Sam Backs Owen To Get Him Some Revenge

Last Updated : 05-Sep-2007 by
Tal Ben Haim turned down Newcastle to join Chelsea.

Allardyce: "Tal will be up for it, but his concentration will have to be 100%.

"It doesn't matter whether Michael is in the game or not. If his team-mates find him the right ball, he will find the right space.

"I think he (Ben Haim) will be asked to do a man-to-man marking job, but he will have a difficult job marking Michael all game because he's the master at finding space, whether that's at the start of a game or at the end, as he proved against Wigan (at the weekend, when Owen lost his marker to head an excellent 87th-minute Premier League winner).
 
"It isn't often that a player has the instincts that Michael possesses, instincts that will - as in the match against Wigan - lead him to make a run across his defender on the near post in the hope Obafemi Martins would cross the ball first time.

"That's what Michael's all about, it's something he has been blessed with. That's what makes him such a good goalscorer.

"Tal's had a great start at Chelsea. It's a shame he didn't come to Newcastle. I'll never forgive him for that.

"Tal will have grown in confidence and stature at Chelsea and he will make it difficult for Michael. But if can get that one goal that he seems to keep getting for us at the moment, it could well be the winner."