He was ****e most of the time he played for England and there were better options. Unfair to expect the England managers to keep picking a player who wasn't performing although they did give Heskey more than 50 caps! As Shergar says, he was past his best by the age of 23. There were other equally good strikers who don't get half the praise heaped on Fowler by the Liverpool fans and Phil Thompson!
Indeed. Andy Cole got the same England treatment and is also not rated outside of his club. I think Fowler gets elevated by Liverpool fans as he was the opposite to Owen, who's main ambition was clearly always England. They resent Owen for that and hate him for leaving, heaping too much praise on Fowler who ultimately did not realise his potential.
That, and Fowler was a Liverpool fan who stuck at the club long after he'd been replaced by Owen and Heskey. He effectively clung on until Houllier forced him out, whereas pretty much every other decent Liverpool striker of the past twenty years has disappeared as soon as a superior team came along with an offer. And tbh I never really rated Cole or Fowler all that highly. I would definitely put both of them in the second tier of PL strikers, with a lot of better players ahead of them.
I think both Cole and Fowler were around in a very strong era for England strikers, with the likes of Shearer, Sheringham and eventually Micheal Owen coming on the scene. They were always going to struggle for opportunities
Crickey, never thought I'd have to defend Fowlers status as a legend. The lads the fourth highest scorer in PL history, and he did most of that with us. His last few seasons at the club were hit with injury and being out of favour with the gaffer. In his penultimate season he was instrumental in our winning the treble. I do think that he's one of those players who would only play as well for one club, and was nowhere near the same player at city and Leeds, so I do accept that over his career he underachieved. However for us, he was never anything other than brilliant, look at the stats and it'll back me up. Club legend.
If you look at the stats he scored around 80 goals in his first four PL seasons, then 80 goals in the next fourteen. I don't think anyone's denying he was a great player for Liverpool, but 160 goals in 18 seasons is not a performance of a great player overall, and he never fully realised that early promise. In terms of his impact in the PL, I still think he's a second tier striker alongside the likes of Cole and Ferdinand, and a long way behind the top forwards like Shearer, Henry, Zola, Cantona, Rooney, Hasselbaink, Sheringham, Bergkamp, RVN and others.
