England never won a trophy during Michael Owen’s playing career, but he believes there is one factor which could have made the difference.
Michael Owen played alongside some of the finest players to have represented the England national team. However, they were unable to lift a long-awaited trophy.
Owen spent a decade playing for England and competed at three World Cups and two European Championships. His breakthrough at the 1998 World Cup earned him the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award, but this could not compare with winning the ultimate prize.
The striker has sensationally claimed that this would not have been the case if England had played their three best midfielders together. Owen was asked on Rio Ferdinand Presents to choose who was the best player out of Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Paul Scholes, but rather than answering this question, he chose to focus on how good the players were as a unit.
Owen said: “Well they all offer something different and I just wish we had played all three of them in midfield. I genuinely think we would’ve won a World Cup. We always used to get run over in midfield.”
Rio Ferdinand replied: “We could go to Georgia and get run over. We got outnumbered in midfield. If Hoddle stays the England manager, we win something.
Owen agreed and said: “We win it, absolutely.”
The midfield trio did play together for England, most notably at Euro 2004 under the management of the late Sven Goran-Eriksson. However, Scholes was shifted to the left wing, a role which did not suit his playing style.
Some believed starting all three players left the team unbalanced, as they each fulfilled similar roles and none of them were naturally defensive midfielders. Despite this, Owen and Ferdinand are convinced they could have been a three-man unit in the midfield and driven England to victory.
In reality, England were unable to make it past the quarter-finals of a major tournament during the days of Gerrard, Lampard and Scholes. They may have each experienced success in abundance at club level, but with their national team, there will always be regret and questions asked of what could have been.
