Owen inching closer to England recall

Oliver Kay, Football Correspondent

Some time over the next few days, Michael Owen will receive a text message that tells him that he is in the pre-selection squad for England’s match against Brazil on November 14. Nothing new in that, but, perhaps for the first time in almost 18 months, the Manchester United forward has cause to wonder if it will be followed on Sunday evening with another text telling him that he has made the final cut.

A convincing performance and a goal against CSKA Moscow in the Champions League tomorrow evening would add to the media clamour behind Owen, but for now Fabio Capello, having examined the case for recalling him, is entitled to conclude that a rethink is not required.

Capello made headlines last week by describing Owen as his “tormentor”, prompting some to wonder whether the England manager has been having sleepless nights about the forward’s irresistible form.

But those close to the England manager suggest that, while he brought up the United player in response to questions about Antonio Cassano, the bête noire of Marcello Lippi, the Italy coach, the two situations are not comparable because, whereas Cassano is playing wonderfully for Sampdoria, Owen has yet to make an entirely convincing case.

It is a while since Owen has looked as confident as he did in embarking on a slalom run before shooting into the bottom corner during United’s Carling Cup tie away to Barnsley last Tuesday, but that goal was no basis for an international recall.

Throw in an expertly taken stoppage-time goal against Manchester City in September, the fifth of United’s five goals away to Wigan Athletic in August and some sharp, confident, intelligent movement and a case begins to emerge, but by no means is it irresistible.

Sir Alex Ferguson was correct recently when he said that England have “a dearth of really top strikers” and suggested that Capello would not be in a position to overlook Owen if he was fully fit and on form. The United manager is delighted with the progress made by his free-transfer signing and feels that Owen will, in time, prove an inspired acquisition.

Capello should keep an open mind on Owen and one suspects that he will.

By the time that international football resumes in February and March, and the World Cup build-up starts in earnest, he will hope that the forward is “tormenting” him in much the same way as Cassano is making life difficult for Lippi.

A fully fit, on-form Owen would demand a recall, but at the moment Capello is entitled to say that he has not seen enough.

Comments

[Richard]

Please stop talking about Owen as if he is recovering from an injury. Recovering from life at Newcastle and a long-term slump in goal scoring perhaps, but he is "fully fit", just not on form- and frankly not currently as good as he was.

[Brian]

We cannot have Owen back he does not bring enough to the party.
Rooney, Defoe, Crouch, Heskey & Cole are fine if any of the above are unfit or injured please promote from the youth teams, anyone but Owen!
Don't you remember all the partners that just didn't work with Owen up front for England.
Don't you remember how as soon as Liverpool could play anyway they liked rather than to the strengths of Owen they won the Champions League.
Don't you remember that Owen did not do it in Spain.
Please Please can we move on.

[Nicky D]

If Owen is fit for the world cup finals and has scored a convincing number of goals for Man United during the season he will go there as the fourth striker behind Rooney,Heskey and Defoe. He is a better player and more importantly a better option than Crouch or the in form Cole. Capello doesn't rate Crouch as he knows he brings very little to the party unless it's a party against the minnows of world football where he will then duly fill his boots.

[Joey]

Owen 'did not do it in Spain'??
Do we remember his goals to games ratio - Best in the league as I recall. I'd rather have Owen baring down on goal in the world cup semi finals than Carlton Cole. No disrespect intended but Owen has done it, and will continue to do it against top class opposition.

[Sam B]

the problematic thing is, inspite of some of the daft heads saying he's past, or "didnt do it in spain" (check your homework before making statements like that please), its hard to get away from the fact that, at 1-1 in a world cup game, a ball into the box drops to one of the england strikers. its hard to resist the temptation to say that, even now, there is no one you would rather see it drop to than michael owen. even ahead of rooney. 40goals in 89games tells you all you need to know about how good he is at it.

[Phil]

" No disrespect intended but Owen has done it, and will continue to do it against top class opposition.
"

Whens the last time he has "done it"?

I can't remember a goal he has scored against a top 4 side in about 5 years!?

[Phil]

He can't even get a game ahead of Berbatov. He can't even break into the United team.

How can anyone think he has done anywhere near enough to get an England call?

[Matt]

Picture this, World Cup quarter final, England vs Brazil. The game is level at 1-1 and one of our players goes through on goal. Would you want it to be:
a) Carlton Cole
b) Peter Crouch
c) Marcus Bent
d) Michael Owen

To be honest I think I'd rather Owen than Defoe, Heskey (obviously) or Rooney bearing down on goal.

The point is not whether Owen is a better player than others available, but who is going to have the biggest impact for England and give us the best chance of progressing, or (v doubtful) actually winning. Owen has played in World Cups before, and performed at major championships before. He will not freeze, he will not bottle it. I'd take him.

[Jim Regan]

"I can't remember a goal he has scored against a top 4 side in about 5 years!?"

I believe he scored against City just a few months ago ;-)

[andy]

wow... can you please write a similar post about strikers who are scoring? agbonlahor, darrent bent, carlton cole. powerful, dangerous players who lead their team out every week in lesser team. imagine bent or cole in united. does anyone think owen could bench either of them if it was based on form?

please do this instead. forget the name and call him x. 29 yr old back up striker who has for the past five yrs been the most dissapointing player for his old club. who was considered a gamble only a few months ago no one was willing to take the risk except an orange manager and fergie. the risk has yet to pay off for his club.

also the numbers are good. 40 goals bla bla bla. since that goal in france, he has never stood up when it mattered even though we showed faith in him EVERY SINGLE TIME. when he was 50%, coming off an injury with no time to get fit. why do we always have this messiah complex? we cant win it without becks. we cant win it without rooney even though they just came off term injuries. this mentality is what keeps holding england down as a team and for the first time in ages a manager who actually lets what he watches influence his choices. can you imagine an english manager brave enough to rightly ignore owens pathetic form the past few years?

heres what we need. belief in the guy who is the difference between the form of the england team of the past 20 decades and now. capello. this team is ruthless, confident and without fear. he has brought out the best in the real players who are key to this team, gerrard and lampard. defoe, a younger, faster and if anyone is truly honest twice the player owen can ever become in his age and state has been banging them in for club and country. this is the guy you want in this team not owen, his a shadow of your memories, biased ones too.

one more thing about capello. for the first time he has been able to completely ignore people like this "journalist" and pick his team his way. get results his way. name one england manager who has managed to do that and get away with it? he doesnt need their "help" he is the one thing the england team has needed for ages. a man with principles. if he sticks to them, he will take us far.

[Andy]

Actually Owen did do it in Spain, he had a better goals per game ratio than any of the other forwards for R.Madrid. What he lacked was starts. He was a fan favourite because he scored goals against top opposition at a time when Ronaldo (the real one) and Raul weren't cutting it themselves. But these were the favourites of a poor management structure so they got the nod.

At Newcastle he was desperately unlucky with injuries and it remains to be seen if he's still good enough after having so many. But if he is fit and on form he's a far more reliable scorer than any other England forward. His record at international level is above reproach and that's the reason why people hope he's back to his old best. If we felt confidence in Rooney and Defoe, maybe things would be different, but if he's fit he's certainly a better choice than any of the other forwards England has to choose from. A goal every other game at international level is not the kind of quality you can ignore if he's recaptured that form.

[there there]

baggy. too baggy

[Andy]

Owen is a far surer bet if we need a goal than any England forward, but only if he's fit at the end of the season.

As for not cutting it when it matters, that is laughable. He scored the goals that got us to 2 world cups and a European championship. Hardly can be blamed for not scoring for McClaren when he spent that season injured.

And that's the key, injury. He spent too long at Newcastle injured to be a certainty for South Africa. Also if he is 3rd or 4th choice at United, then he may not get the games to score goals and stay fit.

But if I had the choice between ANY England forward when we were a goal down, Owen fit on the bench would be the person to call on. Every time. He's certainly more clinical than Rooney, Defoe or Heskey.

It's laughable to suggest we need Heskey and Crouch. One might be useful for a different approach but neither represents anything but long ball kick and hope football.

Owen is a clinical finisher who can run with the ball if necessary.

I believe Rooney and Defoe have the potential to be better, but Rooney in particular is still a kid and I don't trust him against opposition that can wind up hot headed players. Argentina, Portugal and Italy are masters at reducing the opposition to 10 men. Owen will mug the opposition like he did against Roma, Barcelona and Portugal. Incidentally he was the player who pulled us level against Portugal IN Portugal.

[Joe Blogs]

Listen...Capello described Owen as his 'torment' precisely because of this type of article. Its the media he is being tormented by not any anguished indecision he feels over whether or not to pick the player. Owen has retained his good movement and has looked sharp but he's actually been relatively poor in front of goal this season if you look at his goals to chances ratio. If this improves then he has a chance but I would suggest Defoe would be picked over him if fit anyway. Having said that, if Defoe is injured then I would certainly pick Owen over the likes of Agbonlahor and Bent

[Liam]

Please, this has to be a joke. We do not need Owen in the squad - he has nothing to offer anymore. Just because he plays ( very rarely i may add ) in a red shirt does not mean he deserves a place in the England squad. Let's move on. We all know he's passed it.

[CousteauDives]

Capello is in a great position. Owen's role for Man U is identical to the one he would play for England, if he gets the nod. All Capello has to do is watch how Owen goes as an 'impact sub' for Man U - playing against motivated, and sometimes very good, defences for the rest of the season. That will tell him a lot more than how he does in a meaningless run-out against Brazil. Capello is too smart to turn down a free option like this. Personally, I expect Owen to do well over the rest of the season in the role Ferguson has put him in. The fact that he doesn't start for Man U is irrelevant - he's not going to start for England either. You could even argue that it is a strength, because he'll have had a whole season to get used to coming on with 20 minutes to go, and making an impact - and playing with Wayne Rooney. If Capello's got a better option, having seen how Owen goes in this role - then he picks the better option over Owen. Easy!

[Andrew Andrews]

As long as Fabio Capello is England coach, Owen will not play for England. Owen needs the whole team to be playing for him and if he is not scoring, he contributes liitle to the general play of the team and is said to be lacking in a basic tactical knowledge. Another reason goes back to his days at Madrid, when instead of fighting for his place on the training ground, he threw his toys out the pram and asked for a transfer. This was deemed to demostrate a lack of character at the time. His transfer to Newcastle was the only game in town as none of the "big" teams showed any interest in him. Let us not forget that Owen never scored more than 19 league goals (once) in a season. the 20 goals a season player was Fowler. Owen fans should not hold their breath.

[Damien]

If Owen goes, it will be to take part in the pens.

One thing I would say is that taking the likes of Carlton Cole, Heskey etc. is the same as taking

Fowler and Vassell in 2002.....
Wallcot in 2006.....
Steve Bull in 1990...... etc. etc. etc.

They are just making up the numbers and do not have the knack of scoring goals at the highest level, in the knock out games against first tier opposition.

Therefore, Fab is setting our strikers up to ensure a modicum of ball retention, not to score goals.

See how we go with that then.

We should practice penalties in front of the crowd at every drawn friendly.