granted...michael owen has scored lots of goals when at liverpool and looked the most natural goalscorer we had in this country...but in the last year or so i have thought that he looks bored and has not got that spark he used to have. missing sitters, tripping over his own feet....and the only goals he does get are the ones that you would expect any international striker to get.

with defoe coming through and proving himself this season i cant see a starting place for owen in my mind.

what ya think?

altho owen scored yesterday i do thinkheslost his spark and zest for the game. he will be picked on the basis that in my opinion england arnt blessed with world class strikers.. maybe being a multi millionaire takes the edge away because beckham and co seem to have gone the same way?.

It is always good to raise these sorts of questions, but sure he should.

We did not see much of Gerrard against N.Ireland, but you know that he is world class.

Beckham did not have to try and pull out any solo magic to raise morale amongst a sometimes weary England side, but you would not take away his experience and ability.

Owen did miss agreat opportunity early on in yesterdays match, but the N.Ireland keeper had a cracking match, their best player on the day.

99 times in 100, Owen gets those goals.

Do not write him out so easily I suggest, he will be feeling the pressure.

Owen is one of Sven's favourites. He will always get the nod no matter how bad his form is. Defoe like Joe Cole and many others have been ignored for far too long and not been given a proper chance

my main point was that the england striker situation is such that owen will alwaysbe picked,good form or not.

Originally posted by Lickszz
Owen is one of Sven's favourites. He will always get the nod no matter how bad his form is. Defoe like Joe Cole and many others have been ignored for far too long and not been given a proper chance

Coming from someone who has already written Sven as another manager should leave or be sacked.

Wonder what you will say if he gets us a Trophy ?

That is one big IF. I'm not the type of person who gets carried away after one good result against a third rate side and also the fact the England are topping a extremely weak qualifying group.

As I have said elsewhere IMO England would be in no worse position than they are now if Keegan have still been in charge.

Sven's team selection leaves a lot to be desired. I read a report that Sven was hailing Joe Cole a genius but there was no mention of why he had failed to select him in his side so many times. The same applies for SWP, he should be given Beckham's shirt as he would be much more effective and would not shy away from involvement wide on the right like Beckham often does, but Sven's favourite trick seems to be to give these in form players a chance but only in a position that is totally foreign to them. This IMO is designed to make them look foolish and/or incapable and at the same time justify picking the same old players who are out of form at club level or are inconsistent at International level.

I don't actually have a problem with Owen as such and I think he should be in the squad but no position should be sacred including Owen's.

World class striker proven on the biggest stage.


Enough said.

Originally posted by Lickszz
That is one big IF. I'm not the type of person who gets carried away after one good result against a third rate side and also the fact the England are topping a extremely weak qualifying group.

As I have said elsewhere IMO England would be in no worse position than they are now if Keegan have still been in charge.

Sven's team selection leaves a lot to be desired. I read a report that Sven was hailing Joe Cole a genius but there was no mention of why he had failed to select him in his side so many times. The same applies for SWP, he should be given Beckham's shirt as he would be much more effective and would not shy away from involvement wide on the right like Beckham often does, but Sven's favourite trick seems to be to give these in form players a chance but only in a position that is totally foreign to them. This IMO is designed to make them look foolish and/or incapable and at the same time justify picking the same old players who are out of form at club level or are inconsistent at International level.

I don't actually have a problem with Owen as such and I think he should be in the squad but no position should be sacred including Owen's.


I have to agree with Lickszz on this one.
Im not going to get carried away by one win because when it comes to the big tournaments- we put pressure on the england players to perform and they always **** it up- every time.

Such is my belief that I will NEVER bet on england winning a major cup- we just are not good enough against the big teams.

Sven needs to sort his selection policy out- if Beckham and Owen are playing ****- bring some of the kids in who deserve a chance.. but Sven wont do that- and thats our biggest downfall.

Originally posted by manortopper
World class striker proven on the biggest stage.

Enough said.

Who is this then? Owen.
**** myself laughing if this is the case.

Rooney- would have to agree- our ONLY world class striker at the minute.

Nuff said.

Originally posted by venger
Coming from someone who has already written Sven as another manager should leave or be sacked.

Wonder what you will say if he gets us a Trophy ?

If Sven manages to win us the world cup... IF baby IF
And its a huge IF

But IF he manages to win it - then I would be pleasantly surprised.

Originally posted by ANGELUS
Who is this then? Owen.
**** myself laughing if this is the case.

Rooney- would have to agree- our ONLY world class striker at the minute.

Nuff said.

Explain how he isn't proven on the biggest stage then.

Originally posted by ANGELUS
Who is this then? Owen.
**** myself laughing if this is the case.

Rooney- would have to agree- our ONLY world class striker at the minute.

Nuff said.

Coming from an avid Man Utd supporter.

Oh come on!

He played well against Argentina but that was a few years back- what the hell has he done since then?

He joined Real and now hardly gets a starting place.

Rooney on the other hand- I have watched go from strength to strength- a true world class talent.

Even Pele said the kid was a genius -- never said that about Owen though???

another game goes by...another owen performance of dire finishing...the guy has just not got that killer instinct anymore. sure he will always get a few goals here and there but just like a few others..he gets picked on reputation.

defoe is the way to go...forget what has gone before...we need goals and a proven player in the penatly box.

p.s. i wud never compare rooney to owen...very different players in my mind.

Now do you see what I've been saying about Owen?

2-0 against a woeful team!
Should have been 5 or 6 in all honesty.

I'd like to see Defoe being given a chance now.

Owen is only 25, goals will come.

People debase Beckham also, look how he played last night.

Hot unhappy that Owen is missing a match though.

Owen is, without shadow of a doubt, a world-class striker.

However, he hasn't looked great recently, so it might give him a kick up the arse if he was dropped for a couple of games.

If he sees someone in his position playing well, it may freshen up his game a little.

a lot of it is down to lack of confidence at the moment i think....but if you cant feel confident and score against our last 2 opponenents then how will he do against holland, italy or france?? we may only get a couple of goal scoring chances and we need someone who will take them.

i hope he does rediscover his form...not long ago he was the most explosive english striker around....but i fear that even when he misses the next match whoever comes in will not stay in no matter how good they play.

It's good that Eriksson has a clear idea of his team and wants to stick with it, but when players obviously aren't producing the goods like Beckham and Owen it's a shame he wont change things to wake them up a bit.

No player should be indespensible.

Playing someone at international level when they are out of form and not getting regular club football is a bit daft.

Trouble is Erriksson is too scared of the newspapers (understandably considering the way particularly Bobby Robson and Graham Taylor were criticised so much) so he thinks that the papers would blow it out of all proprtion if he were to drop Owen for a couple of games.

Owen was the best finisher around until a couple of years ago and its only lack of confidence that is stopping him being that good again, and I think playing him for England while out of form is just going to dent his confidence even further.

Most of the papers seem to share the view that it might do some good to drop one or two key players for a couple of games.

I hope he does.

Originally posted by MTheo
a lot of it is down to lack of confidence at the moment i think....but if you cant feel confident and score against our last 2 opponenents then how will he do against holland, italy or france?? we may only get a couple of goal scoring chances and we need someone who will take them.

i hope he does rediscover his form...not long ago he was the most explosive english striker around....but i fear that even when he misses the next match whoever comes in will not stay in no matter how good they play.

We shall but see.

I think that owen is a player

Originally posted by polish_lady
I think that owen is a player

Yes, yes he is.

Owen played a blinder and scored against Barca yesterday, and got a standing ovation from the fans.

He's got the best goals per game ratio for Real, and is second top scorer. I really don't understand why isn't a regular starter.

Rafael Benitez has just given him an open invite back to Liverpool also.

I saw owen playing a football game one time, and he scored a goal and then he ran around saying yes yes I scored a goal and then he hugged another player who was david beckham because david beckham had passed the ball to him before he scored and then michael owen got the ball back and dribbled it and then tried to score a goal but missed and then he looked at the ground for a bit. Is this normal?