Rounding up an EPL Afternoon

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August 19, 8:03 PM

by Jesse Baumgartner, Soccer Examiner

 

 

Is Michael Owen worth such a huge contract, and will he take it?

It’s a beautiful Seattle summer afternoon, and I finally get to soak it in after waking up from my nap after the early-morning Argentina game. In fact, I’m going to reallllly soak it in because I don’t know what the Fall season is like in London – which is where I’ll be in three weeks. Hopefully it’s as nice as this.

But let’s throw out a couple of the headlines from today that I’ve found interesting. First, England coach Fabio Capello is giving John Terry the captain duties for tomorrow’s fixture against the Czech Republic (or Czechoslovakia as John McCain has taken to calling it these days). He’s getting it instead of defender Rio Ferdinand, and this Guardian article says Ferdinand will be “vice-captain.” Last I checked vice doesn’t mean all that much (i.e. Dick Cheney hasn’t done too much of note that doesn’t involve a bird-hunting trip gone wrong). It seems like the vice part is just there to soften the disappointment for Rio, and the article makes it sound like this will definitely be a “blow” to him.

Is this the right choice for England? Does Ferdinand deserve the job? Will this affect Rio’s play? Or, is the press blowing the competition for captaincy out of proportion?

Now for the Michael Owen contract rumblings. I’ve seen this rumor multiple places – first on ESPN Soccernet. Here is a Bloomberg News roundup that sources The Sun (the figures are the same as the ESPN article). The long and short of it – and there isn’t anything small about these numbers – is that Newcastle is willing to pay 21 million pounds (that’s around $39 million U.S.) over three years to keep Owen there – the largest contract in club history.

I have to say, if true, that this is a little bit surprising. Newcastle looked good against Man United on the season’s first day, and although their attack wasn’t spectacular, is this really the move they want? Owen’s productivity when he’s healthy has been solid, but in his three years at Newcastle he’s only appeared in 43 league games (37 starts). He’s broken a metatarsal bone, injured his right ACL and had a hernia operation among other problems. He did manage 11 goals last season in 24 Premier League starts (29 appearances), but with his propensity for getting injured, should Newcastle be forking over this much? They obviously want some more production from their star, but this is a high price to pay for added time. And finally, will Owen take this deal and commit to that amount of time with the club?

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