Michael Owen says football risks losing its natural artists

KUALA LUMPUR: Former England striker Michael Owen has warned that football risks losing its natural artists to pure athleticism, arguing that modern players are being heavily "overcoached" to the detriment of instinctive flair.

The 2001 Ballon d'Or winner believes the tactical demands of the contemporary game have drastically shifted the balance away from pure technical genius in favour of physical work-rate.

Owen, who is in Malaysia for the AllStar Legends exhibition match this Saturday, said that while the overall physical standard of the sport has peaked, it has come at a cost.

"I don't necessarily think it's just strikers, I think players in general are overcoached nowadays," Owen told Timesport.

"Information is now so readily available to players. The demand on technical football was much higher 20 years ago. Now, it's probably more an athlete's game."

The former Liverpool, Real Madrid and Manchester United marksman noted that this shift would have shut the door on several legendary figures of the past.

"If you are technical as well, fantastic. But there are players today who would never even get a game in our day," he said.

"Conversely, there were geniuses back then who were technically amazing, but didn't have the physicality to run so far, who would probably struggle in today's game."

The physical toll of the modern game has been a fierce talking point, with teenage sensations like Barcelona's Lamine Yamal and Manchester United's Kobbie Mainoo being pushed into grueling 60-game campaigns before their 20th birthdays.

While critics often compare their workloads to Owen's early career, arguing that premature burnout shortened his peak, the 44-year-old rejected the comparison.

"People are very quick to come to the conclusion that I played too much, but it's debatable whether it shortened my peak," he said.

"My dad was a professional footballer and suffered a lot of muscle injuries. My brothers and sisters were four of the fastest sprinters in the country, and they all got muscle injuries too.

"Who's to say that if I had played only 10 games a year, I wouldn't have had muscle injuries? It might just be in my family."

Owen also pointed to the evolution of modern squad management, noting that today's managers have resources his generation could only dream of.

"When we look at stats, we don't look at the overall picture. We played an awful lot of games with a squad of 18 players. Today, clubs have squads of 30-something players to cope with those extra games," he said.

Known for his pragmatism, Owen admitted that he harbours no regrets about his professional decisions — including his controversial move to Manchester United in 2009 after a proposed return to Liverpool fell through under Brendan Rodgers.

"I had lots of moments where a big decision needed to be made. I know what was best for me, my family, and my career at the time," he said.

"Fans have millions of opinions and can't understand that it's a job for us. If you move to a different company, people pat you on the back. But football fans never change their clubs, so they view it differently.

"I played for three of the biggest clubs in the world, won trophies galore, earned caps for England, and won the Ballon d'Or. I've got as good a CV as anybody could dream of. I'm not ashamed of anything I did."

Malaysian fans will get a close-up look at Owen's enduring technical quality when he turns out for the AllStar Premier Legends this Saturday.

Organised by AllStar Sports Sdn Bhd in collaboration with World Football Legends, the match has been relocated indoors to the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC) following concerns over unpredictable weather and the worsening haze situation.

Owen will feature alongside Premier League icons such as Steven Gerrard, Ryan Giggs, John Arne Riise and Eidur Gudjohnsen, taking on an AllStar World Legends side boasting Alessandro Del Piero, Fernando Morientes and Jaap Stam.