Overreaction Monday ft the German Michael Owen, English football’s saviour and Wayne Rooney
Wayne Rooney is England's greatest ever footballer
|Sportscafe
Overthinking and over-reacting to situations is the human way especially when it comes to football because no sport in the world is more dramatic, comical, or ludicrous. That being said with the greatest distraction finally back and running normally, there were bound to be a few hare-brained ideas.
The 50+1 rule can solve the Football League’s problems
With the English Football League in financial hell thanks to the coronavirus, the interweb believes that a plan to use German football’s 50+1 rule will help save English football.
SC Take: German football has fewer problems with terrible and bankrupt owners than any other league in Europe, let alone the world. Not only that, the hate they show at clubs who even step one tiny teeny toe over the line (read RB Leipzig and the rest) shows that their system doesn’t just work but it works rather magnificently. Then you glance over England, at sports washing, at Steven Dale at the battle that Charlton face and countless other issues within the league.
Then as you decide to move on, EFL Chairman Rick Parry announces a 200 million black hole that might effectively see the English football pyramid implode onto itself. So a question arises since the current method is failing and doing it in style, why not try something else that has worked rather magnificently for clubs in Germany? While England may not be able to replicate what Germany has done exactly, something similar to the 50+1 rule might actually save the Football League.
Wayne Rooney aka the greatest ever player to wear an England kit
Amidst an argument on the interweb about Wayne Rooney’s standing in world football, at Manchester United and England, somehow, he turned into the greatest ever English player.
SC Take: Wayne Rooney being England’s record scorer in their 148-year history and United’s in their 118-year history does ensure his place in football history. It even makes him one of Manchester United’s greatest ever players and maybe even amongst England’s greatest ever players. Now the keyword there is “amongst” because for some reason, maybe because there is no footballing history beyond 1991, people tend to forget their history.
Take this into consideration. England’s dream team, including Rooney, failed to even come close to a trophy during their heyday. The closest they managed was a quarter-final berth at both the 2006 World Cup and 2004 Euros, with them even failing to qualify for the 2008 Euros. Even if you put that aside, Rooney is not just out-triumphed and done by the likes of Bobby Moore, Peter Shilton, Gordan Banks, Bobby Charlton, Jimmy Greaves, Stanley Mathews and the rest but his name gets drowned out.
Manchester United’s current side would trounce Arsenal’s Invincibles
With English football still missing from our televisions, few fans have taken to the internet and claimed that Manchester United’s current side would trounce Arsenal’s Invincibles.
SC Take: It’s understandable that being cooped up in ones’ house does drive people nuts but there has to be a limit to everything? Arsenal’s Invincibles are widely considered to be one of the greatest teams in Premier League history alongside Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side, Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea and naturally Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United side. The same Manchester United side that won 13 trophies over the course of Fergie’s tenure with a few changes here and there as he transformed the team into something better.
The same Manchester United side that is arguably one of the greatest Manchester United sides to ever grace Old Trafford. The same Manchester United side that is on another planet as compared to this current side that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer leads. Yet that same Manchester United side only managed to beat Arsenal just twice in four games in their 2003/04 season and once in the Premier League between 2001 and 2004. It does mean that if the current Red Devils side could beat Arsenal's Invincibles, then it would make them the greatest Manchester United side to ever walk the grass at Old Trafford. And that, we know for a fact is not true.
Timo Werner is nothing more than the German Michael Owen
With the course of two weeks, Liverpool had and then lost Timo Werner but it has seen a few fans take a complete U-turn and claim that the striker is nothing more than the “German Michael Owen”.
SC Take: Michael Owen won a Ballon d’Or for being nothing more than a faster than normal footballer who could score goals. Secondly, Michael Owen, no matter the hatred that Liverpool fans have for him leaving them, is still a Liverpool legend because of what he achieved mainly at Anfield before a change in football, injuries and other issues curtailed his career. Werner, on the other hand, plays in a rising star, playing for a rising team in an overly competitive league and has the potential to do well wherever he goes.
But calling him nothing more than a German Michael Owen just because Liverpool failed to get their man is being idiotic. For one, the German is far more technically astute than Owen ever was and secondly, while Owen was pure speed in an era where speed made a difference, Werner has transformed his game to be more than just his rapid acceleration. He may not be the complete striker but calling him a German Michael Owen is maybe a little harsh.
