Owen left out of England squad again

As regular readers of this blog will know - I have a man crush on Michael Owen and think that his omission from the England squad is a disgrace. Luckily I'm not the only one as one of our writers agrees - here's what Charlotte Cook has to say on the matter.

This weekend saw the announcement of Fabio Capello’s 23-man squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Kazakhstan and Belarus. The squad contains few surprises, with Steven Gerrard returning at Jimmy Bullard’s expense, and the impressive Shaun Wright-Phillips taking the place of Tottenham’s frustrating new signing, David Bentley.

Furthermore, Emile Heskey and Theo Walcott, who shone in the World Cup qualifier against Croatia, both managed to retain their places in the squad. However, one particular omission may have caused some eyebrows to be raised. Michael Owen, who has played in all of Newcastle’s matches since returning from illness after the World Cup qualifiers in September, has been overlooked by Capello.

The striker has scored a total of five goals for his club since the start of the season and has been one of the few Newcastle players to impress on any level recently. Whilst he may not be the player who once lit up the 1998 World Cup with a majestic goal against Argentina, this particular omission seems particularly unfair.

After all, David Beckham, who has arguably not been at his best for years now, has once again been included in Capello’s squad. Beckham will probably not play a major part in the World Cup qualifiers but the England boss may well give him a token substitute appearance to keep the fans happy.

If the ageing LA Galaxy midfielder is allowed a place in the squad, why on earth has Capello overlooked Michael Owen, a player who was (until recently) one of the first names on any England team sheet? The Newcastle striker has only played once for the national side since Capello took over the England job and even this appearance was as a substitute. However, the simple facts and statistics are undeniable: along with his impressive goal-scoring form at club level this season, Owen’s international record of 40 goals in just 89 appearances speaks for itself.

The only person who seems to disagree with this is, unfortunately, the England boss, who believes that “it’s not enough to score goals”. Indeed, perhaps the most frustrating factor behind Owen’s omission from the latest England squad is the seemingly confused and vague reasons given by Capello.

When pressured by the press to give reasons for leaving the striker out of the squad, Capello appeared confused, asking “is he in good form now?” He followed this worrying question by claiming “goals are very important but not only goals”.

This begs the question as to what Capello is looking for from his strikers. After all, Michael Owen has always been an out-and-out striker and a great poacher of instinctive goals. This has been good enough for the manager’s predecessors but it would seem that the new boss is looking for something different.

It is true to say that Owen’s credentials as a motivator are questionable, especially when viewed in the light of Newcastle’s form this season, but with players such as John Terry and Steven Gerrard in the team, England are not lacking inspiration on the pitch. Owen’s omission is certainly a bold step by Capello but one which may not ultimately work in his favour.