Michael Owen has put aside his longstanding feud with Alan Shearer to name the former Newcastle United striker in his all-time Premier League XI.
Owen and Shearer famously don’t get on with each other and have previously engaged in online spats which stem from their time together at St James' Park. The two England strikers played alongside each other at the club, but rather than develop a deadly partnership, they ended up falling out quite spectacularly.
Back in 2006, Owen was the £17million signing from Real Madrid with the weight of expectation on his shoulders. Initially they got on well, with Shearer doing his best to help the new arrival settle in and Owen describing him as “a good mate” in his autobiography.
That didn’t last. Shearer was drafted in to become caretaker manager, with the Magpies fighting off relegation and Owen’s fitness problems caused a lot of tension, which has simmered on to this day, thanks to the pair's online presence and their roles in the media.
It was therefore a touch surprising to see Owen give his sparring partner a shout-out when naming his Premier League XI. Naming Shearer in his team, alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Thierry Henry, Owen said: "The highest scorer in the Premier League. An absolute monster of a centre forward."
Owen’s full team, in a 4-3-3 formation, is: Peter Schmeichel; Gary Neville, John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole; Steven Gerrard; Patrick Vieira, Paul Scholes; Cristiano Ronaldo, Thierry Henry, Alan Shearer.
Shearer is indeed the Premier League’s record scorer, with 260 goals – and 64 assists – in 441 appearances for Newcastle and Blackburn Rovers. But to include him Owen was forced to leave out another legend, Wayne Rooney. He described the choice as “very, very difficult”, but one he made nevertheless.
When you reflect on some of the mud that has been slung between the duo, it is clear that a bitterness remains. Owen’s autobiography, ‘Michael Owen: Reboot - My Life, My Time’ contains plenty of detail on the subject.
“There has been a lot of lies, bulls*** and general mis-information surrounding the end of my time at Newcastle,” he writes, before blaming Shearer for much of it. “Sadly, this feud has continued to the present day. The more I think about it, the more I understand why Alan behaves the way he does and continues to spread negativity about me whenever he can.
“He was brought in at St. James’ Park as the saviour, the local boy. It could have been a great story. But he failed. Newcastle United were relegated. Perhaps rather than examine his own shortcomings, it felt easier to blame Michael Owen.”
When the tell-all book came out, Shearer responded by posting a video of Owen on Twitter in which he said about the latter stages of his career, “I hated it, I couldn't wait to retire." As a caption, he added: "Yes Michael, we thought that also, whilst on £120k a week..."
Owen quickly shot back: "Not sure you are as loyal to Newcastle as you make out mate," Owen said. "I distinctly remember you being inches away from signing for Liverpool after Sir Bobby Robson put you on the bench. You tried everything to get out."
Their feud is ongoing to this day. Despite both being high-profile pundits across the media, they never work together – for good reason.
