Cast your minds back if you can, to the 2001 FA cup final. Freddie Ljungberg has just given Arsenal a 1-0 lead against Liverpool with about 20 minutes remaining. Arsenal have completely dominated the game but squandered a host of chances and been denied a blatant handball by Stephane Henchoz. It still seems as though Arsenal will see out the game. Then suddenly a 21 year old English striker pops up to score a quick fire brace to clinch the trophy for Liverpool. The name of the striker? Michael Owen.
Yes that’s right Michael Owen. The same Owen who in the same year will score a hattrick against Germany in Munich and go onto win the Ballon D`or, thus confirming his status as the world’s primary marksman. The same Michael Owen who ten years on, languishes on the Manchester United bench.
He has stated in the past week that he has not given up on his England career and feels he has unfinished business with the national team. He feels he can offer England something, yet paradoxically is content to be the fifth choice striker at United. It is this contradiction which is so bemusing.
He is fully aware that one of the conditions of Capello`s stringent selection criteria is a player must play for his club regularly before selected for national duty. Is he waiting for Capello`s departure so he can be reinstated into the England fold? If he is then he should be warned things will not be so simple. Even Redknapp, the favourite to succeed Capello has expressed his understanding with Owen being frozen out. Assuming Owen does not participate in Euro 2012 then he will be 34 by the time WC 2014 comes around, hardly a spring chicken.
Can he seriously believe he deserves an England spot, when he is more than happy to play second fiddle to the likes of Danny Welbeck? Even at his own club he is the third choice English striker, so to say he harbours hopes of an England recall smacks of naivety and arrogance. His double against Leeds showed he still retains that razor sharp finishing, but these were goals scored in the carling cup against lower league opposition. A far cry from the days he could terrorise Lucio into a mistake.
To watch a young Owen in action was a sight to behold. Think of Javier Hernandez only considerably better. He was a striker who blended the pace of Walcott with the finishing of Torres. After exploding onto the stage in 1998 he would net in four consecutive major international tournaments. His prolific Liverpool career culminated in a galactico move to Madrid only for Newcastle to snap him up after one season.