Lampard rallies to Owen defence

Frank Lampard has slammed the negative reaction towards out-of-sorts striker Michael Owen and insisted: “He won’t let us down in this World Cup.”

Owen is England’s fourth-highest scorer with 36 goals but has suffered the indignity of being substituted early in the second half of the opening two group games with Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago.

The Newcastle striker has come in for criticism amid concerns he is struggling to regain full sharpness after a five-month lay-off with his broken metatarsal.

But Lampard is confident the 26-year-old will recapture his best form and be a major contributor for England as they bid to lift the trophy for the first time in 40 years.

He said: “Michael is very close to being back to his best. There is such a fine line sometimes when you are looking at and assessing people and Michael is in the difficult position of being a goalscorer.

“It was the same with myself the other night against Trinidad. You miss a few opportunities and the flip side is it could have gone brilliantly for you. The other side is not so good and that is the same with Michael.

“I think if one of Michael’s chances had gone in, like the header, we would all have been saying what we already know, that Michael is a world class goalscorer who scores when it matters – and he is that.

“We are in danger of being very negative about a player who is very important to the England team and we need to be really positive and realise Michael has never let us down before – and he won’t let us down now.

“We should be happy about the fact we are looking at a strike-force where Wayne Rooney is fit again, Peter Crouch is in great form and with an unbelievable scoring record so far while Michael is a proven world-class goalscorer. Let’s be positive about that.”

Lampard added: “Top players thrive on pressure – and the main pressure Michael will be under is the pressure he puts himself under.

“I think we’ve all got the responsibility, and I’m talking about the media here, to be positive about Michael and respect what he has done for us and what he will do for us again.

“I see Michael. Being a bit like me, and probably even more because he is a striker, in that he gets upset when he is not scoring goals.

“That’s what makes him what he is and he is going to be desperate to get those goals and put in the performances and I am sure he will do.”

Lampard also called for the hype surrounding Rooney’s return to action to subside now the Manchester United player is back available and put the emphasis on how the team perform as a whole rather than as individuals.

He said: “It was a lift to see Wayne back against Trinidad. It lifted the fans. So much has been said about Wayne ’will he play, won’t he play’ and that kind of thing.

“We always knew the moment he came on, it would be a lift for the fans and the team because he is a very important player for us, a great player even at his age.

“We all know that. It was a good lift for us but we have become obsessed with the Wayne Rooney situation. Now he is fit, it is about the team – and Wayne is a very important member of the team.”

Much has been made of Argentina’s superb performance in demolishing Serbia and Montenegro 6-0 compared to England’s languid showings but Lampard it will count for nothing when the business end of the tournament is reached.

He said: “I don’t think it is about reaching levels. I don’t think you can compare how teams are doing at this stage. It was a very impressive performance by Argentina but, however you qualify for the next stage doesn’t really matter if you then get knocked out in the knockout stages.

“Argentina played a great game and they are going to be one of the strongest teams in the competition, which we knew already, but our aim when we get to the knockout stage is to reach the levels we want to be at.”