Poor Michael, but England can still do well
What a bad year it has been for Michael Owen. Just until recently he was the darling of English football. He was the numero uno striker of the country.
Then late last year his troubles began. He was sidelined by an injury and played only a handful of games for his club Newcastle. He only made a come back towards the end of the season and Sven Goran Eriksson picked up for the World Cup based on his past success.
The World Cup started badly for this former wonderboy. He had bad games against both Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago. In both games he was substituted on the hour mark.
He then claimed that he was not getting a proper service from his team-mates for him to be on fire. Thus the team changed its game plan for Owen in the Sweden game and partnered him with the fit-again Wayne Rooney.
Sadly, Owen’s bad luck continued as he was struck down by a cruciate knee ligament injury in the 76th second into the game.
Now, more ominously for England, they are rather thin in their strike force. Peter Crouch, who started the World Cup as the third choice striker, now looks set to be top choice with Rooney in the coming games.
Once again, Sven’s selection of players will come into criticism. His only other recognised striker is the untested Theo Walcott.
In the days to come we will know more how England will put out their team against tougher opponents.
It is easy to say that Sven should not have overly relied on the injured Owen and Rooney but it is too late to change anything there.
What he can still do is let players like Steven Gerrard and even Joe Cole to operate with freedom to attack, and start the game with Rooney and Crouch, instead of what is being reported now that it may be just Rooney in front.
The England team can learn a lesson or two from Argentina, whose players, especially the midfielders, tend to inter-change their positions throughout the match. The advantage of this is great – your opponent would not know who to mark when and this gives greater flexibility for the team to attack.
So even without Owen, all is not lost for England as they can still progress further.
As for Owen, well, he is adamant of returning to Germany to pick up his World Cup winner’s medal on July 9. I reckon he should stop kidding and just concentrate on recovering from his latest injury.
What a bad year it has been for Michael Owen. Just until recently he was the darling of English football. He was the numero uno striker of the country.Then late last year his troubles began. He was sidelined by an injury and played only a handful of games for his club Newcastle. He only made a come back towards the end of the season and Sven Goran Eriksson picked up for the World Cup based on his past success.
The World Cup started badly for this former wonderboy. He had bad games against both Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago. In both games he was substituted on the hour mark.
He then claimed that he was not getting a proper service from his team-mates for him to be on fire. Thus the team changed its game plan for Owen in the Sweden game and partnered him with the fit-again Wayne Rooney.
Sadly, Owen’s bad luck continued as he was struck down by a cruciate knee ligament injury in the 76th second into the game.
Now, more ominously for England, they are rather thin in their strike force. Peter Crouch, who started the World Cup as the third choice striker, now looks set to be top choice with Rooney in the coming games.
Once again, Sven’s selection of players will come into criticism. His only other recognised striker is the untested Theo Walcott.
In the days to come we will know more how England will put out their team against tougher opponents.
It is easy to say that Sven should not have overly relied on the injured Owen and Rooney but it is too late to change anything there.
What he can still do is let players like Steven Gerrard and even Joe Cole to operate with freedom to attack, and start the game with Rooney and Crouch, instead of what is being reported now that it may be just Rooney in front.
The England team can learn a lesson or two from Argentina, whose players, especially the midfielders, tend to inter-change their positions throughout the match. The advantage of this is great – your opponent would not know who to mark when and this gives greater flexibility for the team to attack.So even without Owen, all is not lost for England as they can still progress further.
As for Owen, well, he is adamant of returning to Germany to pick up his World Cup winner’s medal on July 9. I reckon he should stop kidding and just concentrate on recovering from his latest injury.
posted by Kabilan K at
12:43 PM
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