Owen Injury a Blessing for England

Fans across England held their collective breaths when Michael Owen went down with a broken foot this past weekend. They were able to exhale a bit when they learned the injury will keep him out of action for a couple of months but that he expects to be fully recovered well in time for the World Cup.

Owen’s injury, could actually turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Just ask Gary Neville who was quoted as saying:

“It would be good if every England player gets an injury now - apart from the Man United players,” he said cheekily. “If Owen has the same break as mine and the same that David Beckham, Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney had, he should be fresher than many of us.?

While Owen rests his body, players around the world will continue to play without a break from now until the start of action in Germany. With year-round competition and increasing numbers of high pressure games, there is an increasing toll placed on top footballers and an increasing chance they face injury that will keep them from competing in the World Cup.

It would be interesting to see if the level of play would improve if players were given more time off leading up to the World Cup. With the amount of money involved in domestic leagues these days this isn’t going to happen. But at least in the case of Owen, we’ll see if the time off benefits his game.