Michael Owen Quotations

I'd love to go and I'd love to play for my country and go to a World Cup again. I've got to accept I'm not in the current squad and just think, 'If I get it, it's a bonus and I'll give it everything.' But it's hard to do when you've been thinking a different way all your life.

There is no doubt that I would have won more honours had I signed for Manchester United as a youngster.

I'm confident in my own ability. If that wasn't the case you might as well pack it in now. If you think too much, you start doubting yourself, doubting your quality, so you have to train yourself in a certain way.

If you have any setback in your life, like not being in the England squad was for me - any setback, like losing a family member - everyone handles it in different ways. When I first wasn't included I was numb. I'd been the main England striker for years and years. It was really disappointing.

An emotion that lives with me is a sense of 'what might have been' had injuries not robbed me of my most lethal weapon - speed.

You are affected by the surroundings, the mood of people, by confidence. I am no different.

You're obviously conscious of being brash or big-headed but I always knew I was going to be a footballer when I was seven or eight. I didn't just think I wanted to be one, I knew I was going to be one. Nothing ever surprised me really.

You learn to understand it, but if you step back, you do think it is either strange or unfair. But I know that if you don't score, play well or win, you are wrong to have a helicopter and fly home each week to see your kids. You are wrong to have a business outside of football.

I feel that every time I get the ball at the moment I am going to score.

I basically run on two hamstrings on my right leg and three on the other. I'm losing a third of the power.

I find it hard to say no to people.

My kids are one, three, five and eight, and we are all horsey. The kids have got their ponies and can ride. Our foundation mare is special to our hearts. She was one of my first ever horses. She was my first ever winner at Chester, which is also special, and she's just the apple of our eyes, really.

I've always wanted to be a top footballer since I was young.

To breed a winner, let alone at Royal Ascot, is unbelievable. I've got four children and they all love the mother. We pat it most days and she's a lovely mare.

I joined Twitter and you read a lot of the comments. You're biting your lip and you want to reply but you know a headline will be made from it and you don't want to give people the satisfaction.

I've got no hamstring in the middle. I'm basically running on two hamstrings on my right leg and three on the other. That injury has probably changed my whole career. I've been compromised from the age of 19.

If I'd still been in one piece from the World Cup and gone through my career, what type of player would I have been? No doubt about it, if I hadn't had as many injuries I would have been the all-time leading scorer for England.

There are pitfalls in World Cups, there are players who can win penalties and players who get the slightest touch and go down holding their face or whatever and get someone sent off. There are all these little things and you're hoping that you're not on the wrong end of it.

The way I look at myself, the biggest achievement in my eyes - forget winning trophies or scoring in World Cups - is that I'm still at a top club playing at a really high standard having been almost two different players.

I have been very fortunate in that my career has taken me on a journey I could only have dreamed of.

I was born to score goals, I feel. How I score them - how I get the ball into the back of the net - might have changed. The actual ability of what I was born to do will never leave me.

If you look at anyone at the top of their profession, there has to be something a little bit different. Some of the top musicians are quirky aren't they, to say the least. You have to be driven, cold, hard and mentally tough as iron. My missus thinks I'm a bit weird.

If you look at football over the last 50 years there has been a gradual decrease in goals, you don't see too many 10-nils these days, but two, three or four goals per game is a good spectacle.

I think England are probably not as streetwise as plenty of other teams. The other top teams know how to keep a victory or do certain things to hang on to leads or get back in games. They're a lot more streetwise than us. I think as a nation we are very honest, we try to win the right way.

When it came down to Real Madrid or Newcastle there was no question in my mind. I want to play football. I love the Premiership - I've missed it while I've been away.

When it came down to Real Madrid or Newcastle there was no question in my mind, ... I want to play football. I love the Premiership - I've missed it while I've been away.

When you're a kid you just think about where you are going to be to put yourself in a position for the next scoring chance. But as you develop, you start to do things that may not catch the eye of the normal football watcher, the dropping back, the closing down.

She was a nice lady. She'd come around and wonder how your day was going.

One thing I will guarantee you is goals.

On the journey home from those talks, my mind was spinning,

I am sure some people will say John or Steve are more obvious skippers but I like to think that I have people's respect.

I don't set myself targets. Last season I scored hat-trick against Wolfsburg and three days later, that was forgotten, you're about to be judged again. When you've done well, you don't want another game, you just want to feel great. When you've done badly, you can't wait for another chance to come.

If the transfer cannot be finalized in time I have agreed to go to Newcastle United, but only on a one-year loan. I need to be playing regularly in a World Cup year.

He even offered to give up his number nine shirt but I have declined. Number 10 will do for me.

What would happen to me if I stayed at Madrid? How much would I miss European football if I signed for Newcastle?

Jamie is one of the most intelligent footballers. He can play in any position but a lot of people think his best position is center half.

Jamie is one of the most intelligent footballers, ... He can play in any position but a lot of people think his best position is center half.

I will try to read a couple of papers!

I'm here and I've signed a four-year contract. The one thing I will guarantee is goals.

I would like to think that if I stop playing in three, four, five years time, whatever it may be, that I would still be involved in football and still have that as my profession. It is my passion and what I know.

wanted to play for a club who really wanted me.

The president understood and said he would try to help me achieve this. If the transfer cannot be finalized in time I have agreed to go to Newcastle United, but only on a one-year loan. I need to be playing regularly in a World Cup year.

The president understood and said he would try to help me achieve this, ... If the transfer cannot be finalized in time I have agreed to go to Newcastle United, but only on a one-year loan. I need to be playing regularly in a World Cup year.

The players are stunned because this is the worst thing that can happen to a footballer in his career. There will be scars for life.

We all had that in common and that was one of the main things we'd talk about out there.

At 18 to 20, I was probably one of the quickest things around, at the peak of my powers.

There's not a whole lot of difference to what we normally play,

I wanted to get back to the Premiership,

The one thing I can guarantee is goals. I have never seen anything like this, even at Real Madrid. I hope the fans will be watching me for four years. I want to win a trophy and medals here.

As a youngster, I was considered exceptional, and in many ways that was to my detriment.

As I've got older, I've become more intrigued about formations, tactics, I listen a lot more to the manager's team talk; as a kid, if I'm honest, I never listened.

Alan was a great help throughout and instrumental in my decision,

There's been a lot written in the press over the last week, and I've been as honest as possible for everyone, but also actions speak louder than words. I'm here and I've signed a four-year contract. The one thing I will guarantee is goals.

For all I care, he is better off herding goats!

David Beckham and Jonathan Woodgate were trying to persuade me to stay at Real, but in the end I had to come home.

The better the opposition that's put in front of you, the better your team plays,

It was a poor performance and it wasn't good enough,

I've had a bit of a head-spinning couple of days,

I want to have as normal a life as possible.

I'm confident in my position in the team and my value to the team from recent and past performances,

If you're a goal scorer, you have to have a certain attitude. I'm very serious. My missus thinks I'm a bit weird. I'm cold, I don't have many emotions. It's very rare I cry.

Horses will never be my career. It's just a big passion of mine, and one that will always be there in the background, but football is my main passion and everyone knows that.

Game by game is how I judge myself. At the end of the season, yeah, I do look back and think about how many games I've been available for, how many goals I've scored, how I've contributed. But that's what the summer's for. For now, you just look to the next one.

I don't want to pack everything into one year and then do nothing the rest of my life. I think it's important to do things bit by bit.

I don't particularly enjoy watching international football in the way that I used to. It hurts me to say that, but it's true.

There have been more things wrong with England than just Wayne Rooney in the last few years.

I was proper, proper fast at one point, and obviously I'm not now, so I've lost certain things, but when I was that fast I didn't need to do certain other things in a game. It was such a potent weapon.

Everton have a healthy list of injuries.

Give me a great Champions League game or an exciting Premier League game ahead of an international match and I'd love that to reverse. A lot of people have lost interest in England games, it is quite hard to watch.

It bothers me when I don't score.

My Dad was briefly an Everton player and I used to follow them as a boy.

All Newcastle fans need to know is that I will be giving everything for their cause now.

The longer my career has gone, the more I seem to score... It's experience and age and knowing where the ball's going to be.

Fortunately I am a mentally strong person and believe I will learn from the experience and continue to improve as a player and person because of it. (on breaking his leg)

Best atmosphere I ever played in was at Celtic Park in the UEFA Cup for Liverpool.

England have players who can rattle anyone's feathers

I have never thought of a scenario where international football was not a massive part of our [England] game.

Scholesy was a genius, absolute genius. He was a center-forward's dream, you could make a run and he'd put the ball perfectly in your path. Any footballer you ask will always tell you that Scholesy was one of the best players they've ever played with.

Henry had taken striking on to a different level

I can't believe anyone can have played the game of football as well as Messi.

Clubs don't like their players going off to play international matches and you can see a scenario where they eventually start to make it more difficult for international sides to call up players.

I think the greatest Real Madrid player of all time is Cristiano Ronaldo followed by Ferenc Puskas. Ronaldo equalled Puskas’ great record of 242 goals in fewer games. He was also the fastest Real Madrid player to score 100 goals and holds the record for most goals scored for Madrid in a season.

A new club is like having a new girlfriend – you don't have feelings straight away

I don't believe in superstitions. I just do certain things because I'm scared in case something will happen if I don't do them

I'm sure clubs have a lot of power these days .

I was born to score goals, I feel.

I wouldn't change my life for the world at the moment.

I have a great family, good friends, a nice girlfriend, my own house. I have got everything how I want it to be.

The Champions League is more interesting to watch than international football and the quality is superior as well.

You always come back to earth with a thump at some stage. Life has it's ups and downs; the acid test is how you handle the downs.

Often the biggest test is when the chips are down and you've got to stick together as a team.

The bottom line is that I wanted to come back and play in the Premier League again and wake up on Saturday morning and really fancy getting out there and playing in front of this fantastic support, scoring goals and enjoying football. (on returning to the premiership)

While the World Cup is great every four years, I think people struggle to get themselves excited about qualifiers against the smaller nations. It will take some good performances from the national team to get the feel-good factor back, as far as the England team goes at least.

For me there's nothing better than putting the white shirt on for England and playing for England. I'd get worried if it wasn't like that.

If you cut me in half, I'm a footballer.

The better the opposition put in front of you, the better your team plays.

There's nothing quite like a World Cup.

He's fantastic on the ground but obviously he is very tall. (on Peter Crouch)

The Spanish league is fantastic, but it has not the great passion the English Premiership has got.

To be the best you have to forget partying and concentrate all your energies on the football.