Why has Owen failed at United?

It may be a bit premature to assume this. But despite my satisfaction at Michael Owen joining our forward line for less than a bag of fish & chips, it seems that his career has now almost come to a standstill, and the door awaits the former Liverpool predator.

We have seen glimpses of his brilliance this year. The goal against City. A Champions League hat trick of great aplomb. But the fact that Fergie wont even start him in the so called 'lesser' games (besides the Hull match!), even with Dimitar Berbatov only operating with one fit knee, its safe to assume he is not the manager's flavour of the month. Now I'm sure Sir Alex would explain this as purely he has a team to pick every week, he picks what he feel will beat the opposition, blah blah blah. But as we all follow the situation very carefully it doesn't take a professor to come to the conclusion that Owen is wasted on the Old Trafford bench.

Many will know i am a fan of Owen and have called for him to be used more. At his age he still has the tools to get goals. But as the season progresses and we see less and less of him, it does make you think that he was probably wrong to sign for us now. As it stands he is still a great asset to the squad from the bench. But he doesn't look happy, as the camera pans over the touchline during games, as he sits there glum. Its a bit of a shame really.

His pay as you play goal bonus laden deal seemed great business for everyone when he came pre-season..however its no good to him if he is not playing, not scoring and we have a player that we cant incentivize with just a few minutes here and there. It does make me wonder what is going on at Carrington. Is there something wrong on the training pitch? Fitness doesn't appear to be an issue. Fergie has said about the difficulty in playing Owen when Rooney is now on fire. I get that. But it still doesn't really help his situation. I bet he thought joining United, playing for one of the giants of world football, that he would get chances galore, score regularly, and be on that plane to South Africa..I know i did! In my eyes, id still prefer Owen ahead of Darren Bent..but as he scores goals for a faltering Sunderland side, and Owen twiddles his thumbs, well, there's no real contest.

So far this season is a marked failure for Michael Owen. He may still have a part to play. But as United show their form in a 4-5-1 and the January emergence of Mame Diouf (who is scoring goals for fun in the reserves) it doesn't look good for the former European Footballer of the Year. I think come the summer, he will be sat on a beach somewhere, watching England take on the likes of Algeria et al, and will probably have his agent on his mobile every five minutes..trying to score a deal with Aston Villa or Everton.

It could have been the perfect arrangement..a marriage of convenience. But like all things that look great on the surface, deep down it was never really going to work...was it? A bit like Notts County getting Sol Campbell and Sven. Wait for all the 'told you so' comments from the Scousers and Geordies that you may or may not know, coming this summer..cos they will be quite vocal if the former boy wonder has to pack his bags once again. I hope there's a plot twist somewhere along the way.