You don’t have to be that good to play in the Premier League anymore

Former Premier League striker Michael Owen has informed William Hill’s podcast, Up Entrance with Simon Jordan, that fashionable footballers are merely athletes and that you simply don’t must be “that good” to play within the Premier League anymore.

That includes on William Hill’s Up Entrance with Simon Jordan, a podcast hosted by the previous Crystal Palace proprietor who speaks to sports activities stars and celebrities and challenges their opinions while scrutinising their careers, Owen mentioned: “Again within the day there have been a great deal of nice gamers that have been absolute ballers, correctly proficient footballers. Now, if you happen to can simply run a bit additional than everybody else and move the ball from A to B, then you’ll be able to have a good profession within the Premier League. You don’t even must be that good anymore.

“You used to must have actual talent and attributes to be a high participant – you needed to be a footballer. Now you need to be an athlete. If I used to be enjoying in at this time’s recreation I’d be scoring on the similar degree as the entire high strikers. I completely consider that.

“You take a look at among the gamers in my technology, Brazilian Ronaldo for instance – is Erling Haaland actually higher than him? Thierry Henry is one other. I like Haaland however can you actually say that if you happen to put Henry or Ronaldo on this Manchester Metropolis aspect, that they wouldn’t rating on the similar price? In fact they might.

I wasn’t the perfect on this planet after I received Ballon d’Or

Michael Owen turned the fourth Englishman ever to win the Ballon d’Or when he received it in 2001, however the former Galactico doesn’t consider that he was the perfect participant on this planet when he received the award.

“I wasn’t the perfect participant on this planet after I received the Ballon d’Or,” mentioned Owen. “However in a way I used to be. Realistically I knew I wasn’t the perfect on this planet. You had the likes of Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane enjoying at the moment – there have been higher gamers than me. Nonetheless, after I stepped on the pitch I felt like I used to be the perfect. However after I sit right here at this time, I do know that there have been higher gamers than me on the time.

“I feel footballers have been extra pure again within the day. Now you need to be an athlete, you may have to have the ability to run, you need to be huge and you need to be quick. If Matt Le Tissier, probably the most gifted gamers of our time, have been enjoying at this time, would he even get right into a workforce?”

I’d’ve performed double the video games with at this time’s medical assist

Owen had a profession ravaged by accidents, most notably a tear in his proper hamstring. The previous Liverpool man claimed that had he been in a position to entry medical care of the usual that it’s in soccer at this time, he would’ve performed twice the variety of video games.

“If the state of play medically was as it’s now, then I’d have performed double the quantity of video games,” he mentioned. “And I in all probability would have received much more and scored much more objectives. I did what I did for 4 or 5 years after which I regressed, but when I had at this time’s medical assist then I’d’ve been in a position to proceed that for longer.

“In my thoughts I had one damage, I ruptured one of many hamstrings in my proper leg. Once you rupture it, it acts like an elastic band. These days, you’ll be able to have it surgically reattached, however we didn’t have that again then.

“When, on the age of 19, I snapped my hamstring and it recoiled, it principally reattached down by my knee at one finish, and by my bottom on the different finish,” he continued. “It simply naturally reattached on the nearest level. From 19 onwards I used to be working on two hamstrings in my proper leg.

“Clearly the fast impact was that I used to be out for 5 months, however I turned completely imbalanced. I had a lot extra energy in my left aspect. Over time that creates an actual imbalance so finally every thing begins to be affected out of your groins to your hips – then every thing was completely out of kilter. If I had surgical intervention straight after the sport when it occurred, who is aware of the place we’d be now.”

You may watch the complete episode right here: https://www.youtube.com/@UpFrontWithSimonJordan