World Cup qual. - Door not closed on Owen

Eurosport - Mon, 06 Oct 13:40:00 2008

England goalkeeping coach Ray Clemence insists Fabio Capello has not closed the door on Michael Owen's international career.

2008 England Michael Owen - 0

The Newcastle United striker was again omitted from the Italian's squad on Sunday for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Kazakhstan and Belarus despite three goals in his last four outings.

With Capello going for Emile Heskey, Wayne Rooney, Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe up front, it has been suggested Owen may not get another opportunity to add to his 40-goal tally for his county.

However, Clemence knows the Magpies' hit-man is still in Capello's thoughts and that he sent right-hand man Franco Baldini to watch him in action against Everton at Goodison Park on Sunday.

"Fabio quite rightly has said that no door is closed on any player," he said. "He just likes to see players in form and doing the things that they are good at.

"Of course it's a difficult time for Michael at Newcastle and for all the players there. Michael just needs to do what he's always done, get his head down, work as hard as he can and score goals.

"I know that Franco Baldini watched him up at Everton. Fabio was going to watch him last week, but his flight was cancelled so he couldn't get up there. He's still in Fabio's mind."

Clemence thinks those above Owen in Capello's pecking order are currently in the goals and have no reason to be axed.

"The strikers in the England squad are doing well as well. Heskey and Rooney did exceptionally well in Croatia for us," he continued.

"Peter Crouch is in form and scoring goals and Jermain Defoe is as well. So they are players that are in form.

"You can't have more than four or five strikers in the squad as well. So Fabio, at this moment in time, is going with the people that have done well for him."

Portsmouth keeper David James is expected to retain his place in goal for England's next two Group 6 qualifiers.

One of James' deputies, Robert Green, had a miserable outing in West Ham's 3-1 defeat to Bolton on Sunday, but Clemence believes the former Norwich man has still had a good season.

Clemence took in Scott Carson's display for West Brom against Fulham at the weekend and he believes his prospects of adding to his two caps have increased following his Hawthorns switch.

He said: "Certainly David James has had a little indifferent time in the last two to three weeks, but he's quality. He's been playing exceptionally well for two and a bit years.

"Robert Green I know is someone else who will be talked about this weekend having made a couple of errors, but he's been playing well all season. So no problems as far as I'm concerned.

"Goalkeepers just don't go through the season not making mistakes. It's just the good and the great make less and, of course, Robert is in the spotlight this weekend as he's made them before an England game.

"I think Robert's experienced enough to know to put them behind you. He did do. He held his hands up. He knows he's made a mistake. The good goalkeeper will put them to the back of their mind.

"For a year (Carson) was at Aston Villa and he did well there, but he was only on loan. I've seen him a number of times this year and you can see the lad's confidence growing week-in, week-out. I saw him at the weekend and he did very well against Fulham."

Sporting Life / Eurosport

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  1. Owen should be picked again. if at least not to be in­ the starting line up he could and should be used as a­ sub. Fab might be making a mistake. well he will if he­ plays Lampard over Gerrard cos Stevie is far better!!­ Bring back OWEN

    From Suzy, on Wed 8 Oct 3:49PM

  2. Owen is special for England

    From pbonabantu, on Tue 7 Oct 3:41PM

  3. Ilove Owen playing for England He is very good

    From pbonabantu, on Tue 7 Oct 3:33PM

  4. Why all the stuffs related to Owen. It's unfair to­ read all these comments / remarks. England being­ English. They will no doubt qualify from this­ relatively easy group, barring a major DISASTER. The­ problem is that, I personally don't see ENGLAND­ going beyong the QUARTER FINAL in 2010. A team­ who's got great individuals, but lacks team­ cohesion. It was there for all to see. Too many­ identical players they have had, in all positions.­ Besides, no English keeper plays for a top club, I mean­ Champions League Football.

    From Johnson, on Tue 7 Oct 9:15AM

  5. SICK TO DEATH OF THIS NOW.
    MAYBE HE USED TO BE GOOD,­ AROUND 8 OR 10 YEARS AGO.
    I'VE NEVER RATED­ HIM.
    HE'S SULKY, ARROGANT, SELFISH AND BALL­ GREEDY.
    CAPELLO IS RIGHT. HE DOES SOD-ALL EXCEPT­ OCCASIONALLY SCORE.
    NOT A TEAM PLAYER.
    SPOILT, RICH,­ BIG GIRL'S BLOUSE.
    HOPE HE NEVER PLAYS FOR ENGLAND­ AGAIN.
    NOT MUCH KOP FOR POOR OLD NUFC EITHER.
    GET OVER­ IT. HE'S FINISHED.
    DON'T CRY FOR HIM, HE'S­ MADE HIS DOSH FOR VERY LITTLE EFFORT.

    From IAN S, on Tue 7 Oct 7:05AM

  6. Gary neville also can make his comeback!!

    From yash, on Tue 7 Oct 6:43AM

  7. Owen is a spent force - only half the player he was at­ Liverpool. Beckham and Heskey too, all yesterday's­ heroes, good in their day, but all now playing for low­ grade teams. Forget the nostalgia, it's time to­ move on with some fresh blood.

    From Peter, on Tue 7 Oct 3:29AM

  8. Owen is always good, but I don't think Fab made a­ bad choice. Maybe Owen instead of Crouch. Rooney behind­ Defoe or Heskey seems to work great though. Why change­ it? Owen currently lacks the stamina to play to new­ game, constant quick runs. He still has the pace­ though.

    From Beth M, on Tue 7 Oct 2:10AM

  9. its not broken yet people so stick with for a while.­ when it comes to crunch time im confident fab will pick­ owen.
    as for all those youngsters thing, I have no­ problem with ashley young getting a go instead of­ downing, but as for agbonlahor and bentley I dont see­ any reason why they should be in the squad. walcott and­ beckham who can still do a job, are good enough on the­ right. besides bentley doesnt offer anything different­ like walcott with his pace or with becks with his work­ ethic and his deliveries. same goes for agbonlahor. too­ similar to defoe who's in good nick at the moment.­
    oh and one more thing, for all of u idiots who think­ HESKEY is bad....... F@#$ you. he's is so d***­ important. links up well with everyone except crouch­ and can knock the hell out of defenders. face it WE­ SIMPLY NEED HIM!!!!!!!

    From etu, on Tue 7 Oct 12:18AM

  10. Have none of you been following Rooney or Defoe this­ season? Rooney's form in the past couple weeks has­ been brilliant, and Defoe's been consistently solid­ all season. Whine all you want about Owen not being in­ the squad, but the answers are in the interview. You­ don't remove players who are on-form from the­ squad. I think GiggsForever got it right saying Capello­ likes the big/small striker pairing.

    That said, I­ think the youngsters should be given the chance to­ shine in games like these. Ashley Young, Agbonlahor,­ Walcott, and Bentley all deserve chances to establish­ themselves in the squad.

    From Gavin, on Mon 6 Oct 10:22PM

  11. Hmmm - brainless , how appropriate!

    From sackthemall, on Mon 6 Oct 10:19PM

  12. look on current form owen should be in the squad no­ doubt about it, on crouch he has the best goal to game­ ratio for england then any other england striker­ playing today. Onto becks will people stop bashing him­ ffs becks serves a purpose and plays with his heart and­ passion every game for england, he offers us a­ different option eachtime when we need it from set­ plays and varied passing plus he is also mentoring the­ younger players most importantly walcott who couldnt­ even make half the crosses and passes untill he started­ getting training from becks which even he and arsene­ wenger admitt so lay off the poor bloke atleast he puts­ his country first rather then him collecting another­ cap as hes said he is an england fan first and foremost­ if it means he has to sit on the bench and mentor­ players for england to do better then him playing then­ he has stated he is more then happy to do so.

    From ErikS, on Mon 6 Oct 9:37PM

  13. he ok at taking pens
    heskey and rooney, what a load of­ @#$%- overated
    beckham-too busy doing his hair
    got no­ chance of winning anything
    give the kids a go
    stop­ picking the same overated nancy boys and give some one­ else a chance who wants to wear the 3 lions with pride­ not for what they can make cash wise!

    From Les O, on Mon 6 Oct 9:32PM

  14. sackthemall. It is rather time for you to go to bed.

    From Half A Brain, on Mon 6 Oct 9:09PM

  15. Time for Capello to go - he holds grudges against­ players that are clearly better than the one (in this­ case) that he has selected. What the hell do you want­ the man to do Capello - he has scored 5 times already­ this season - select him or go !
    Totally useless!

    From sackthemall, on Mon 6 Oct 8:16PM

  16. Time for Capello to go - he holds grudges against­ players that are clearly better than the one (in this­ case) that he has selected. What the hell do you want­ the man to do Capello - he has scored 5 times already­ this season - select him or go !
    Totally useless!

    From sackthemall, on Mon 6 Oct 8:16PM

  17. i think owen should be allowed to play becasue with­ owen england is nothing, they are a plain team like­ scotland, owen has passion than any stiker in england,­ give owen chance Fab.

    From paragliverpool, on Mon 6 Oct 8:09PM

  18. i think owen should be in the line up for no one score­ gole like owen he is the best in this country right­ now.

    From Mozzy, on Mon 6 Oct 7:15PM

  19. i think owen should be in the line up for no one score­ gole like owen he is the best in this country right­ now.

    From Mozzy, on Mon 6 Oct 7:08PM

  20. I think Owen at least should be in the squad, he is a­ proven goal scorer and infact; has never let England­ down he is a class International player and i beleive­ that playing at newcastle is not helping his chances,­ no offence to nufc fans!, but he needs a better team,­ given the chances he will score goals, and to have him­ on the bench ready to come on when heskey,defoe,crouch­ goes flat after there 50 or 60 minutes of glory will­ surely do noting but benefit England?

    From paul y, on Mon 6 Oct 4:59PM
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