Michael Owen
Michael Owen
Michael James Owenis a former English footballer who played as a striker for Liverpool, Real Madrid, Newcastle United, Manchester United and Stoke City, as well as for the England national team. He is a regular pundit and co-commentator on BT Sport football coverage, and sometimes appears on BBC's Match of the Day as a pundit. Since retiring from football, he has become a successful racehorse breeder and owner...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionSoccer Player
Date of Birth14 December 1979
CityChester, England
I think England are probably not as streetwise as plenty of other teams. The other top teams know how to keep a victory or do certain things to hang on to leads or get back in games. They're a lot more streetwise than us. I think as a nation we are very honest, we try to win the right way.
If you have any setback in your life, like not being in the England squad was for me - any setback, like losing a family member - everyone handles it in different ways. When I first wasn't included I was numb. I'd been the main England striker for years and years. It was really disappointing.
England have players who can rattle anyone's feathers
For me there's nothing better than putting the white shirt on for England and playing for England. I'd get worried if it wasn't like that.
The better the opposition put in front of you, the better your team plays.
He's fantastic on the ground but obviously he is very tall. (on Peter Crouch)
The Spanish league is fantastic, but it has not the great passion the English Premiership has got.
When you put better teams in front of you, that's when the big players rise to that occasion.
The England manager has never put any pressure on me, ... OK, it is a World Cup year and it is nice to be playing and playing in England, but if it was not a World Cup year, I would still have had the drive to come back and play in English football.
I wanted to get back to the Premiership,
At 18 to 20, I was probably one of the quickest things around, at the peak of my powers.
There's not a whole lot of difference to what we normally play,
I would like to think that if I stop playing in three, four, five years time, whatever it may be, that I would still be involved in football and still have that as my profession. It is my passion and what I know.
I will try to read a couple of papers!