by Lewis Ambrose

We all contradict ourselves from time to time, but it takes the biscuit to completely switch your opinion over the course of two months.

It’s even worse when you are paid to offer your opinions.

Back in April former Liverpool and England striker Michael Owen was adamant that Raheem Sterling is better than Arsenal midfielder and World Cup winner Mesut Özil.

Vendetta

I refuse to believe Owen is unintelligent or doesn’t understand the game at all, but either that is the case or he has something personal against Özil if he remains unconvinced of the German’s talent.

Raheem Sterling is a highly talented young player. He carried the burden at a huge club for much of the season with other players out, and has gone some way to start proving himself on the international stage already.

However, he simply does not compare to Özil yet.

Rejected

Raheem Sterling has been in the papers ever since Owen made that huge claim, with his controversial desire to leave Liverpool all over the back pages.

Sterling has rejected a deal at Liverpool and his agent has made it very clear that he won’t be signing one no matter what terms are offered.

Now that Sterling wants to leave Merseyside?

He’s utterly replaceable, of course.

Owen has ignored all his previous hyping of a young talent to say that it is no big deal if Liverpool were to lose him.

I very much doubt he would say that of a player truly better than Mesut Özil.

Sterling has a huge amount – an amount that Liverpool would miss.

Not an amount that, at the age of 18, makes him better than Özil.

Fickle

Football is a fickle game, and fans notoriously so.

Pundits and journalists should live up to better standards than that.

Michael Owen fails to.