Liverpool idol Robbie Fowler claims he was better than former team-mate Michael Owen "in every aspect of being a striker".
The pair played alongside each other for several years at Anfield. By the time Owen burst onto the scene in the mid 1990s Fowler had already established himself as a key figure on Merseyside having come through the academy, with Owen later doing likewise.
Owen's exploits would quickly see him recognised with England and a goal in the 1998 World Cup announced him to a global audience. A Ballon d'Or would follow three years later as a result of his prolific goalscoring. Fowler never received the same accolades, nor did he pick up as many England caps, but he has no doubt he was the more impressive player.
He told William Hill's podcast, Up Front with Simon Jordan: “In all honesty, I’ve always thought I was better than Michael Owen. He was quicker than me, but in every other element of being a striker, I genuinely think I was better than him. He could say the exact opposite but that is just my opinion and my self-confidence – I was better in every aspect of being a striker.
“Michael wasn’t the best player at Liverpool when I played, but I remember him coming through at the club and you could see that he was different class. At the time I was upset not to be playing as much as him for England, but I didn’t want Michael to fail or play badly.
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"Of course, I wanted to play, but I didn’t want him to not succeed. I think Michael just thought more of England than he did of his club, whereas I thought more of Liverpool than England.”
The pair had four full seasons alongside each other before Fowler moved to Leeds in December 2001. In that period Fowler scored 51 times in all competitions with Owen finding the net on 72 occasions. Fowler's single season-best tally for the Reds was 36, eight more than Owen's best effort.
Robbie Fowler and Michael Owen were part of the same forward line at LiverpoolFowler performed for years before eventually getting the call from England, something he admits he finds "extraordinary". The Three Lions at that time were spoilt for choice in the final third with the Premier League's greatest marksman Alan Shearer among those available.
Despite what the stats say Fowler is adamant he was the premier striker in the country. “I’d scored nearly 100 goals before I was called up to England – that to me is extraordinary,” he added. “Today I’d be in the England squad in an instant with the way I was playing back then.
"England had the likes of Alan Shearer, Teddy Sheringham, Ian Wright, Les Ferdinand and Andy Cole, but I genuinely would back myself to be better than all of them. In terms of goalscoring, I was probably the best at that time."
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