World Cup qual. - You say: Owen for England!

Eurosport - Wed, 08 Oct 21:08:00 2008

Eurosport-Yahoo! users believe England manager Fabio Capello has made a mistake dropping Michael Owen.

2007 England Michael Owen - 0

The Newcastle man, who has scored 40 goals in 89 England appearances, was left out of the squad to face Kazakhstan and Belarus in forthcoming World Cup qualifiers.

Despite winning 4-1 in Croatia without Owen, a majority of voters in our poll thought he should have been included this time.

Poll: Should Michael Owen have been named in the squad to face Kazakhstan and Belarus?

Yes - 57%

No - 43%

6630 votes

What they said:

Fabio Capello, England manager: "A player has to do more than just score goals. To not play for 89 minutes and then score a goal is not enough."

Martin Samuel, The Times: "Should Capello have called Owen into this squad, even if he had no plan to start him against Andorra on Saturday? Taking every aspect into consideration, yes. Even if he lacks sharpness, the match against Croatia is a week away. If Capello was prepared to select Owen Hargreaves after one appearance for Manchester United this season, then surely it would have been worth having Owen in the camp, even if it was to keep him within a fitness regime that is said to be substantially more exacting than is experienced at many clubs."

Kevin McCarra, The Guardian: "For the bulk of Michael Owen's career it looked as if he would need nothing more than patience. Given the forbearance to deal with injuries and the consequent boredom of rehab, was he not bound to make history? It turns out that Fabio Capello is no believer in destiny. Or not anyone else's destiny, at any rate. Sir Bobby Charlton, mindful of decorum, could be smothering his glee at the realisation that his record of 49 goals for England might not be broken by Owen after all. Rather than wondering where and when he will score on the 10 occasions necessary to surpass that tally the striker, excluded from the World Cup qualifiers with Kazakhstan and Belarus, has first to worm himself into his country's thoughts again."

Shaun Custis, The Sun: "When Owen - England's current leading scorer, with 40 goals - was omitted from the last double-header against Andorra and Croatia, Capello claimed the hitman was not match-fit. But since then Owen has played six full games, scoring three times, and was watched by Three Lions assistant Franco Baldini at Everton. That did not persuade Capello to change his mind. He has a downer on Owen because he does not believe the frontman does enough for the team."

paul y: "I think Owen at least should be in the squad, he is a proven goalscorer and has never let England down, he is a class International player and I beleive that playing at Newcastle is not helping his chances! 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 go flat after 50 or 60 minutes of glory will surely do noting but benefit England."

wrigavin: "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 you don't remove players who are on-form from the squad. Capello likes the big/small striker pairing."

petertilley: "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."

Eurosport

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  1. everyone have their luck..fools!!!!..

    From mean_maroon, on Thu 9 Oct 8:02PM

  2. Owen is 28, give the boy a chance. He has got a good 5­ years left in him yet. I hope we buy him in January and­ get rid of useless Bendtner.

    From Billy, on Thu 9 Oct 6:41PM

  3. I dont think its anything to worry about, if owen stays­ fit and playing there is no way they wont take hi to­ the world cup, he is too goodto ignore. As to the­ people saying hes past it...correct me if im wrong but­ hes what...29 30? Thats hardly retiring age.

    From wez, on Thu 9 Oct 4:55PM

  4. steve carol you @#$%!!! owen is as good as any striker­ when hes fit

    From sjones435, on Thu 9 Oct 5:39AM

  5. Owen is well past his sell by date, scoring goals - yes­ overall team contribution - No

    From d.arthur, on Thu 9 Oct 4:54AM

  6. owen is a proven goalscorer and has always produced in­ the big games capello's the one that needs dropping

    From pgilluley, on Thu 9 Oct 4:17AM

  7. have you read the illiterate ignorant stuff that winds­ up on these message boards? if yahoo users believe owen­ should play, then it's a dead cert that he­ shouldn't.

    From lanegold, on Thu 9 Oct 4:05AM

  8. As a forigner whos national team have won the world cup­ several times it tickles me to see how unpatriotic the­ England supporters are. You spend so much time bickerng­ about your two finest players Lampard and Gerrard. If­ you got behind your national team instead of getting­ lost in your petty minded club battles then these two­ great player may learn to play well together and would­ make your national team awesom. As far as I am­ concerened keep the bickering up and the fans devided­ and the rest of the international countries will­ prosper at your expense. Thank God for Liverpool­ Arsenal Man ut and Chelsea they keep you national side­ divided because their fans are unable to truly support­ the national team as long as players from these sides­ are in the National side. Other nations see England­ fans for what they are a biggeted bunch of divided­ morons.

    From Sadoldgit, on Thu 9 Oct 3:51AM

  9. As a forigner whos national team have won the world cup­ several times it tickles me to see how unpatriotic the­ England supporters are. You spend so much time bickerng­ about your two finest players Lampard and Gerrard. If­ you got behind your national team instead of getting­ lost in your petty minded club battles then these two­ great player may learn to play well together and would­ make your national team awesom. As far as I am­ concerened keep the bickering up and the fans devided­ and the rest of the international countries will­ prosper at your expense. Thank God for Liverpool­ Arsenal Man ut and Chelsea they keep you national side­ divided because their fans are unable to truly support­ the national team as long as players from these sides­ are in the National side. Other nations see England­ fans for what they are a biggeted bunch of divided­ morons.

    From Sadoldgit, on Thu 9 Oct 3:50AM

  10. Stevcarol: "I think (capello) still lacks the­ basics of football" - Moron!! Stop posting on­ football sites if you dont know the slightest thing­ about the game! Words fail me as to how stupid some of­ the posters on here are.

    From godmachine78, on Thu 9 Oct 3:45AM

  11. Let's face it, I think no one would argue with­ Rooney being first choice. Coz he scores his fair share­ and gives much more to the team. And then there's­ Crouch and Heskey both of whom are never going to score­ enough goals but will work hard. And Defoe hasn't­ proved himself in an England shirt and needs about 10­ chances to score once. Plus, apart from Agbonlahor, I­ can't think any other fringe players. Ashton's­ injury prone, Bent and Johnson are too similar to Defoe­ and we all prefer Defoe. That leaves us with MICHAEL­ OWEN. Who is still 28 or 29. And if given good service­ goals will come. Even without good service he is a born­ predator and can sniff out goals. SO COME ON Capello,­ what more do you need? I wonder if any of the other­ strikers would have scored if they were in Owen's­ shoes at NEWCASTLE at this moment.

    From etu, on Thu 9 Oct 3:25AM

  12. Capello's comments are funny. Scoring a goal is NOT­ enough for him. After all, 22 players and the people­ watching the match in stadium and on TV expect a goal­ at any time during 90 minutes. He must understand why a­ SUBSTITUTION is made, to score goal or to play maximum­ players or just a formality. I think he still lacks the­ basics of football..

    From stevcarol, on Thu 9 Oct 3:20AM

  13. WALCOTT can do OWENS job.............he's younger,­ OWEN has had his chance, it's time to give the­ younger lads a chance!!

    From Richie, on Thu 9 Oct 3:04AM

  14. Fabio Capello, England manager: "A player has to­ do more than just score goals. To not play for 89­ minutes and then score a goal is not enough." -­ What the f*uck should a striker acomplish to please­ Capello.I think Capello doesn't know about true­ english values in football.

    From dorinb, on Thu 9 Oct 2:44AM

  15. he'll get over it

    From nicholasbnjmn, on Thu 9 Oct 2:23AM

  16. should linekar have not played for us then? after all­ he 'only seemed to score goals....'

    From Matty, on Thu 9 Oct 2:17AM

  17. its simple, michael owen's time is over.
    let the­ young ones come through.

    From spurs, on Thu 9 Oct 2:16AM

  18. Rooney should be left out. Owen should play. Stupid­ Fabio

    From Suzy, on Thu 9 Oct 1:46AM

  19. I believe Owen will be in the great form as soon as­ possible...

    From PZ 10, on Thu 9 Oct 1:37AM

  20. capello make right decision.....
    i as england fan have­ seen more talanted striker can be line up rather than­ owen....

    From Cristiano D, on Thu 9 Oct 1:08AM
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