When one thinks of West Ham Untied, talented exciting youngsters such as Defoe, Carrick and Cole always come to the forefront of the mind. They have throughout the history of the only likable London club in existence.
As the ultra-talented trio attempt to fathom their most recent undoing, they should look no further than their tormentor in chief this past weekend. Another relative youngster could afford them the most excellent advice on making the transition from having the world at your feet to conquering the world with your feet. At the moment Michael Owen is doing the latter with aplomb, whilst Carrick, Cole and Defoe remain an illustration of the astronomical difference between talent and greatness.
Another brace for the European Footballer of the year coupled with a flawless performance saw him rise to the top of the Premiership scoring charts chart and prolong his sides' now seven game winning streak.
It's difficult to understand how the Liverpool team can continue to earn results, when Owen occasionally slips below his amazingly high standards. It is tough to argue against the view that, discounting Jerzy Dudek's miraculous save from Steve Lomas; he won this game on his own. The only surprise was that he was unable to collect another three goals, to match inevitable plaudits for earning the three points single-handedly.
This was not a great Liverpool performance, but with Owen on the field, Houllier's charges can survive without eliciting superlatives in every area of the field. Didi Hamann, Emile Heskey and Jamie Carragher were as always effective, while others played their part, but Owen is simply on a different planet at the moment.
With each passing week, the cheap shots at his early season drought become more laughable. If the continents most prominent footballer was rubbing his hands together at the prospect of facing Dean Richards last Saturday, then seeing Tomas Repka's name on the Hammers’ team sheet, his palms may have created temperatures that could melt the polar ice caps. Placing Owen in the hapless Czech's vicinity is similar to putting a silk shirt on a pig, but to have Repka mark Owen in a big Premiership game is asking for trouble.
One wonders whether the equally anonymous Ian Pearce would have fared much better or even ex-Hammers star Rio Ferdinand, however it was Repka’s good fortunes along with some poor passing from the home side, which saw the through ball to Owen - which seemed on every time Liverpool attacked – blocked on a number of occasions. These blocks proved vital in keeping the score-line respectable, because the closest he got to Owen all afternoon was a post-match handshake.
The Reds started the game at a frenetic pace, barely giving the away-happy visitors chance to find their feet, without the enigmatic duo of Di Canio and Kanoute young Jermaine Defoe cut an embarrassingly forlorn figure up-front, with Cole unable to wield his magic against the dynamic duo of Hamann and Diao in
midfield.
The first real chance unsurprisingly fell to the real boy wonder, Owen on 17 minutes as he forced David James into an excellent stop from his curling right foot shot. Unfortunately for the ex-Liverpool 'keeper, this was as good as his afternoon got.
James received a tremendous ovation from the Kop, despite being semi-responsible for some of the darkest on-pitch days in the history of Liverpool Football Club, when one considers his well publicised shenanigans whilst at Anfield it seems strange that he receives such treatment, whereas a player like Stan Collymore -
who despite his personal problems, actually cared about Liverpool Football Club - was booed out of the building on his return to Anfield.
James' sense of deja-vu continued as he found himself picking the ball out of the Anfield Road end net on 27 minutes. More fantastic work from Owen saw him evade three challenges before delightfully lofting the ball over a man whose ego allows him to believe he is England's number one Goalkeeper.
Further chances fell to Carragher and Murphy as the Reds looked to extend the lead before half time, but both efforts slid wide. The crucial moment of this traditionally entertaining fixture came four minutes after the interval as Dudek pulled off an amazing scrambling save as the reds defence did everything but clear the ball.
Both Carragher and Sami Hyypia, - who had his first poor game in around two years - swung and missed as the ball fell to Hammers captain Steve Lomas, whose shot from six yards bounced off Dudek's torso and agonisingly lingered in mid-air before the reds 'keeper managed to pull the ball back into his grasp.
Lomas' frustration was only too evident and it was to get worse just five minutes later as Liverpool hit a classic counter-attacking second at the peak of the visitors' pressure.
Hyypia's pass found Smicer whose brilliant though ball found Owen who rounded James and passed the ball into the net from 18 yards. If the wait for Lomas' earlier shot to come down from the skies was agonising this effort was equally unbearable.
Steven Gerrard and former Liverpool favourite Titi Camara entered the fray with a serious point to prove. Gerrard's recent lack of form has been well publicised and Camara, whose ovation from the Kop was actually justified aimed to show Gerard Houllier that his mistreatment had not been forgotten.
Unfortunately for Titi – who was carrying a little more weight than on his last appearance at Anfield – it was Gerrard who made by the greater impact, really picking up the pace and showing some of the bite and exuberance that has been so sorely lacking from his game in recent weeks. His late shot from the edge of the
area – unsurprisingly spilled by James – was the closest the home side came to increasing their advantage.
With another young player grabbing the headlines at the moment, it's very comforting to know that in young players like Gerrard and Michael Owen, we still have the very best around. Defoe, Carrick and Cole may very well get there eventually, but as Liverpool sit comfortably at the top of the table, this is Michael Owen's time. Let us hope that it proves to be his and Liverpool’s year. The further this season progresses, the more I feel it will be.
Team: Jerzy Dudek; Jamie Carragher, Sami Hyypia, Djimi Traore, John Arne Riise; Danny Murphy, Didi Hamann, Salif Diao, Emile HEskey; Vladimir Smicer (Steven Gerrard), Michael Owen:
