Michael Owen is dreaming of scoring goals for
Manchester United rather than reclaiming his England place.
Virtually from the moment he completed one of the summer's biggest
transfer shocks by moving to Old Trafford following the end of an
ill-fated four years at Newcastle, speculation has bubbled away
about Owen's England exile.
Fabio Capello has described the debate as his "torment", which
could either relate to internal indecision or irritation at the
subject's refusal to be silenced. Now, Owen has attempted to do the
job himself, by insisting he is fully concentrated on his club
career.
"England is something I don't really think about," he said. "It
is probably something people talk about a lot more than I think
about really.
"The last squad I was in was over a year ago now. I have played
for England 89 times and I would love to play for England again.
"But I am concentrating on playing for Manchester United. I
genuinely go to bed thinking that I have got to play well the next
day and win games for Manchester United, not that if I score or
play well I might get picked for England."
Goals such as the effort he put away so smartly at Barnsley last
week will go some way to proving he retains his old ability, in
addition to pushing United further forward on all fronts.
Indeed, Owen might reflect that even if his international career
ends at its present state; 89 games, 40 goals, three World Cups, it
would be regarded as a success. An absence of either a Champions
League medal or a Premier League title means the same cannot be
said about his efforts at club level.
"One of the draws of coming to a club like Manchester United is
that you are always competing at the top level," he said. "There
were many things that stuck in my mind when I was first asked to
come and join the club but one of the big things was the chance to
play on big Champions League nights and to play in top Premier
League games.
"It has to be everyone's dream to play in games like that. It is
difficult to win these competitions but it is obviously our aim to
do it and it is exciting to be part of it."
While many United fans feel the jury is still out on whether
Owen's arrival has been a success, the 29-year-old is delighted at
the way things have gone for him.
He might disagree with the blanket assessment of his
performances that effectively state he has done well when he scores
and poorly when he does not, but the former Liverpool star claims
to be unmoved at criticism of his form.
"I don't think it takes a goal for me to play well," he said. "I
was average against Barnsley but scored. I played really well
against Bolton and didn't. It just didn't get reflected. "But that
is how my career has gone. It is strange, but I am not particularly
bothered about it."
Undoubtedly, what Owen is bothered about are accusations that he
is injury-prone. To him, a broken metatarsal and ruptured cruciate
ligament and various muscular ailments do not constitute grounds
for such a tag.
"I get a bee in my bonnet about injuries," he said. "When you
talk about my career, I have two long-term injuries, that were
linked probably. "But they were not "injury-prone" injuries. It is
the little niggly ones that you can probably manage and eradicate
from your game."
Experience is also a factor. Five weeks ago, when Owen went off
barely 20 minutes into the win over Wolfsburg, it was largely
assumed his groin problems had resurfaced. In actual fact, all he
had done was take preventative measures to guard against something
far worse.
"The older you get, the more you learn about your body," he
said. "I came off before it was too late. If I had stayed on and
done another sprint, maybe I would have done my groin and been out
for a month.
"Fortunately I could feel what was happening, so I put my hand
up and said I had to come off. I was back training four days
later."