Fergie was reported today as saying that it is hard to play Owen because he cannot drop Rooney and (I quote) “I think he’s identical to Wayne in the position he plays, which is further up the pitch with Dimitar Berbatov in your team.”

I don’t often disagree with Sir Alex but sometimes he does seem to bend facts in order to suit his argument.

Owen and Rooney are chalk and cheese.

Rooney and Berbatov are chalk and cheese.

Owen and Berbatov are chalk and cheese.

Rooney is NOT an out and out striker. Michael Owen is.

You are as likely to see Rooney dropping deep as you are to see Berbatov dropping deep. You will rarely see Owen drop deep (although he has been doing a spot of this during his time at Old Trafford, presumably to impress everyone with his workrate and commitment to the cause).

Rooney doesn’t like being the main striker and without support from the midfielders when Fergie plays the 4-5-1 formation, sometimes looks lost and frustrated.

I think Berbatov has had his chance and despite scoring a couple of goals in recent games, one was down to Rooney threading a ball through the eye of a needle to him to present him with the kind of chance that any half-decent ten year old could have finished off, the other was the fourth goal in a five goal romp.

Michael Owen had around 20 minutes in today’s FA Cup match against Leeds and was presented with a decent chance – the type he will normally tuck away. Today, he mistimed his kick and ended up scuffing the shot. This didn’t happen because Owen has lost his knack, it happened because Owen is rusty. He is not getting the minutes on the pitch.

He has spent far too much time warming the bench this season watching Berbatov who continues to frustrate and disappoint in equal measure.

I have been a staunch supporter of Berbatov. Some of his skills are sublime and he can do things with the ball that lesser players can only dream of doing but he is likely to surround the moment of brilliance with 89 minutes of very little.

I think sometimes, you have to admit that something isn’t working, no matter how much you want it to.

Berbatov is not some young and promising kid with that intangible quality we refer to as “potential”. At almost 29 years of age, he should be the finished article. What we see now is what we are going to get for as long as he continues to play.

Michael Owen is not a kid either (he’s 30) but he has shown in glimpses this season that he still has that killer instinct and I believe that with minutes on the pitch, we will see plenty of goals from him between now and the end of the season.

Of course, the ideal answer would be to bring in a young, upcoming striker with a bit of height, pace and an eye for goal but as Fergie chose not to go down that route in the Summer and has steadfastly re-iterated the stance for the January transfer window, we must make do with what we have and play to our strengths.

For me, going with Berbatov sometimes looks like we are playing with ten men.

Time to give Owen a proper run methinks.