Owen: Don't call me injury prone

Mar 19 2009 by Luke Edwards, The Journal

MICHAEL Owen admits his physical breakdowns have wrecked his time on Tyneside – but the England international still strongly denies he is injury-prone.

Although Owen acknowledges that his decision to play for England in the last World Cup was a mistake as his body was not strong enough to cope with the demands of international football, Newcastle’s £16.5m record signing is annoyed by people who constantly claim he is vulnerable to injury. Owen travelled to Germany in 2006 despite playing just 20 minutes of first-team football for Newcastle in five months after he broke his foot in a freak collision with Tottenham goalkeeper Paul Robinson at White Hart Lane on New Year’s Eve.

It is a decision the striker claims he had to make, but it is also a decision he blames for the injury problems which have followed.

Owen has started just 60 games in almost four years at St James’s Park, and the 29-year-old argued his problems can be traced back to that accidental clash with his England colleague at the end of 2005.

He said: “There is no hiding from the fact injuries have been the bane of my time at Newcastle. It is frustrating, however, and people will probably laugh, but I know I’m not injury-prone.

“If you look at my time at Newcastle, the problems started when Paul Robinson landed on my foot against Tottenham just after Christmas. Loads of people get metatarsal injuries, but they are normally not as bad as mine. Nobody’s foot would not have broken in that situation.

“I’ve then rushed my preparations for the World Cup. I played half-a-game for Newcastle. After being in plaster for so long my leg was de-conditioned and with hindsight, I should never have gone to Germany with England.

“It’s easy to say that now, but if I had my time again I would still have gone because it was a World Cup. I’m not thinking what could have been, but with hindsight my leg was half as strong as it should have been.

“Muscles support limbs and I twisted my knee awkwardly and that was it. All that came from someone landing on my foot, so I don’t think it’s my fault.”