Soccer: Owen backed to win recall

It is nearly two years since Michael Owen played at Wembley in a trio of games that saw Israel, Estonia and, most improbably, Russia each demolished by the same 3-0 scoreline.

Owen's contribution was three goals - two more than Manchester United have managed in five appearances at the new stadium - and they were to be his last for England.

If he is to win back that shirt, much will depend on how he starts for United and tonight's Community Shield encounter with Chelsea is the kind of platform he would crave, even if Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov are likely to be Sir Alex Ferguson's first choice, with Owen off the bench, most likely the blueprint for the season.

"Fabio Capello is not going to pick a player for England on his reputation from eight years ago," Ferguson said. "But the first thing you would say is that England are not endowed with a bunch of top strikers. The only consistent performer has been Wayne Rooney.

"They have tried Emile Heskey, Peter Crouch, even Theo Walcott - they included him in the 2006 World Cup squad at 17 years of age which is amazing. I still can't understand it and there really is a dearth of top strikers in the country. So that gives Michael Owen a chance.

"Our approach has been to say to him, 'Enjoy being here, enjoy the training'. It is only through what he does here that Fabio can really look at him. His name and reputation will not get him into the World Cup squad but what he does over the season with us will, hopefully."

The new Wembley has yet to see a commanding performance by Manchester United. In five games, they have scored only once - Ryan Giggs's goal against Chelsea in the Community Shield two years ago. Ferguson acknowledged the lack of panache United have displayed, arguing the slow pitch is the likeliest culprit.

With Edwin van der Sar having broken his hand in the penalty shoot-out with Bayern Munich that decided the Audi Cup - an injury that will take eight to 10 weeks to heal - Ben Foster is likely to get an early opportunity to prove his manager's assertion he is England's best keeper. Nemanja Vidic will not be available until the season is two weeks' old.

Despite Liverpool's strong finish to last season, Ferguson still sees Chelsea as the greatest threat to preventing Manchester United winning a fourth successive title.

"Carlo Ancelotti will take up the baton from where Guus Hiddink left off," he said.

"John Terry deciding to stay will keep them stronger. It is difficult to say how this year is going to pan out. Ourselves, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal are all looking at what is happening at Manchester City with great interest. We are asking if this can work because none of us has really gone into the market in a big way. We have sold Cristiano Ronaldo, Liverpool have sold Xabi Alonso, Arsenal have sold Emmanuel Adebayor."

Ferguson, however, thought Liverpool were unlikely to suffer unduly from Alonso's defection to Real Madrid, where he joins Ronaldo.

The Manchester United manager denied reports that, at a golf day, he had quipped there was more chance of him holing in one than there was of Liverpool winning the title.

"Liverpool got 86 points last season and that is an exceptional total for a team that finishes second," he said. "We won it in 1997 with 75. That is a grand total to finish second."

The Community Shield winners have won the Premier League in the same season just five times since the top flight's rebranding in 1992, although it has happened three times in the past four campaigns. Tonight's opposing teams remain the only sides in the Premier League era to have won both in the same season - United four times, Chelsea once.

FERGUSON SEEMS to be right - contrary to the impression John Terry appears to have been given at his 'showdown' talks with Roman Abramovich, Chelsea will not be investing in Franck Ribery, David Villa, or anyone else for that matter before the closure of the transfer window.

That was the claim - or admission - by Ancelotti yesterday. The Chelsea manager declared: "I don't want to take any more new players because the Chelsea squad is very competitive."

His pursuit of Andrea Pirlo would suggest otherwise, and his captain does not appear to agree either.

After the FA Cup final Terry talked of buying players like Ribery and Villa, and his flirtation with Manchester City is understood to have been prompted as much by concern that Chelsea's ambition does not match City's as the latter's head-turning wage offer. In the event Chelsea have signed only Yuri Zhirkov, Ross Turnbull and Daniel Sturridge this summer, the latter two on free transfers.

Ancelotti added that he was not selling either, which was a reference to Ricardo Carvalho and Deco, both of whom have interested former manager Jose Mourinho at Internazionale.

"We never thought of selling them, they are important," said Ancelotti. "They will stay at Chelsea this season. We had no offer for them from Inter."

Ancelotti said an unchanged squad means a harmonious one as they try to win the Premier League for the first time since 2006, but it is also ageing, with only two first-team players, Jose Bosingwa and Nicolas Anelka, to have signed since Mourinho left two years ago.

Sir Alex Ferguson was heard in 2008 and last season, when his team had reached the semifinals of the Champions League, to recall the horrors of April 2007. That was when his side faced Milan, with Ancelotti in charge, in the San Siro and lost - walloped, in fact - 3-0 in the second leg of their semifinal.

Usually it is the Scot who leaves deep psychological wounds on his opponents, but in this particular head-to-head, Ancelotti has been the one to inflict all the pain. Throw in another Champions League victory, in the last 16 in February 2005, and you could have mistaken his low-key demeanour yesterday at Cobham, the Chelsea training ground, for profound confidence.

Ancelotti said: "This is a very important match because with victory we can start the season very well and build confidence. It is a very important game. We are playing a great team who reached the Champions League final last season. We have respect for them but want to play well, win and put our quality on the pitch."

- INDEPENDENT