Life after Michael Owen began for England yesterday on a windswept piece of Greater Manchester that doubles as a hotel and country club. And the striker most likely to replace Owen in Sven-Goran Eriksson's attack against Greece in Saturday's World Cup qualifier at Old Trafford is a team-mate presently finding club life a blustery business compared with playing for his country.
Robbie Fowler, now an occasional in the Liverpool side, still managed to impress the England coach yesterday in the squad's first training session at Worsley. "I thought he looked fitter than he did before the Germany game," Eriksson said last night.
The loss of Owen with a torn hamstring has deprived England of the pace and finishing power that brought the 21-year-old a hat-trick in the 5-1 rout of Germany in Munich and the opening goal in the 2-0 defeat of Albania four nights later.
Owen has scored 14 times in 32 internationals. The four strikers now available to Eriksson, Fowler, Andy Cole, Emile Heskey and Teddy Sheringham, have 93 caps and 19 goals between them, 10 of these coming from Sheringham.
The way Eriksson intends compensating for the lack of Owen's speed will determine his choice of strikers. Old Trafford will not see a radical change of formation or tactics - "I would be stupid to do that," he said - but there will be a change of emphasis.
"Maybe we will play fewer long balls behind defenders," Eriksson explained. "Once Michael Owen is past the defence they can't catch him but this time we may have to try something a little different."
That will almost certainly involve someone with the skill and brainpower to create space, draw defenders out of position and play the ball in to feet. Sheringham could do this but has yet to start an England match under Eriksson and will probably be among the substitutes again. Paul Scholes could be used but last night the England coach made it clear he still saw him in central midfield.
The most likely choice, therefore, is Fowler, who linked well with Owen when England beat Greece 2-0 in Athens in June and at St James' Park came off the bench to score the second goal against Albania through an outstanding piece of improvisation. On present Premier League form, Andy Cole may feel he has stronger claims. Certainly Cole has made more of his recent sporadic games for Manchester United than Fowler for Liverpool and he would be playing on his home ground.
In 14 international appearances, however, Cole has found the net only once and, for a striker with international pretensions, this is an unacceptably low return. True, Fowler has scored only five times in 20 England matches but at least when he does score, pig farmers do not clear their runways for take-off.
It is being assumed that Heskey will start on Saturday in spite of an indifferent first touch, his habit of falling offside and, when Liverpool played Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League last Wednesday, embarrassing evidence of his inability to cope with man-to-man marking.
Heskey, however, is the burliest attacking presence available to Eriksson, hence the big man's appearance in Athens even though Fowler and Owen were both playing.
Eriksson is without Sol Campbell and Wes Brown, England's other hamstring victims, as well, but hopes that David Seaman, his first choice in goal, will have shaken off his shoulder injury by tomorrow. Yesterday, Steve McManaman joined the hamstrung club - "small or big, I don't know," said Eriksson, who will also await medical checks on Nicky Butt's damaged ribs.
Meanwhile, Neil Lennon has dismissed as "rubbish" suggestions that he does not want to play for Northern Ireland. Lennon's commitment to Northern Ireland is being questioned by some fans after he withdrew from Saturday's World Cup game against Malta with a groin injury. This will be the fourth game in succession Lennon has missed either through injury or suspension and the sixth out of the last 12.
Lennon, who has won 39 caps, is irritated by such talk and he insists he remains committed to Sammy McIlroy's team.
