Michael Owen v Robbie Keane

[NeilMcD]

[/QUOTE]
I thought Keane would have caught up with Owen in the goalscoring from the Poland matches to the Dutch but unfortunately that's impossible now.[/QUOTE]

I dont think it is impossible he could score from teh bench tonight or get a few against holland either, its unlikely but not impossible

[only1kilbane]

hopefully he will stay on the bench tonight and get himself rested for saturday he really looked wrecked on sat. Give mc Geady a run out tonight it a game with no real pressure for the kid

[eirebhoy]

Why is it impossible?

Well, unless Owen fails to score against Iceland on Saturday and Keane scores 6 against the Dutch.

[Slash/ED]

I think if you look at Owen's goal to chances ratio it would be quite high.

Completley disagree, he misses a criminal amount of chances. Keanes guilty of that too mind you. There was only two league goals between them last year, I think Owens better but there's not as big a cap between them as people think. Keane has more to his game than goalscoring whereas Owen is mainly all about the goals.

[only1kilbane]

agreed keano can hold up the ball a lot better than owen and seems to have added a lot to his game through all his travels. Hopefully he can put his head down now and hit the back of the net a bit more taking a few less touches ..

[1MickCollins]

Well said. Heard a lot of people shout over the top abuse at Robbie during Romania game for over elaborating. This is frustrating i know but there is no need for the stick. He's 23 he's already eclipsing Ireland greats like Aldo, Quinner and Stapleton and he's our only world class striker. Robbie will continue to improve. I think people forget he's only a year or 2 older than the likes of Miller, Reid and Elliott.

Right on, we shouldn't quibble when he is the best goal scorer we have ever had, period.

I think that Robbie is as important for Ireland as Owen is for England, and maybe more so. At club level though Liverpool really need Owen which says something about them as a team, Spurs don't depend on Robbie nearly as much.

Owen is a more clinical finisher but really one dimensional in comparison with Robbie.

[Emmet]

Right on, we shouldn't quibble when he is the best goal scorer we have ever had, period.

I think that Robbie is as important for Ireland as Owen is for England, and maybe more so. At club level though Liverpool really need Owen which says something about them as a team, Spurs don't depend on Robbie nearly as much.

Owen is a more clinical finisher but really one dimensional in comparison with Robbie.

I don't think Liverpool need Owen anywhere near as much as they need Gerrard. Owen was superb several years ago but he is not the same player after all the probelms he had with his hamstring. When he first came into Liverpool's team he really was head and shoulders above any other player in England. Keane needs to settle down - he's played at quite a few clubs for a player of his age.

[Bowsy]

I think Owen has lost a yard of pace with his injuries. It was his sheer speed that marked him out in his early career. Have rarely seen him ghost past a defender this year. Still he has been looking sharper towards the end of the season.
Robbie is terrific. Best in Irish football history so far. If we are discussing his shortcomings as a forward, there is no doubt Robbie, Brian Kerr, Chris Hughton, etc are doing likewise and working to improve them.

[DolansWaistcoat]

[QUOTE=NeilMcD]That european player of teh year was a disgrace he never deserved it

Of course he desvered,it his goals helped liverpool go on and win a treble of cups that year and he was the one who carried England through their qualifiers for the WC 2002 but ppl only remember beckham's free against Greece after about eight wide efforts.

And if I remember crocectly that was a time when Owens scoring ratio was brilliant,almost a goal for every shot on target,he needed to score every time he had a chance because liverpool played total counter attack football and didn't create hardly anything for Owen.Roma away in the Uefa cup and Arsenal in the FA cup final were two perfect examples when Owen scored two great goals in each to win the games single handed and un-deservedly for liverpool a lot of ppl might say.

[NeilMcD]

That is a case for winning the English player of the year, but there was no way he was teh best player in Europe that season. He was not or is not fit to lace the boots of Zidane, Maldini, Raul, Ronaldo or even guys at Baryern or Valencia. There are manh players that helped their team qualify for the World Cup and I would go as far as saying that Roy Keane was a bigger influence over his country that Owen was and Utd won the league too.

[tricky_colour]

Just something I picked up on last night while watching the Eng V Japan game and as a follow on of sorts to a previous thread. It is worth comparing the games/ goal scored of both players while playing for their countries.

Robbie - 51 Games 19 Goals

Michael - 54 Games 24 Goals

Not much difference really, although I do admit Owen is far more prolific in the Premier league.

Better make that

Robbie - 52 Games 20 Goals

Michael - 55 Games 24 Goals

Or do I owe Micheal Owen one (nice Welsh name Owen)

Actually Robbies goal was very similar to Micheal's famous goal
against Argentina don't you think?

Incidently I think Robbie struck it with his 'weaker' right foot,
am I correct?

[adamcarr]

Incidently I think Robbie struck it with his 'weaker' right foot,
am I correct?

He struck it with his right foot anyway!

[eirebhoy]

Michael - 55 Games 24 Goals

No, you left out the Japan match so its: Owen - 56 games, 25 goals.

[dynamo kerry]

actually you're also leaving out the iceland game so it's


Owen : 56 games - 25 goals or 0.446 goals per game

Robbie : 52 games - 20 goals or 0.384 goals per game

not much difference really

[Duncan Gardner]

David Healy has a very respectable 12 from 34. I fancy him to equal Clarke's record tonight