Topics: Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard, Football, Premier League, England
Former Premier League striker Michael Owen left Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard out of his all-time England XI.
Owen, 45, registered 40 goals in 89 appearances for England between 1998 and 2008 and featured at three World Cups and two European Championships.
And during his time with the Three Lions, he shared a dressing room with world-class talent such as Rooney, 39, and Lampard, 46, but left the duo out of all-time England XI when he made his choices back in 2013.
Despite playing with the goalkeepers David Seaman and Paul Robinson, Owen went for England legend Gordon Banks, who won the 1966 World Cup with Sir Alf Ramsey’s Three Lions side.
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Owen told the FA: “You've got to go with Gordon Banks in goal. We still talk about that save against Brazil in the 1970 World Cup. That was world-class."
At right-back, he went for former Manchester United captain turned pundit Gary Neville.
Owen explained: "Gary Neville was a great servant to England for a long, long time. He was dependable, very reliable."
The 45-year-old then went for Ashley Cole at left-back, accompanied by a centre-back pairing of Bobby Moore and Rio Ferdinand, as John Terry missed out.
Owen added: "Bobby Moore needs no introduction. He has got to be in there with the captain's armband on.”
Moving into the midfield, the Chester-born forward chose David Beckham on the right wing, and Steven Gerrard alongside Paul Gascoigne in the engine room, while John Barnes got the nod on the left flank meaning the likes of Paul Scholes and Lampard missed out.
On Gerrard, Owen explained: “I've played with him since I was about ten. He's got the be one of the greatest players England has ever produced.”
And Rooney missed out, as Owen went for Bobby Charlton and Gary Lineker up front.
When explaining his choices, Owen said: “The amount of goals Bobby Charlton scored was incredible. He's scored more for England than anyone else and therefore has to be in the team."
He added: “[Gary Lineker was] my hero as a kid and second in all-time scoring list, so the stats alone show he was different class."
Of course, since Owen’s 2013 interview, both Rooney and Harry Kane have surpassed Charlton’s record of 49 England goals.
Owen left both Scholes and Lampard out of his all-time England XI, but was quick to praise the pair when speaking alongside Jamie Carragher in 2020.
Speaking on The Greatest Game with Jamie Carragher podcast, Owen said: “If you watch Scholesy in training, your tongue is hanging out. He can give you the eyes, you can think he's heading it that way and he'll almost do a reverse spinner off the other side of his head. He can drop a ball on a sixpence. He is just total and utter genius.
“But there's that and there's the actual practicalities of playing on a big pitch where you need size, strength, substance, running ability, all these things.
“And if you play one v one, you against you, Stevie against any of the names that you've played, I think he would eat them for dinner.
“Someone like Scholesy obviously had different attributes. I mean, unbelievable the way he changed his game from being a bombing midfielder scoring to a quarterback. Total genius. Frank Lampard, who can question his goal scoring and how he got every ounce out of his ability?"
He added: "But to me, Stevie's on a different level than anything I've seen or played with and as you've said, I'm not blowing smoke up my a***, I've played with some great Man United players, Liverpool players, Real Madrid, England.
“Put it this way. If i'm saying tomorrow rewind the clock, you're going into battle now, you're playing in the Champions League final, who's your first pick? I'd have Steven Gerrard as my first pick out of anyone.”
