Tony Cascarino: Owen is ‘No Gamble’ & Berbatov Ready to Shine for Manchester United
Sir Alex Ferguson has claimed that Manchester United’s transfer window business is now over after the arrivals of Luis Antonio Valencia, Gabriel Obertan and Michael Owen but to be honest I don’t believe him. United will still be pursuing targets as they need to strengthen further after losing two of their main men.
The signing of Obertan is a strange one, I watch a lot of French football and from what I’ve seen of him, he’s very hit and miss. He was not a first team star at Bordeaux or on loan at Lorient last season so doubt he will have a major impact for United in the short-term.
The arrival of Michael Owen is not a gamble for Manchester United at all; in fact it’s a decent bit of business. I can see why Sir Alex did it, Owen will always get goals if you provide him with the chances and they already have Dimitar Berbatov and Wayne Rooney so he can act as cover for them. My only doubt is his impact on United’s team play.
Owen is not really a team player; he is more of a predator. He is an individual and certainly doesn’t fit into United’s ‘team’ ethic. I can see Michael getting goals in the easier games, scoring against the likes of Burnley but I have serious doubts about the impact he will make on the edgier games against the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea. In the tight affairs he will be more of a passenger, having little input into the team play which may well cost them.
Dimitar Berbatov didn’t have the most impressive of first seasons at Old Trafford but I do expect him to be much improved in the upcoming campaign. It was a big step up for him joining United and the lack of a solid pre-season cost him dear. For me, he didn’t look fit or as sharp as he was at Tottenham which can be explained by his lack of games in pre-season for Spurs and United.
A good pre-season will make all the difference and he will feel more at home now and he’ll become far more important to the team in terms of creativity now Ronaldo has departed. The Bulgarian looks like the kind of player who needs to feel needed and a lot more of United’s game play will go through him this season and I suspect he will begin to prove his worth.
Tags: Dimitar Berbatov, Manchester United, Michael Owen, Sir Alex Ferguson, Tony Cascarino
