Michael Owen’s England career has taken a bit of a knock today. Apparently Sir Alex Ferguson has told him that he is back-up.
If Owen wants to get back into the England squad, he will need to be playing regular first team football.So far this season, Owen has only made one competitive start for Man United and it doesn’t look like that statistic is going to change.
Ferguson said: "Michael Owen has not been involved and I have explained that to him. The season has not really started and, because of the international fixtures, we are not really playing Saturday/Wednesday at the moment. So Owen doesn't come in to the equation because we are trying to get a blend of Berbatov and Rooney.
"He will play plenty of games, but just maybe not in the early stage of the season. Will he start tonight? No, I wouldn't think so, but we may change formation a wee bit.
"You have to respect this competition and we can't afford to not qualify. This is the first game, so we have to pick the right team.
"We can't take chances and we won't take chances. We have to go to Germany for the last game [against Wolfsburg], so we have to make sure we are in a good position. We won't be taking any chances."
Owen’s move to Man United was a shock but with his age, his recent injuries and other strikers- it’s not really much of a surprise.
I never expected Owen to be one of Man United’s main strikers and I would be surprised if he expected to.
