In brief
Back in 2019, Michael Owen was asked by BBC Sport to select his generation’s best England team.
Top players from his time, like Beckham, Gerrard, Cole, Rooney, and Shearer, were in his starting eleven, and their skill sets were praised.
Owen demonstrated humility and respect for his peers by leaving himself out of his ideal England XI, despite having a successful career of his own.
During his ten-year England career, which began in 1998 and ended in 2008 with his 89th and final cap, Michael Owen played alongside a galaxy of football luminaries. However, he didn’t even get a berth in his final England XI despite his own stellar record, which included a 2001 Ballon d’Or victory and Premier League appearances with Manchester United, Newcastle United, and Liverpool.
When BBC Sport asked the former striker to select the top players from his time in 2019, it was an almost impossible challenge. It was never going to be easy to pick from a lineup of generational talent, many of whom shaped English football for decades. However, the former forward, who was born in Cheshire, put on his best shoes and tried his hardest.
Goalkeeper & Defence
David Seaman; Sol Campbell, John Terry, Rio Ferdinand
A strong defence like this one speaks for itself. John Terry, Sol Campbell, and Rio Ferdinand may all rightfully claim to be among the greatest centre backs in Premier League history, but David Seaman is without a doubt the best goalkeeper England has had in the majority of people’s lifetimes.
Even though Owen scored goals when he was playing, he will undoubtedly be thankful for the ridiculously strong defence that allowed his goals to nearly always result in wins. The striker-turned-pundit praised Terry in particular after calling the latter of the three a “Rolls-Royce” at the centre of defence. “John was a fantastic athlete. You never saw him get caught off guard, even though he lacked speed,” Owen remarked.
“A pleasure to watch, a superb reader of the game, left foot, right foot. He would practically blow you away with his skill as a center-half when you trained with him. I don’t mean to be condescending to center-halves, but they weren’t as skilled with the ball as he was overall.”
The midfield
Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard, Paul Scholes, Steven Gerrard, and David Beckham
Owen frequently makes every effort to avoid discussing many of the most contentious issues in football, in contrast to some of his peers. He therefore selected all three of Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, and Paul Scholes in an unconventional midfield-five, which is fuelled by the width Ashley Cole and David Beckham bring to the team, rather than choosing one or two over the other.
Cole is without a doubt the best left-back the country has ever produced, especially considering the position seems to be problematic these days. Beckham, on the other hand, is England’s all-time top assist-provider with 42 assists in 115 caps for the Three Lions. Of fact, there is no need to introduce the central midfielders. While Lampard focused on his remarkable goal-scoring ability as the reason he was guaranteed to start in his ideal lineup, Owen was quick to commend Scholes’ intelligence.
Frank Lampard – All 23 Champions League Goals pic.twitter.com/5B2fKbvbHV
— Archives (@CFCRetro) April 19, 2023
But when he explained his decisions, he focused primarily on former Reds teammate Gerrard. “I played with some great players – Zinedine Zidane was off the scale in terms of natural ability – but, if I was playing the biggest game of my life tomorrow, the first person I’d probably take into battle would be Stevie,” he stated.
“He was capable of anything. He used to eat ground since he was so big and had such a big stride. He was a fantastic ball passer who could dribble, score goals, defend, tackle, and head. He was also too big and strong for his opponents. Really, there was nothing he couldn’t do. He is simply too skilled for midfield, therefore the only way to expose him would be to ask him to play there.
Attack
Alan Shearer and Wayne Rooney
Owen’s ideal forward line combines the Premier League’s all-time top scorer with Manchester United’s all-time top scorer. To be honest, no defence on the earth could prevent Wayne Rooney and Alan Shearer, a strike combo, from scoring once, twice, or even three or four goals in a game. If only their primes had coincided, it would have been a match made in football heaven, the ideal recipe for goals in abundance.
Rather, Owen asserted that he was the bridge between their two idyllic periods. “I guess the main centre-forward mantle for England passed from Alan Shearer to me to Wayne Rooney,” he said. “As Alan grew older, I took over the shirt and owned it for a few years, but I still enjoyed playing with him. After that, a young man named Wayne Rooney entered the picture, and I briefly took a backseat to him before disappearing into the woods.”
Wayne Rooney vs Turkey 2003 – 17 Years Old, First Start for England pic.twitter.com/bHfLpVzunN
— Souster98 (@Souster98_YT) January 2, 2025
Rooney went on to have a dazzling career, winning five Premier League crowns and the Champions League with Manchester United. His participation in the elite circle was a no-brainer because, in 491 top-flight appearances, he defined his generation with 208 goals and 103 assists. Below is Michael Owen’s complete lineup:
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