No Owen, no worries for England’s opponents

I WOULD never, never, never bring off Michael Owen in a football match.

We are talking about somebody who will become England’s greatest all-time goal scorer. He has scored goals all his life. He is a natural predator. Michael Owen, trust me, frightens defenders with his pace.

That does not mean I could not see what Sven-Goran Eriksson was trying to do when he substituted Owen and brought on Stewart Downing after 10 minutes of the second half against Paraguay.