Fowler: I was a better striker than Owen in every aspect

7 minutes ago, dave u said:

Lack of self awareness from Robbie again. The fact he thinks the only thing Michael had over him is pace explains why he never had the career he should have.

 

How about professionalism, dedication, single mindedness to be the absolute best and to squeeze out every last drop of talent?

 

Fowler had much more talent than Owen (and pretty much anybody else I can think of for that matter, he was a genius), but only one of them won a Balon d'Or and shone on the world stage. 

 

If Robbie had the same professionalism and determination to be the absolute best that Michael had then there'd have been nobody to touch him, he'd have been the greatest. Unfortunately he chose to be out in town every weekend. Not that you'll ever hear him acknowledge that.

I bet Fowler wouldn't have had the sheer guts to throw apple cores into a bin 6 metres away.

Just now, Mudface said:

 

I bet Fowler wouldn't have had the sheer guts to throw apple cores into a bin 6 metres away.

Probably did it with beer cans.

I always thought Dave’s extreme dislike of H*skey stemmed from the fact that Fowler wasn’t starting.

Had no idea he thinks Robbie is a chancer. 

To be honest both are gobshites.

While Fowler was totally unprofessional, Owen's mercenary nature was just as bad.

And at the end of the day they both won similar amounts.

But while one is loved by at least one club the other is laughed at and treated with contempt by every club he's played for.

Even England fans think he's a joke.

Sad really as Rafa would have got the best out of the pair of them.

He was a more natural finisher than Shearer, but Shearer was the better all round player in terms of strength, heading ability, attitude etc.

Fowler was a freak in front of goal, probably the most natural I've ever seen, but had something complicated going on upstairs. He lost his confidence when Owen came on the picture (which is inconsistent with what he's actually saying now) and was never the same after his injury.

He was 90% instinct.

Robbie always seems to say that the Spice Boys label was unfair or unwarranted.

Of course he fucking does.

I think people forget how good Shearer was. For me the best striker the league has seen in terms of longevity.

I love Fowler though, those first few years were phenomenonal, it's like every ball he hit ended up in the net.

It's pretty incredible that we produced two strikers of the level of Fowler and Owen in the space of three years and even more incredible that they both peaked right at the start of their careers. 

Fowler had more talent than either Owen or Shearer. But because of injury and lack of total discipline he fell a good distance short of achieving what he could have done 

1 hour ago, dave u said:

Lack of self awareness from Robbie again. The fact he thinks the only thing Michael had over him is pace explains why he never had the career he should have.

 

How about professionalism, dedication, single mindedness to be the absolute best and to squeeze out every last drop of talent?

 

Fowler had much more talent than Owen (and pretty much anybody else I can think of for that matter, he was a genius), but only one of them won a Balon d'Or and shone on the world stage. 

 

If Robbie had the same professionalism and determination to be the absolute best that Michael had then there'd have been nobody to touch him, he'd have been the greatest. Unfortunately he chose to be out in town every weekend. Not that you'll ever hear him acknowledge that.

Spot on

I also think at times,because of what's happened since,people dismiss just how good Owen was.

For about 2 years he was arguably the greatest striker in the world.

46 minutes ago, Dicko said:

To be honest both are gobshites.

While Fowler was totally unprofessional, Owen's mercenary nature was just as bad.

And at the end of the day they both won similar amounts.

But while one is loved by at least one club the other is laughed at and treated with contempt by every club he's played for.

Even England fans think he's a joke.

 

Sad really as Rafa would have got the best out of the pair of them.

He was at Liverpool for 8 years

Not really mercenary behaviour that. 

He could have chose any club in the world in 98.

6 minutes ago, Arniepie said:

He was at Liverpool for 8 years

Not really mercenary behaviour that. 

He could have chose any club in the world in 98.

His last two seasons he was holding the club to ransom.

What's that if not mercenary?

5 hours ago, Lee909 said:

Outside of Shearer he was the best around for about 3 seasons. Robbie between 18-21 was about as good as I've seen. Sad that he never really looked the same post the knee injury, even if his numbers where still good. 98 goals in his first 216 games is some going. 

 

You have to winder just how good he would have become. 

This pretty much.

Yep, that's the top and bottom of it right there.  Natural talent, no argument.  On his day, the best striker in the world at the time.  He just didn't have enough of those days to now be considered in the same league as Owen or Shearer, or even Sheringham.  Sadly, the lack of self-discipline and professionalism cost him more than injuries.

The fact he thinks the only thing Michael had over him is pace explains why he never had the career he should have.

And people wonder why he can't get a decent manager gig.

The game against Leeds when Yeboah scored he was substitute because of his attitude. (Blonde hair etc)

He came on after about 20 mins and despite not scoring gave the second best centre forwards display I'd ever seen.

I love them both, but I love Fowler a little bit more. 

3 minutes ago, Code said:

I love them both, but I love Fowler a little bit more. 

Would you still love him if he said he was better than Salah?

Along with Jimmy Greaves, Fowler was the most naturally talented goal scorer this country has ever produced. 
 

Yes, there are reasons why both probably didn’t reach their full potential. Nobody had a higher ceiling than those two though, and what they did achieve was often breathtaking. 
 

Others scored more goals than Fowler, but not many made it look as easy as he did. 

Imagine him, in his prime, in this squad or the 18/19 & 19/20 under Klopp and in place of Nunez.

I reckon he'd have surpassed Salah and Haaland's records.

26 minutes ago, dave u said:

 

Would you still love him if he said he was better than Salah?

Haha but yes.

As goalscorer he was, overall Salah  obviously beats him, but he's a winger/forward, not a striker. 

9 minutes ago, Preston Red said:

Imagine him, in his prime, in this squad or the 18/19 & 19/20 under Klopp and in place of Nunez.

 

I reckon he'd have surpassed Salah and Haaland's records.

 

Klopp would have ruined him.

Mad for how incredibly good both were, both careers were hugely diminished by injury and underachievement

The answer to the question is who would you go for a pint with. 

5 hours ago, Barnesey said:

Before euro 1996 there was a view Robbie was the better option. Venables stuck with shearer and the roads diverged thereafter. No contest now but it might have been different. 

I don’t see why they couldn’t have played together. Appreciate both wanted to be the focal point but they had some characteristics that potentially would have worked well. I was a bit younger then so maybe I’m wrong but did they at least try?

1 hour ago, Preston Red said:

Imagine him, in his prime, in this squad or the 18/19 & 19/20 under Klopp and in place of Nunez.

 

I reckon he'd have surpassed Salah and Haaland's records.

 

He’d have benefited by being born 15 years later but as he was and the personality he had I don’t think there were many managers that would have steered him correctly. Ferguson would have got it out of him even dalglish but instead he had uncle Roy who let him get away with far too much. 
 

edit: I’m in no way absolving him he absolutely should look at himself when assessing why he didn’t achieve the heights he should have. He still had a great career and goalscoring record for us.