As in: is he finished as an solid international-level player? I see a lot of England fans - maybe not here, but in newspaper reporting, less "informed" opinion - kind of automatically including him in any England set up, but honestly, watching him play for Newcastle, he's just not the player he was 5 years ago. He has something like 2 goals in 18 games this season. There are probably 20 or 30 forwards in the EPL I would rate above him - at least. Even on Newcastle, I think Obefemi Martins is a better, more dangerous players. This isn't to say that he couldn't potentially reclaim better form or that he should thus be ruled out forever from any England set up. But it is a call for people to look at what, realistically, Owen is as a player now. Which is not international calibre.
I would like Capello to look at striking options beyond Owen. I've been concerned about the impact injuries would have on his pace and career in general for years now. He's still capable of playing for England but I don't think he should be considered a regular starter, he's way too injury prone for that.
I definitely don't think he should be considered a starter; however, he should be in the set up some way or another. He's not old enough to toss away yet. Also, no matter how poorly he's playing at club level, he always seems to get the job done for England - which is more than I can say for several of his (international) team-mates. He might have that David Beckham affect, in the sense that you '"don''t know what you've got until its gone"
I think Owen has lost some pace and aggressiveness, however, I think he also has not had the type of service from Newcastle to maximize his abilities. Let's not write him off just yet...
Owen is a player who does depend on quality service, give him good crosses and passes and he will score even if he only has one working leg. Without that delivery he will struggle and has rarely been a player who will make goals for himself, that's nothing new. The goalscoring record at international level speaks for itself and he does not look done just yet. Why should he be called up despite only a couple of club goals? He should get the quality of service with England, which he has not been getting at the shower of a club team he plays for. So I would not take his record there too seriously. Long term there definitely needs to be a replacement who is more reliable fitness wise and can offer more outside of just finishing, although it is difficult when the alternatives keep withdrawing with injury or just don't show themselves to be better yet. The hope would be that Ashton or Agbonlahor stays fit after a callup and one of them shows they can make the leap from very good club player to good international, or a youngster like Walcott or Sinclair makes a breakthrough.
Perhaps I should qualify slightly what I originally meant: which is that he is not a QUALITY international-level player right now. In other words, people should not be ranking as above players like Andy Johnson and Jermaine Defoe. Also, I agree that service has been an issue at Newcastle. But service wasn't/isn't all that has made Owen the player he was. It was pace. Remember, for example, his goal against Argentina in '98. Can you imagine him scoring a goal like that now?
He's always thrived off of good service. Of course he has shown bursts of individual brilliance in his past. Sheer smarts of the game and positional discipline put him ahead of others in my mind. The fact of the matter is that he is older now, and has had some brutal injuries to have to come back from. You cannot expect him to maintain the kind of pace he once possesed pre-injuries.
if he had stayed at madrid none of this injury nightmare wouldve happened. newcastle is an injury graveyard. Same thing happened to Dyer and Woodgate.
My concern with Owen is that while he was never a striker to get heavily involved in build up play, on the last few occassions I've seen him play he has offered absolutely nothing when there has been no service. On Sunday I don't recall him doing anything notable outside the six yard box (although he did score and have a seemingly good goal disallowed). It might be how he's being used tactically, but he used to come deep at times and try to get involved when there was no service.
Can I just point out that Owen was England's top scorer (apart from Crouch) in the Euro2008 qualifying campaign. He has also missed half of this season with injury and despite this has scored 5 goals (plus 3 international goals) and had at least 2 valid goals wrongly disallowed (against Man U and Boro) in the last month. Talk of his demise is premature. The odds are that he will be a key player in our next qualifying campaign.
Looking at England's option beyond Owen is depressing. There's Rooney, then there's Crouch. After that there's a inconsistent Defoe who is underrated by many for good reasons. Then there's a Ashton who has injury problems and who lacks the pace to be a top international. Then there's the utterly average or even less than average players like Bent and AJ. And young and untested players like Agbonlahor, Kitson, etc. Some of whom looks promising but not promising enough to be the next Rooney or Owen. That's why it's better hoping for a fit Owen than looking for a replacement.
Um... Andy Johnson are you serious? He's been given chances against the mighty Israel and Andorra and still can't score - he's not the player he was years ago. Give Owen the ball and he sticks it in the back of the net. I agree with one thing thoug ... almost a decade ago, he was scoring great goals and he doesn't seem to have that pace anymore - but he's probably the most natural finisher in the country. If fully fit - Owen / Rooney should be an awesome combo. Beyond those two it's Crouch, Defoe, Bent, etc... Crouch has some interesting things but the latter two definitely need to develop their game in order to be international standard. Maybe the move to Portsmouth will help Defoe.
...and Kitson, when speaking about his ambitions a year or so ago, said that if he ever got called up it would mean England had serious problems. Kitson isn't exactly that young anyway at 28. He's just only been on the radar recently after his earlier career at Cambridge, Arlesey Town and ...err.. Sainburys. Depth can be a very fluid notion though, depending an awful lot on how you feel your team is playing. When things are going well you normally feel quit pleased with your back-up players. When less well, you tend to feel your squad has less depth than an article in Nuts.
so does michael owen have cause to be worried now after not even being subbed into the game? with england holding a lead, he may not have been needed today. but if england are to continue this formation, is he in trouble?
It depends on whether he stays fit and if Capello thinks he could contribute more than the odd goal to the lone striker role.
Owen needs to regain his form at club level first. The problem is playing in a shambolic Newcastle side can't exactly be doing his confidence much good.
Definately, his service at Newcastle has been horrific. Hopefully, Capello will continue to monitor him and I'm sure he realizes Owen's lack of quality service. I, personally, think Capello is trying to light a fire under Owen by not playing him today.
This was on The FA, and thought I would share what was written on it: Capello reassures Owen Copyright Press Association Ltd. Thursday, 7 February 2008 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fabio Capello insists his decision to ignore Michael Owen is not the beginning of the end of the striker's England career. Owen has been virtually an automatic choice for successive England managers for the last 10 years but in his first match in charge, a 2-1 win over Switzerland, Owen did not even make it off the bench. Capello insists, however, that by putting Owen in his squad the striker remains part of his plans and said: "I know he's a big player and if he's here it means he's still part of my plans like everyone else I selected." He added: "I don't know what will happen in the future, I know him very well and I'm interested in seeing as many players as I can. "He just needs to carry on doing what he has done so far. If he's here it means he's part of my group. "It's not because I like or dislike people. I make choices, the 23 players I have start all at the same level, there's nothing personal about my choices. "I believe it's much more important what we did on the pitch rather than talking about a single player." Capello said that he was not intimidated by the size of the task facing the England manager - on the contrary he welcomed the pressure. "I knew it was a huge job and a difficult job but I was never afraid of it. On the contrary, it stimulates me," he said.
As Cappello says we all know what Owen can do "he knows him well". Now is the time to give others a chance in friendlies now rather than throw in inexperienced players that the manager hasnt seen play in an England team when it matters as we have done in the past. Because he wanted to try out midfielders we only had one up front so it made it near impossible to include him for the sake of it. The same goes for Beckham, I really cant see why people cant see this.
agreed. i believe owen will still be integral for the team. however, it's hard to rely on someone that just can't stay healthy. you need other options, and capello will be smart to see what kind of depth he has.
Lets not forget why Michael Owen was left out, he's only scored 1 goal in the last 8 games he's played in. I'm surprised he even got on the bench. Don't get me wrong i love Owen and i love the goals he has scored every one of them were pure class, but in friendlies you have to see what other players can do.