Owen's New Year Cheer

1998 was a year Michael Owen won't forget in a hurry but as the Liverpool star told Shoot, the Liverpool striker's hoping for an even better 1999!

Since then he's gone on to hit umpteen Premiership goals for his club, become the younest player to start for England this century and, of course, light up his country's World Cup with those superb performances against Romania and, especially, Argentina.

In fact shince that extraordinary Second Round goal Owen's life has gone mad and so it came as no surprise to anyone, when, just a day before his 19th birthday, Michael was named BBC Sports Personality Of The Year, beating off established stars like Denise Lewis, Iwan Thomas and Tony Adams to claim the award.

But what about 1999? How on earth can he top a year of such critical acclaim? And does his mantelpiece have enough room for anymore awards?

Michael was recently at John Moores University in Liverpool helping Umbro develop their footie boot technology. Shoot was there too and we took the chance to ask him about his aims for the coming year.

"I want to win things with Liverpool,"he told us."Personal accolades are nice but thyey can't beat the feeling of winning a major trophy with Liverpool."

Do you expect more from your partnership with Robbie Fowler in 1999?

"I expect it to go from strength to strength this year. Our goals to games ratio is good and I think we have been pulling our weight in the games so far this season. But a strike partnership takes time to develop as you have to look at what runs your partner is looking to make and the more we play together the easier it is. You can learn certain things on the training ground but it is matches where you pick the important stuff up."

And what about Alan Shearer at international level? "I don't know the ins and outs of Alan Shearer's game yet so I think our England partnership will get better this year. It is still building up but you learn things as you go along and we need time to gel. To be honest, I don't know why people say I can't play with Alan because it takes more than three or four games to get adjusted. But with Dion Dublin and Ian Wright playing so well together against the Czech Republic, I can't believe I am guaranteed an England place anyway."

Are you all happy with new boss Gerard Houllier? "Gerard has not made any drastic changes since he's taken over from Roy Evans but he has added his little bits. He's brought in new staff to deal with the fitness and the weights routine and things like that. Hopefully that has, and will continue to, make us a better team. Maybe in 2000 we will be better odds for the title than we were this year, but we are not looking for next year, we want to win the league and cup in 1999. That is what we are looking to do as a team."

Apart from your team-mates, which other Premiership players do you rate? "I reckon David Ginola is the man to look out for in 1999. From what I have seen so far, he is looking in great form. He certainly is a big threat and your have to work ahrd on trying to stop him getting dangerous balls into the box. He has pace and a few tricks, so stopping him isn't going to be easy."

Some people say you just rely o your pace. What do you think? "I've heard people say that defenders will find a way of dealing with my pace as time goes on but I don't think my speed is my only skill. It's certainly an asset in modern day football, but you don't have to be a fast runner to be a great player. We have a few players at Liverpool who aren't sprinters but they are still excellent players. It's great to have it but I hope to prove I am about more than just my pace."

Are there any young Reds to look out for in 1999? "If there's one Liverpool player I would tip to be a success in 1999 it would be midfielder Steve Gerrard. He has already made his full Liverpool debut against Tottenham and he has come through the ranks with me, so it was nice to see him getting his chance with the first team after having to wait for awhile. Having played with him in the youth ranks I know he is definitely going to be a star for the future."

1999 is a big year for England, isn't it? "1999 is a big year for England. We haven't made the best of starts to our Euro 2000 qualifying campaign but we will qualify, I have no doubts about that. We won the last qualifying game against Luxembourg and it was a great result to win away. We still have a few hard games to go but we all believe we will still qualify and that is the main aim now rather than the style and manner of our performances."

How do you think the Premiership is shaping up this season? "It's pretty exciting this season because there are plenty of teams in with a shout of winning the title. It's not just the usual sides this season because Leeds, Villa and even West Ham have entered the fray. Everybody seems to be taking pints off each other and that gives us heart because we're a bit off the pace at the moment."

Finally, have you set yourself any targets for this season? "I don't usually set myself targets because anything can happen in this game, such as injuries or even suspensions that can keep you out of the game. I know it's a bit of cliche but I do take each game as it comes - you can't do anything else. My ratio is pretty good at the moment and all I know is that I must keep that up when I'm in the team. If Liverpool are going to win things they need the strikers like myself, Robbie, Karl Heinz and even Patrik to score out fair share of goals."

Copyright � 1998-1999 Christy Chan. All rights reserved.