Michael Owen is Done for the Season - but he's "not" injury prone

If Michael Owen does leave Man Utd at the season - let's face it, he will - his search for a new team may require a new dossier to be sent out. When Owen left Newcastle last summer, his agent sent out a now infamous document outlining Owen's abilities and trying to put an end to the notion that he is injury prone. Next season's dossier cannot avoid the fact that Owen is now out for the rest of the season with the hamstring injury he picked up in the Carling Cup final.



It is sad to see a player with such undoubted ability struggle with injuries as much as Owen has. However, Owen has struggled with injuries his entire career. Ever since he first burst onto the scene at Liverpool, Owen's hamstrings caused him problems early on in his illustrious goal-scoring career at Anfield. An apparent fall-out with Rafael Benitez led to Owen leaving England for the little England being built in Madrid. (Real already had David Beckham and signed Jonathan Woodgate that summer too). Owen didn't get enough playing time in Spain so Tyneside came a calling. Newcastle paid Owen massive wages to fire them into Europe. Unfortunately, if a spell at any club underline the problems Owen had, it was his time at Newcastle. He spent more time on the physio table than the pitch and the fans began to grow weary of him. Owen's record when played at Newcastle was impressive for someone playing in a team that was struggling, 26 goals in 71 games. The problem was he wasn't on the pitch enough to justify the £16million transfer fee. He left last season to join Man Utd on a free transfer and struggled to get into the team until this injury ruled him out.



Regrettably, Owen's career looks like it will become a cautionary tale for any aspiring young footballer about playing too much too soon. When England lost to Argentina in the 1998 World Cup, Owen looked set to become one of the best players of his generation, now he looks like he has become one of the best "what could have been" players of his generation.