Owen still one of the best – Keegan

Feb 4 2008 by Luke Edwards, The Journal

KEVIN Keegan believes Michael Owen remains one of the most prolific goalscorers in European football after his first Premier League goal since October in the 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough yesterday.

Owen had the ball in the back of the net three times during the Tyne-Tees derby, but had two ‘goals’ ruled out for infringements, the first when he was incorrectly adjudged to have fouled Boro goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer as he tried to reach Emre’s curling corner.

It was a strange decision by referee Mike Dean but the England striker finally made the breakthrough just after the hour mark when he glanced in another Emre set-piece at the near post. And although his side could not hold on for victory, with Robert Huth’s header giving Middlesbrough a deserved share of the spoils, Keegan felt the form of Owen was a major boost to his side.

“Michael Owen will always score goals,” said Keegan, whose side have taken just three points from the last 24 on offer after this draw. “If we create chances for Michael he will score goals, there is no doubt about that and he should have had two today. I couldn’t see anything wrong at all with the first goal Michael got, I think Mark Schwarzer just dropped it and I’d like the referee to tell me what he saw because I couldn’t see anything at all. I just can’t work out why he hasn’t given it.

“Again, we haven’t provided Michael with enough chances, but if we do he will take them. As far as I’m concerned he remains a major threat at club and international level. You only have to look at his record for England, it’s magnificent.

“He’s only started about 30 games for Newcastle in three years and people are ignoring that. But he is fit now and he is sharp, and we will see the benefits of that. He has been criticised since I came here because he has not scored, but what has been ignored is how hard he has worked for the team. The service to him will get better as well, and when it does he will score more. I have no doubt about that.”

Owen will link up with the England squad for a friendly against Switzerland this morning in confident mood as he insisted a lack of confidence was the major problem at Newcastle this season. He said: “Confidence is a big thing in football and if you are not scoring goals everything seems to fall away but hopefully now, I will go on a nice little run. Training has been fine and the lads have been fine, but we need that win to build confidence and, hopefully, we can build on the second-half performance and have a good run until the end of the season.

“With the players we have got here, Kevin will get this club moving in the right direction and no doubt there will be a busy summer, but he has said to us he likes what he sees and he has every right

to because there are some good players. I think a few of us, myself included, have not quite played to our full potential, but that spark will come with a win. I am sure we will do well after that.”

Despite the praise of Owen, it was another inconsistent display from Newcastle and Middlesbrough deserved a point on the basis of the number of chances they created. Keegan added: “It was a very eventful game and I thought it was a real derby game, especially in the last 15 minutes. But I thought we did enough to win it.

“I thought the character of the side was a major plus point and we were three minutes away from getting the three points we probably deserved. We’d prefer us to be able to close the game down at 1-0, but we couldn’t, mainly because we lack confidence, I think. They threw everything at us at the end and we did get a little exposed at times, but we also could have killed them off on the break.

“They’ve scored late on and he was definitely off-side, but that is what happens when you are having a tough time. Little things like that tend to go against you. We’ve got a point and I was pleased with a lot of the performances, I really was.”