybe in three or four seasons, he could accept that just playing 10, 15, 20 games a season.
But at this, he's still got so much life in him. Then he might not want to be doing that so early in his career. So let's see how that pans out. But I still think he's got loads to offer.
If you were in charge of recruiting Manchester United’s next no.9, who would you try to sign and why?
Well, who's been mentioned at the moment? I mean, Ollie Watkins has been mentioned, hasn't he? Cesc has been mentioned by a few clubs, seem to be looking at him. So he might be, he seems to be creating the most noise at the moment. So maybe Manchester United are looking at him.
Watkins might be a little bit more difficult. I'm not sure what Villa have got if they let Watkins go. What they got to replace. But yeah, so I'm not sure.
Cesc probably is the likeliest, let's say, with Watkins in there as well. But yeah, so far they've gone for Premier League experience, but we'll see. It's been a weak position for Manchester United for some time now.
So it's good to see they're addressing it. Well, I think you probably know what you're going to get more with Watkins if he was available, but Cesc is probably the glamour signing. He could be anything, he could take to the Premier League, like a duck to water, and all of a sudden be a superstar.
So, whereas I think you pretty much know what you're going to get with Ollie Watkins. I think fans like the foreign glamour signing much more than somebody they've been watching for a long time and know what they're going to get. I think that the thrill of not, not exactly knowing what's going to be uncovered in your new signing is a big one for fans.
So maybe he would be the number one choice.
Who will win the Premier League next season and why?
Sometimes you sit here and you think, oh, there's so much more business to be done. I'd like to see it play out and things like that, but I don't really feel like that at the moment.
I think that Liverpool are far and away that got the best chance of winning it. I think, if I were to put percentages on it, I'd be sort of Liverpool, 70% think they're going to win it. Probably Arsenal, maybe 20%, and then Chelsea about 6% and Manchester City 4%, something like that.
I really fancy, really fancy Liverpool to win it, 10 points clear last season, and they took their foot off the gas. It could have been 20. It probably, let's be fair. Let's say it should have been 16 or 17 if they just continued like they were.
That's just a massive gap, and they've got signed some incredible players over the last month or so. I just think that they were the best, and they've strengthened from a position of strength. I think they're going to win it again.
And, so going down the order, Arsenal, I like Arsenal. I think it's foolish for fans to think that the manager's under pressure just because they've come second three years in the spin. Well, Leicester came from nowhere to win it, but every team that ever wins it knocks on the door first.
No one goes from sixth to winning it. It's bloody hard. And I think that Arsenal have shown consistency, and they've shown they're consistently good.
It's easy going from 15th place in the league to sixth. There's a team every season that does it, but you name me a team that goes from third to first to go get those extra. If you get 10 points extra on your team that come 15th, then you come sixth anyway, you know, but to get 10 points extra when you're winning loads of points anyway, and when you're second in the league, that's hard to grind out another 10 when you're already winning loads of points every season.
That's such a hard transition to go one step further. And people eulogise over these teams that go from 15th to sixth. It's like, it's not that impossible. It's only a handful of points more.
But Arsenal are good, and Arsenal have had reasons to believe that they were unlucky last season not to get more points. I mean, Saka was injured for a large part. Averts was injured for a large part. They're probably their two main attacking players. And other players were out as well.
I think they had a lot of injuries to attacking players that you would say that was harsh. And now they've gone and bought a proven goalscorer. Listen, it's not a guarantee he's going to succeed.
There are reasons to believe Arsenal can do better than last season.
And they're already doing well. They got to the semi-finals of the Champions League. I mean, they're a serious team.
And the people that talk about Arteta, if he has a bad start to the season, because they've got a tough start to the season as well, they're fixtures. But even if he has a tricky start to the season, you'd be absolutely mad to think that he's not the right man.
He's knocking on the door and the door's going to bang open soon. Whether it's this season or not remains to be seen.
Then we go further down, we've touched on Manchester City. Chelsea, they are getting better.
The thing I find ironic about Chelsea is that they had one game at the end of last season. And if they had lost to Nottingham Forest, who was a Champions League decider, if they'd lost to Nottingham Forest, everyone would have said it's the worst season in the world. And the manager would have been under pressure.
And all of a sudden, they then win the Conference League, which they probably did with their eyes closed. And then they go to the World Club Cup and they win that. And all of a sudden, everyone's falling in love with Chelsea and thinking they're great.
And they are a very good team and they are getting better. They're a very young team. But it just makes you laugh, doesn't it? One game last season, if he had lost against Nottingham Forest, Maresca, would he still be in a job?
And now all of a sudden, in the blink of an eye, he's qualified for the Champions League, and he's won two trophies, and now the whole picture is different. But they are good and they are improving and they have got a chance. And I do definitely think top four.
So, my top four would be Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, City, in that order.
Is there any player who you think will use this year to stake a claim for England's World Cup squad next year?
There is an opportunity for England, isn't there, at the moment? The team is good, but there's still an opportunity. I worry about the summer.
I worry about the conditions in America. I think it's going to be red hot in their summer. Our best player is not going to be getting any better, let's say, Harry Kane.
What's our defence going to be? John Stones has been top class for years and years, but he's struggling with injuries. Can he do another year? Can he play at that level? Our full-backs, we used to think that we were so strong in full-back areas, but chill well and sure. And when they get injured a lot, is the next youngster going to come through? Probably.
Arsenal probably hold the key there. But right back, Kyle Walker, we've been so reliant on him with pace at the back. He's not going to be there, you would think, in 12 months' time.
We're bringing players like Henderson back in. I just think there's an opportunity for young players at the moment. If anybody stakes their claim, sourcing them and pinpointing them is another matter.
Yeah, it's hard off the top of my head. The lad at Crystal Palace, what's his face? His name escapes me. The centre midfielder, what's his name? Wharton, yeah.
He could have a say, but I mean, he's not going to knock Declan Rice out of the team, is he? But I don't know. I don't know. It's an interesting time for England.
And I'm not that confident at the moment, but let's see how the season goes. Wharton would be the one that strikes me as potentially someone that could stake a claim. But as I say, that's quite a competitive area, the centre midfield, especially with Rice there.
So I'd like to see a defender or two come through because I think we're quite light on defenders at the moment.
How long do you think Harry Kane has left at the very top? Who is his successor as England's first-choice striker when he does step aside?
The whole thing is a worry. Solanke, Ollie Watkins, Tony, but Tony's obviously playing in a different league now. It's hard to judge what he's doing out there.
We've got players that can come in, but we have not got a lot of players that are coming through. Or not coming through, we've got a few players coming through.
We've not got a lot of players that are there to choose from, let's say.
Harry Kane has been the standout. He's been a constant source of goals.
He won't be able to do it forever. He doesn't rely on pace necessarily, so he might be able to go on a little bit longer than somebody that does. Again, he's not being pensioned off at the moment, but he is going to be, what, 33 or something? He's not going to be getting any better, but if we can keep him in the right shape, then hopefully he can do the business again.
He's an exceptional penalty taker, and if you look at World Cups and European Championships that we've been involved in, how important are penalties? I mean, not just in games, but penalty shootouts and whatever. If you've got somebody like him that just bangs them in all the time, it's so important now, especially with these crap-hand ball rules on the continent, that any ball that flicks a hand, it's a penalty. Penalties are given left, right and centre.
They will be in the World Cup. Thankfully, we've got that under control in the Premier League, but on the continent, they're just given all the time. You have to have a really good penalty taker, and he is one of those, so that is so important.
But yes, he is important to us, and hopefully, he can maintain his form. But all the time, we'll be the decider of that, not me.
And players coming through, I do like Ollie Watkins. He's had a good impact when he's come in the past. I think he's got a lot of attributes to him. But yes, behind that, and Solanke and where we are now, we haven't got loads.
We're just hoping that some youngsters can come through, and we can get excited about the future as well.
There's been an emerging theme of promoted sides being relegated. Will we see the three promoted teams go back down again this season?
Well, there's every chance, isn't there? Yes, probably. I haven't done my full prediction list yet, but I can feel myself looking at it, and thinking, yes, the three promoted teams, they're the ones that start there, don't they? And then it's like, oh, is there anyone? But I mean, who else could... I mean, Brentford could have a sticky season.
They lost their manager, and they're losing all their best players. They could come into the equation. New manager, who knows how they're going to do.
Listen, they might surprise everyone, but I'm just looking at who... All the teams that you would have down in the past, the Bournemouths and the Brightons and all these teams, Crystal, they're all bloody brilliant at the moment. They're improving. So, no chance are any of these teams going to come up from the Championship and beat any of those.
So, yes, I mean, it's a worry, I think, at the moment, and it's something maybe the Premier League are looking at. I don't know what can be done to stop it, but the gap between the Premier League and the Championship feels and looks, and on all stats, it's getting wider and wider and wider.
So, yeah, as things stand, I can't see that changing.
If Liverpool go on to make it back-to-back league titles, do you think this could be the end for Pep Guardiola at Manchester City?
No, I think he's immune to it and immortal in many ways. We're talking about arguably the greatest manager of all time. I mean, you know, someone asked me the question, so who's the best Pep Guardiola for Alex Ferguson?
We're talking about the greatest ever here.
So, even if it's another season of struggle, it'll be if he wants to walk away. I mean, you can't part company with arguably the greatest coach, the greatest manager of all time. You're just committing suicide, aren't you? It's just ridiculous.
So, no, I can't imagine him being under pressure. The only pressure he's under is from himself, and if he can be arsed with it. If he's not winning and whatever, and he's been doing it for a long time, and he just thinks, "you know what? I've got all the money, I've got all the success, I've got all of everything in the world. I can't be bothered anymore."
That's the only reason he will part City. I mean, it'd be ridiculous to think City will part with him.
How do you think Rashford will get on at Barcelona? Is this a good move for him?
It's just the most incredible move for him, isn't it? Talk about if you're ever going to be re-energised and reinvigorated and whatever by a move, then this is it. I mean, lots of people thought last chance saloon, Marcus.
When you went to Aston Villa, if you don't put it in there, then where are you going to go from there? How far are you going to drop? And then to be given Barcelona is quite unbelievable.
One, he's got to be thanking his lucky stars, but two, now he's got to grab it with both hands. You know, it's an amazing move for him. And if he can do well there, then, wow, fantastic.
And I hope he does because he's obviously very talented. But yeah, this is an unbelievable showcase for him now to play on one of the best stages in the world.
We would like to thank Michael Owen for taking his time to talk with us and provide his take on the current football affairs in England. For more sports insights, make sure you visit our betting tips section.
