'G'Owen

It looks almost certain that Michael Owen's international career is all but over. Atleast as long as Fabio Capello is the boss.

Fabio's explanation that he's picking players "in form" is weak. There are many players in his 8 matches in charge so far who have not been "in form" at that moment. Even when John Terry wasn't "in form" at times, he was "the captain". And you may say that Rio Ferdinand is not "in form" at the moment (considering the latest results). And he's in the squad. Even though he's injured. What about Emile Heskey? Is he "in form"? I beg to differ. He's in as much form as Gabrian Agbanlahor is at the moment. Just to cite a few examples.

Also, Fabio's explanation(sometime back) that his international players should play for big clubs is nauseating. Look at the number of non "big club" players he's picked in the current squad.
Agreed, Owen was not fit for most of the games, but even when he was, he was overlooked. And even when he was in the squad, he was given a run-out for 45 minutes and that too in a formation which doesn't suit him.

Agreed, players cannot rest on their past reputations. But reputations and past exploits should count for something.

PS : This comes out of frustration from a Owen fan.