Graeme Souness has compared the budding partnership between Michael Owen and Alan Shearer with the legendary Kenny Dalglish and Ian Rush combination which once fired Liverpool to domestic and European domination. United's duo have now claimed 14 goals between them and have quickly established themselves as one of the most lethal pairs in the Premiership. Sadly, the two will only line up together for one season as Shearer will retire in the summer, but it is a pairing their manager intends to savour after getting Newcastle's season back on track since that defeat at Wigan in the Carling Cup. He said: "At half time someone mentioned how dangerous Michael and Alan looked together. I said: `I wish they were both 25'. "I've worked with some great strike partnerships both as a manager and a player. I think Kenny (Dalglish) and (Ian) Rush were a very special partnership. Similarly, (Roberto) Mancini and (Gianluca) Vialli were two great attackers who complemented each other well. Michael and Alan are in that class. You couldn't slide a piece of paper between any of those players. In terms of their football, they all gave something very special to their teams. "Michael is Mr Goals, whatever he cost, it was worth it. I think the game against Argentina a month ago showed what he is about. You keep him quiet all game long and then, in the last couple of minutes, he pops up with a couple of match-winning goals. "It was the same in this game. West Ham no doubt thought they were keeping him quiet, but he came up with goods. "I could sense that their back four were very nervous about playing against Michael Owen and Alan Shearer. They know that, as well as being exceptionally quick, Michael has an incredibly sharp footballing brain. "He generally gets the ball quicker than the defender because he's anticipating what's going to happen. As well as showing incredible pace on the pitch, he thinks so quickly as well. "He's a greedy little so-and-so but all top centre-forwards have to be like that. "He's got that sixth sense that tells him where the ball's going to be. As a striker, that's the most valuable asset you can have." | 
