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Is striker Michael Owen finished?
Media comment: The Newcastle striker is well out of the England picture, and is struggling to secure Premier League football too
There is something particularly poignant about looking at Michael Owen's career during international week," writes Matt Dickinson in the Times. For Owen is a player who has been "defined" by his performances in an England shirt, yet is now not even on the verge of selection by Fabio Capello.
"Owen's chances of an England recall rank somewhere alongside those of Joey Barton or Alan Smith, two other players swept along with all the other wreckage of Newcastle United's dismal campaign," reflects Dickinson. "But the knowledge that he has never been replaced as a striker of international repute makes it hard to resist a little daydreaming."
After all, the "hardnosed Italian" Capello has never relied on "flights of fancy", and for all Owen's recent travails on Tyneside - the longest spell of his career without a goal being one of them - he has been a world class striker of consistent form and fitness. Now he's a free agent, why aren't Premier League clubs lining up to sign up?
Well... "Owen's confidence was evidently shattered in recent months. Can it easily be rebuilt? Was he not scoring because he was playing deep, because he was not getting the chances - Sky recorded that he had just four opportunities in five games - or has the loss of extreme pace blunted him?"
Maybe Owen should look lower down the league table for a happier home. "There is plenty of life there - David James could tell him of happy times and an Indian summer at Portsmouth - but to start dropping his eyes to mid-table and below will take a huge readjustment in expectations for a player who, not too long ago, had the world at his feet."
"Perhaps," concludes Dickinson, "it is time for the rest of us to do the same: to readjust, to accept that a glittering international career of 89 caps and 40 goals has run its course; that the sight of Owen sliding the ball past a goalkeeper and wheeling away with that boyish grin is something only for the memory banks; to be thankful that we will always have Saint-Étienne. But we would do so very reluctantly." ·
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I think that Michael Owen is still the best English Striker. I hope that Benitez swallows his pride and resigns Owen for Liverpool instead of splashing out 20 m pounds for the Napoli striker. The break will do him good and he will be well rested to recover from his niggling injuries. His goals ratio per games played speaks for itself. England are happy about beating teams like Khazakstan and Andorra, which are countries that should be beaten at anytime by England no matter who plays in the team.
I think Englands true test will come out in the world cup where they will probably make the quarter finals only. Capello will regret not playing Owen eventually.