Former Liverpool striker Michael Owen has shot down claims regarding himself and Wayne Rooney, comparing themselves during their teenage years.
Owen unrivalled at 18 years of age
Owen burst onto the scene as a 17-year-old back in 1997, scoring on his Liverpool debut at Wimbledon, before becoming a superstar for both the Reds and England.
The ex-striker’s career fell away as the years passed, mainly due to injuries, but speaking to Rio Ferdinand, he claimed that no English player has reached the level he did at that age.
“People can look at how I played at 26 and say, ‘these players are much better than him.’ Yes, I know. By then, my hamstring muscles were torn in half. I was ashamed to wear a shirt with my name on it at 26 and beyond. I was already in decline. I won the Ballon d’Or when I was already on the downturn. It was a serious decline. At 19, my muscles tore in half.
“But if we talk about the period from 7 to 19 years old, I’m not sure anyone was better than me. There were very few players like that. What Ronaldo was doing at 17, 18 – my God! I played against Thierry Henry; there was a one- or two-year gap between us, and he wasn’t doing what I was doing.
“At 17, I became the Premier League top scorer – that will never happen again! And at 18, twice. But everyone remembers only how I played at 31, 32. By then, I couldn’t do anything anymore.”
It is clearly a topic that has irked Owen, with some remembering his latter days rather than his remarkable early years, and he isn’t letting the debate go away.
Owen shoots down Rooney with new remarks
Writing on X on Friday, Owen further went on to compare himself to Rooney at 17, saying there is no debate as to who was better at that age, comparing his Liverpool exploits to that of the ex-Everton sensation.
In fairness to Owen, time hasn’t been kind to him, with so many thinking about his injuries, and the players who have potentially surpassed him since, including Rooney.
That said, he has a genuinely valid point in saying that nobody was better at 17 or 18, in England at least, with the former Three Lions international a stunning talent – one who scored 23 goals in both 1997/98 and 1998/99, before he had even turned 20.
While Rooney went on to have a better career, and was a superior all-round footballer overall, Owen was better as a teenager, and was arguably only below Brazil legend Ronaldo at the same age.