SoccerManchester United joy casts a shadow over Liverpool

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Manchester United players celebrate their title victory on Saturday. (Getty Images)

Michael Owen allowed himself a smile. Nothing more, at least not publicly. It was tinged with relief, satisfaction and restrained celebration. 

While his Manchester United teammates danced and sang to their travelling fans at Blackburn's Ewood Park, Owen's body language told a different story. An unused substitute, he was at the party but didn't really know anyone.

The former England striker is finally a winner. He's won silverware before of course. UEFA Cup, FA Cup, and League Cup winners' medals were on his mantelpiece a decade ago. So was the Ballon d'Or after he was voted European Footballer of the Year in 2001.

Owen can now add the medal he coveted all along. At the age of 31, nearing at the end of a career cruelly blighted by injury, he has finally got his hands on the English Premier League trophy.

But he knows it wasn't supposed to be like this. On a day when both halves of Manchester found reason to celebrate, Owen's joy was tempered with reflection. He is well aware how United's milestone triumph will play out in the city, and at the club which made him a star.

It has been nearly seven years since Owen left Liverpool. A teenage phenomenon and Kop idol turned into a peripheral Galactico in Madrid followed by four bleak years on Tyneside. Many thought he might eventually return to Anfield. Noone thought he would end up at Old Trafford.

Owen himself admitted the call from Sir Alex Ferguson came "out of the blue." No kidding. The number of impact players who have donned the colours and both Liverpool and Manchester United over the years can be counted on the fingers of one hand.

Paul Ince was never the player for Liverpool he was for United while Peter Beardsley flourished on Merseyside after failing to make an impression at Old Trafford. It is now 47 years since forward Phil Chisnal became the last player transferred directly from one to the other.

United finally overhauls Liverpool

Liverpool's fate has been sealed for years. It was only a matter of time before United overhauled them as the most successful club in English football history. United's relentless advance on the record of their bitter rivals was as unstoppable as the incoming tide of the Mersey estuary.

This is not just another EPL Championship. This is a defining moment in the history of the world's oldest competition. It is the culmination of a career's work. Forget the knighthood, this is what Ferguson really wanted. He and his team are now the undisputed number one.

Liverpool has been powerless to respond. Gerard Houllier and Rafa Benitez both came close but ultimately fell short. The irony of Kenny Dalglish's prodigal return in time to witness history unfold will not be lost on his United counterpart.

Dalglish was the last Liverpool manager to deny Ferguson. But those were in the days before the Premier League even existed. Since then United have won 12 of the 19 Championships on offer to become the acknowledged kings of English football.

Even in Liverpool. Outside Manchester, nowhere will United's 19th English Championship resonate with more poignancy. As United prepares for an open top victory parade, the silence at the western end of the M62 will be deafening. 

All this on a day which was supposed to belong to Manchester City. The 'noisy neighbours' followed up their qualification for the Champions League by lifting the FA Cup. Twenty minutes before Roberto Mancini's upwardly mobile team stepped out at Wembley, they had already been upstaged.

City fans, though, have every reason to be optimistic. Money has that effect. In the coming seasons they can confirm their place among The Big Four, perhaps as Liverpool's permanent replacement. The offer of Champions League football will attract some of the brightest stars.

Mancini's biggest headache may be how to hang onto his inspirational captain. Carlos Tevez collected the FA Cup draped in an Argentine flag. On the way up the Wembley steps he was offered a City scarf but discarded it before being handed the famous old trophy.

Real Madrid is said to be more than interested. Jose Mourinho, thwarted by Barcelona both on the domestic scene and in Europe, is apparently keen to reunite Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo. The pair scored 45 goals between them to lead United to the EPL title in 2008.

They were also instrumental in United's last successful Champions League campaign. In less than two weeks Ferguson will lead his team out at Wembley in the 2011 final. Michael Owen might complete his medal collection by winning Europe's ultimate prize.

Had he stayed at Liverpool one more year he would have done so by now.

Follow Nigel Reed on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/#!/Nigel_Reed

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