Bleacher Report - Articles by David Owen

Which English Premier League team uses its resources the best?

David Owen — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 21:59:49 -0400

With all the big money being toted around by Man U, Arsenal, Chelski and Liverpool etc etc, who in your opinion has done the best with their money?

If Birmingham had the available funds of a top four side, would they be in the position that they are? Would West Ham ever quite push for higher honours?

Which team and manager in your opinions, besides the obvious top four, has done the best with their money, and do you think could deliver a trophy challenging side with more available funds?

Is it David Moyes, Roy Keane, or even Paul Ince... you decide

South Africa in desperate need of a quality spinner

David Owen — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 22:11:20 -0400

South African cricket seems to have gotten its wires slightly crossed. In my humble opinion, a test cricket team needs a quality spin bowler in 90% of its matches. This being said, the question begs to be asked: "Why does South Africa disagree with this statement to such an extent that they play Paul Harris?"

Paul Harris, by the definition of the word, can't exactly be described as a spinner—you need to turn the ball for that, or at least try to turn it.

Compare the purchase that Monty Panesar was getting off the track in the third test and the lack thereof from Harris. What's the big difference between them? Harris is taller, and as such, should be getting a decent amount of bounce to his deliveries, yet it just doesn't ever happen.

The idea that Graeme Smith seemed to have of using Harris to tie up an end and letting our potent seam attack rip through the batting order from the other failed dismally on most occasions. You can't be considered to be building pressure when you're going at almost four an over.

This, added to the lack of turn and bounce, enables people like KP to try his audacious reverse slogs with no fear of the ball actually doing anything more than going straight on. Most batsmen in world cricket today aren't exactly going to cringe at the thought of facing Paul Harris, not when compared to the likes of Harbajhan, Mendis, Murali, Vettori, etc.

Lying in wait, hidden deep in the shadows of SA cricket are some very talented spin bowlers who seem to be ignored time and time again. Johan Botha has been included in the one-day squad at the expense of Harris.

Botha is an attacking, right-arm bowler. He gets substantial turn and bounce and he has been working on perfecting the "doosrah" that turns the other way and is a very useful aggressive batsman.

Robin Peterson, a tall, left-hand orthodox bowler, was one of the leading wicket-takers in the SA domestic league, and a more than capable batter, opening the innings for his provincial side. He also likes to flight the ball and attack the stumps trying to use turn and bounce to take wickets.

However, his highlight to England seems to be getting chased off the balcony while trying to cover the window behind Andrew Flintoff's arm that was bothering South Africa's top order.

It must also be taken into consideration that both Botha and Peterson are quality fielders. Maybe they aren't the saviours of South African cricket, but they're a better option than Paul Harris.

David Ngog leaves Valerenga agog

David Owen — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 19:47:37 -0400

The good thing about club friendlies is getting to see 18 different players on show for the evening's entertainment.

The good thing about Liverpool's club friendlies is to get to see David Ngog.

This young talent, who could be Ryan Babel's brother and is Jean-Alain Boumsong's cousin, has impressed so far. Granted, no real "big" games, so no real test, but he has looked like something special.

His ability to terrorize defenders and gracefully glide past them was a sight to behold. Two goals in two games and the future looks bright for our young French forward.

I will definitely be watching in keen anticipation to see if he can make the jump from reserve league into the first team.

Liverpool - The good, the bad and the Americans

David Owen — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 03:40:38 -0400

Tom Hicks and George Gillet arrived at Liverpool, heralding the dawn of a new era. They had money, they fully supported the manager, and were driven towards helping Liverpool reclaim its rightful position on the top of the Premier League. Or so we thought...

Since arriving, Tom and George, hereafter known as "those dumb Americans" have done a pretty good job of creating chaos. And everybody knows that nothing helps a side perform at peak potential better than absolute disorder behind the scenes.

No, wait, that's not right. Publicly admitting that they went out head-hunting Jurgen Klinsman to replace Rafa, didn't help their cause at all. Offering unlimited transfer period funds, only to back down whenever Rafa had someone in his sights also did them no favours.

To their credit, they did give him the funds to bring Fernando Torres (last season) and Robbie Keane to Anfield, but when you consider that Rafa was interested in Robbie, David Villa, Gareth Barry, and David Bentley maybe we're missing the actual point here.

Letting Rafa buy one quality player doesn't suddenly make you crowd favourites again. The fans remember the public rows between those dumb Americans and Rafa, and worse still, between themselves. Added to the constant rumours of the Dubai Investment Corporation (DIC) placing large offers for LFC, one wonders how much longer before we see the back of those dumb Americans. The sooner the better as far as I'm concerned

Liverpool's new signings... quality or quantity?

David Owen — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 02:59:37 -0400

So another season dawns, and the transfer market has been full of rumours, scandals, slavery and one or two actual transfers.

Liverpool by Rafa Benitez's personal admission, have been forced to shop in the bargain-basement, due to Gillet and Hicks not releasing the desired amount of money. Well spotted to find Robbie Keane hiding in the basement then.

I, personally, wouldn't consider him a bargain-basement type of player. His ability combined with that of Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard, could provide the key to unlock a few defences, which have seemed rather too tightly shut for my liking over the past few seasons.

I've only had the opportunity to watch Andrea Dossena play once, and I liked what I saw. Quick, strong and a decent ball into the area. Granted, one or two mistakes, but overall a positive impression was made.

I saw David Ngog for about 35 seconds during the Rangers friendly, and after watching him dance and dazzle his way through the defence before burying the ball in the bottom corner, I was suitably impressed.

I haven't seen Phillip Degen, Dani Pacheco or Diego Cavalieri to make a justifiable comment on their possible impact at LFC this season.

In my humble and completely biased opinion, I think that this could be a season where Liverpool can push the rest of the contenders harder than we have seen in the past five seasons.

A large factor, though, will be our ability to avoid dropping points against the so-called "minnows" of the Premier League—our perennial Achilles heel.

As my first article on Bleacher Report, I'd like as much constructive criticism as possible to help write better future articles.