Paris is sexy and single!
"I made Amy a junkie"
Britain's best surfers
I'm more than a pair of boobs!
X Factor Rachel's story
LAST CHANCE SALOON - Michael Owen must perform today or kiss his England career goodbye
LAST CHANCE FOR MICHAEL OWEN
Fabio Capello fires warning to out-of-favour striker
MICHAEL OWEN’S England future will be decided at Goodison today.
Three Lions boss Fabio Capello has confessed he will determine Owen’s international fate tonight — after struggling Newcastle’s match with Everton on Merseyside.
It means the one-time automatic choice to lead the England attack is now reduced to an also-ran, sweating on even getting a call up for the World Cup qualifiers against Kazakhstan and Belarus.
Sidekick
That’s how far England’s one-time golden boy has fallen out of favour.
Especially when it’s revealed that Capello won’t even be the one checking out Owen — he’s sending sidekick Luca Baldini to report back.
But the England chief has sent a clear message to Owen — warning that even a goal-scoring display may still not be enough to earn him the nod.
Capello confessed: “He’s in good form and fit but it’s not enough only to score.
“Yes, goals are very important but not only the goals.
“Players who have not played for 89 minutes then score a goal - it is not enough.”
So Baldini has been instructed to run the rule over Owen’s all-round game.
Capello explained: “When I watch games I follow the players and try to find out about their movement, positional play and are they fit enough? I decide on my 23 players, not because I like or dislike them personally but on who I think is the best player at the moment.”
Dismal
Owen’s case is not helped by Newcastle’s dismal form, another factor that clearly concerns Capello. The Italian watched Owen on TV last weekend and couldn’t ignore the fact the striker is in a struggling side.
He said: “It’s not a good time for Newcastle and sometimes it depends a lot on the team’s results if you’re playing with confidence or form.
“You play better if all the team play well. So we have to decide - you have to wait! You have to wait until eight o’clock on Sunday night.”
One player who is spared the waiting game is new wonderboy Theo Walcott. The 19-year-old’s hat-trick in Croatia may have guaranteed him a starting position.
And that’s added bad news for Owen because Capello is clear he wants to give the Arsenal star a prolonged run in the side.
Capello added: “Walcott played a fantastic game against Croatia but I also thought he played well against Andorra.
Performance
“Now I hope he produces another good performance. I said after Croatia that everyone would now be expecting the same display every time, but it’s not always possible.
“There will be a fantastic performance, then other times it will be normal and others times not so good so that’s when I substitute him — but it’s the same for the other players.
“I will help him when the performance is not good and that is the most important thing. But I hope I don’t have to because that means he’s playing well. I think when you find a young player like this then he has to play with the seniors. Age is not important, what’s important is the quality. Maradona played when he was 16 because he was ready. Now Theo is ready for sure.”
We have to check every comment before we can allow it to be published. But don't worry, we've got a team on it 24/7 - so check back soon! Please note that we cannot publish all comments received. The editor's decision is final. Please note that your email address will not be displayed next to your comment.
Jessica Biel
Vicar stripped to dog collar
Blake: I made Amy Winehouse a junkie
There were 5 of us in his marriage
Joe's the kink of the jungle
Britney does it One More Mime
Fabio must to be fair to Michael Owen he is the best striker in the world and Fabio is playing around with him, better than all this strikers of him ROONEY,DEFOE AND Heskey.Without Owen no goals for England. So no need of Fabio to please himself in England Squad without even we fans of England.
By Michael Aruai. Posted november 12 2008 at 9:06 AM.
i respect Owen for all he has done i am a Liverpool fan and i think Owen not been in england side will really cost us he has been preforming well at Newcastle given the circumstances and he deserves to be in England squad
By curtis. Posted oktober 6 2008 at 4:24 AM.
As a Liverpool fan its hard not to bear a slight grudge against Owen. Since he left its been downhill for him due to injury and bad decision making. Having said that, if he said tomorrow he wanted to come back to Liverpool i think all the fans would welcome him back with open arms. The reason, he is a natural predator who has nothing to prove other than his fitness. Every team needs one and he appears to be Englands only choice in that department. Come on Fabio...who do you want that one chance to fall to in the 89th minute!
By Ian Howie. Posted oktober 5 2008 at 2:22 PM.
Am a big liverpool fan and i have to be excused at being very angry at owen for leaving us to join real madrid. Owen did it for greed(like many of his type), and is now paying big time for his mistakes and bad advice.All the money in the world is not gonna compensate owen for missing the worldcup when the time comes.At liverpool,we never walk alone and would have basicly guarrantied him a place in the team.Thats what we do owen.we carry our own. unfortunatly you are a black and white now.have fun wondering whether you are in the squad or not.But we will always LOVE you
By Samuel Owinga. Posted oktober 5 2008 at 1:54 PM.
Capello should realise that it is all about the goals, because when you lead games its easier to be fluid and not chase it. Whereas Owen is all about goals, the straight pick Rooney runs around in own half like an headless chicken, remember Croatia and Russia for the Euro qualifiers.
By wayne tordoff. Posted oktober 5 2008 at 12:28 PM.
Owen is worth a place in the squad, we don't have another goal scorer of his ability and we cannot afford to waste his talent. If Capello wants one forward, it'll be tricky for him to get into the starting line up but if there is ten minutes to go in a tied game who wouldn't want Mickey Owen on the bench? Would anyone seriously want to put Jermaine Defoe on instead?
By Mark. Posted oktober 5 2008 at 10:53 AM.
i think that his time is finish .and there are younger and better players .so just forget about michael.anyway let capelo decide what is the best for england if he is good eneught and in good form he will give him chance if he is not in good form then he will drope him .i beleive capelo is a fair and he will do what is best for england
By zaki. Posted oktober 5 2008 at 10:24 AM.
as a sunderland and england fan i still think owen should be given a chance if fit as he would walk into must teams and will always give you a goal or two come jan when he moves to a bigger team he will walk into the england team
By sunderland fan. Posted oktober 5 2008 at 9:19 AM.
If the choice is Owen or Defoe then it has to be Owen, but that would look a good line up with Walcott Rooney, Hesky and Joe Cole on the left, having Gerrard and Hargreaves holding in the middle. this culd be a line up to take any team apart.
but I have never yet agreed with any team put out in the last 10 years. I was screaming for Walcott to be given a chance when he was in the world cup after we lost Owen, but again we should have had Martin O Neil before even Sven. We have so many world class players we should be in the top 3 in the world and number 1 in Europe. SACK THE FA
By brian wilkinson. Posted oktober 5 2008 at 9:15 AM.
I think he should give owen a chance and he will show capello that he should be in the team. Hes scoring now and thats in a bad newcastle team at the moment. giving the chance he will brake records for england.
By By Robert. Posted oktober 5 2008 at 8:45 AM.
Alot of fans appear to forget the pre-crotia game and Englands average and below average performances. Emil Heskey has given them another string to their bow in the terms of an old fashioned centre playing in the modern game, it takes 2 people to mark that type of player. Simple maths indicate someone closely playing off him with pace is going to get chances. Other players grab the limelight but in my opinion Heskey has completely changed the team and always does.
By David Gemmell. Posted oktober 5 2008 at 7:49 AM.
Put Michael OWEN and Emil HESKEY up front and allow Wayne ROONEY to come from behind and you get gaols ; goals galore!. I gurantee they will all get on the score sheet!.
john
By John GRIFFITHS. Posted oktober 5 2008 at 7:12 AM.
Capello is silly if he doesn't nominate him, now that he's fit, he's the best finisher in the country with the best reactions and sense of position. All of the league's managers know it, so why doesn't Capello?
By Tim. Posted oktober 5 2008 at 7:10 AM.
owen shud be automaic stil defoe wont put that ball away against ye top teams owens scored 40 times 4 england capello wouldnt leave out ye delpero who aint half as gud as owen if he was itlay boss hes not english so if he gets sacked he dont care he stil gets his fat wage slip we should never have brought in cappelo he wont do no better dan sven 4 1 against a ten man team wow wee croatia are over rated anyway
By ironleee. Posted oktober 5 2008 at 5:55 AM.
owen is past his best now move on owen peaked years ago he plays now like he is 30 something this is what happens when players start too young in football you have to think about winning matches now and not who has served well over the years!
By The Goldster. Posted oktober 5 2008 at 5:49 AM.
owen is the only england player who hasn't been given a chance in the side, every other player has. and with a record like his and his commitment to the national team over all these years, he should be given a chance. it seems that it's clearly a personal issue with capello over owen, he dosen't like him as a person so he dosen't pick him. we won't beat every team 1-4 and we are going to need someone to pull us out of trouble at some point, and due to capello simply not liking owen as a person, it will cost us big time.
By Lyndon. Posted oktober 5 2008 at 5:17 AM.
i think that he should give michael owen his chance to shine who else is good enough to play up front with wayne rooney there is no player that can. if you give him this chance he will probably bag a couple of goals!!!
By Allen Webster. Posted oktober 5 2008 at 4:33 AM.