Michael Owen has revealed he was in ‘flood of tears’ when Liverpool fans booed him when he returned to Anfield after leaving them – the same treatment Trent Alexander-Arnold got at the weekend.
The Reds defender received a hostile reception by large numbers of supporters when he was a second-half substitute during his side’s 2-2 draw with Arsenal, being booed when he came on and at various other times in the game.
He revealed last week that he will leave the club after 20 years in the summer, with it likely he will join Real Madrid on a free transfer with his contract expiring in a few weeks’ time.
Owen too played for Liverpool, starring for the club after joining before he was a teenager and making well over 200 appearances before departing in 2004.
He then left Anfield for Real Madrid after winning the likes of the Ballon d’Or at Liverpool, but returned to the Premier League after a year when he joined Newcastle and, when he played against Liverpool for the Magpies, fans didn’t take well to his return – which was first in 2005.
Speaking to Premier League productions, the former forward has opened up on his own experience, admitting it hard hard to take.
Michael Owen has revealed he was left in ‘floods of tears’ when he was booed by Liverpool fans at Anfield
Trent Alexander-Arnold copped that treatment when after announcing he will leave the club
Owen was jeered by his former club’s fans when he returned with Newcastle having left
Owen said he and his parents were all crying in the players’ lounge after his Anfield return
‘For his own people to boo him, it’s a big lump in your throat,’ Owen said. ‘I remember sitting in the players’ lounge after playing against Liverpool for Newcastle. Parents, myself, all in floods of tears because I’d just been booed by my own people.
‘And I struggle to comprehend it nowadays and I’m probably the closest person on the planet who knows what it feels like to be in Trent’s shoes. He’ll be mortified.
‘Trent will leave now, it’s his second to last game, maybe his last game, there were people that booed him and you can’t get that out of your head. Despite what’s happened for the last 20 years of his life of pure adulation.
‘The one thing I remember now is I forget a lot but think they booed me at the end and it just makes you feel absolutely sick for what you did for the club.’
Alexander-Arnold himself hasn’t spoken out on the boos but did applaud the fans at full-time. He also didn’t react when coming on.
Team-mates and fellow defenders Virgil van Dijk and Andrew Robertson did, however, give their views on his impending exit, with van Dijk sending a clear message that ‘there is no other place to be at this point’.
Robertson, meanwhile, said: There is a lot of emotion around it and I think it’s crucial in these moments that I don’t tell you how to feel and you don’t tell me how to feel about it.
‘I’m disappointed to lose my best mate in the game. We’ve done it all together. He’s an amazing player, an amazing person, and, yeah, he’s made me a better player and that’s from the bottom of my heart. He’s took me to levels I never knew existed. He kept pushing me through the good years and he’s made a choice. I think his legacy at the club is there for everyone to see. The trophies he’s won, the moments he’s had in history will always be there.
