"Michael is the type of player that if you had 90 games, he would want to play in 91."
—Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier

"He is very good on the ball, is intelligent and scores goals, but also very quick and can run in behind defenders. I am very happy if he wants to be the new Alan Shearer."
—English national coach Sven-Goran Eriksson

"He's a born goal scorer, a killer. A clean killer. It's an odd and potent combination. Owen is invariably polite, never pops off in the press, and says he doesn't drink beer, tea or coffee."
—Eriksson

"Nobody knows how fast he is until they play him. He has games when everything he touches turns to gold."
—U.S. goalkeeper Brad Friedel

"He's so driven to improve. That's not common among English players. Sometimes when you're too good too young, it's hard to find the motivation to improve. Michael isn't like that."
—Liverpool teammate Dieter Hamm

"He's the most exciting thing to happen to English soccer in years. Rarely have I seen someone accomplish so much in so little time."
—former Liverpool manager Roy Evans