Teamtalk.com:

Owen handed shock captaincy Sven Goran Eriksson has handed the captain's armband to Liverpool striker Michael Owen for England's friendly with Paraguay at Anfield tomorrow. Owen takes over the skipper duties from injured Manchester United midfielder David Beckham, who is racing to be fit for the World Cup finals after suffering a broken bone in his foot. And Eriksson has admitted the young hitman could be in the running for the permanent captaincy if Beckham fails to make this summer's showpiece.

-- Anonymous, April 16, 2002

Answers

Amazing Pick?

-- Anonymous, April 16, 2002

Depends on who else is in the starting line up. Wouldn't have been my choice though.

-- Anonymous, April 16, 2002

A bold choice, and imo not a bad one.

Few, if any, of the other contenders - eg. Gary Neville, Gareth Southgate - are guaranteed a place in the team. In addition, I'm sure SGE has looked at the improvement in Beckham's game and maturity since he as given the captaincy, and felt it might just work again with YMO.

-- Anonymous, April 16, 2002

Just who is this Owen England?

If Seaman plays, he should take the armband I reckon. Owen just hasn't got the experience or seniority compared to Seaman.

-- Anonymous, April 16, 2002

Surely it's just cos it's at Anfield?

-- Anonymous, April 16, 2002

Good thinking Jacko. Michael has a dream -- Sven'll fix it.

-- Anonymous, April 16, 2002

Ridiculous.

Not because he's a striker but because he's a schoolboy.

Sven obviously thinks that naming the biggest celebrity captain will win over the fans.

First Beckham now Owen?

Saying that, Beckham did OK simply because of his passion. But Southgate or Seaman should have been captain. Owen seems to me like a nice lad who does what he's told. He doesn't command, he wont know how to set the tone to other players.

I.E team is giving opposition too much respect so captain sets example with a few hard tackles. Alan Shearer, Garry Speed, Rob Lee. MEN. Not boys.

-- Anonymous, April 16, 2002

Owen as captain is wrong - for the same reason that Alan Shearer as captain was wrong. IMHO, the skipper should play in the back four, or if not that, then in M/F. Strikers and keepers are in the wrong part of the pitch to perform the job. Nowt against YMO's age, just his position.

-- Anonymous, April 16, 2002

I think it's a good choice, but not for the World Cup.

Beckham was not too disimilar to Owen before he was given the captaincy and it has transformed him into a leader on the pitch - without needing to shout and scream at players.

I still think Beckham's leadership qualities haven't really been put to the test yet as there have been few challenges for him where he's needed to use them.

Because he's at Anfield, Owen might raise his game a tad when he leads England out on his own patch. For the World Cup, if Beckham is injured I hope Owen doesn't take over as firstly he plays off the shoulders of the last defender - basically as far away as you can get from every one of your team mates (that was Screach's point I think) and he is a little on the young side as Jim points out, although at 22 and with a canny bit of experience on his CV he should be mature enough. When we have players with MORE maturity - particularly in defence - that is when the choice comes under criticism.

At the end of the day though, Keown is still going to organise the defence, not being captain doesn't mean he'll shut up for 90 minutes. The captain is just an official title, but there are captains all over the pitch for England, such is the number of influential players we have.

-- Anonymous, April 16, 2002

Disagree Screach... The captains role is not what it used to be. It's a ceremonial job. If any player on that pitch needs extra motivation from a "captain" then they shouldn't be there.

Shearer was skip because he was the first name on the team sheet.

I want the goalkeeper to be captain of his domain, I want my midfield general to be captain of his, I want my star striker to be his own man, and I want every one of them to inspire eachother.

-- Anonymous, April 16, 2002