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Owen tells England stars to accept share of blame
(AFP)
Updated: 2005-09-09 16:19

Michael Owen has called on his England teammates to accept the blame for their shock defeat by Northern Ireland and not allow under-fire coach Sven-Goran Eriksson to be a lone scapegoat for one of the most embarassing results in the country's history.


England striker Michael Owen, seen here on the ground following the shock 1-0 defeat against Northern Ireland, has called on his England teammates to accept the blame for their shock defeat by Northern Ireland and not allow under-fire coach Sven-Goran Eriksson to be a lone scapegoat. [AFP]

"The manager, the players and the staff are all in it together," Owen said.

"If the manager gets stick it's due in no small part to the players. We were out there playing and we didn't perform well enough.

"We played well for the first half an hour but then seemed to get worse and worse. But we take collective responsibility for the performance and now we have to show collective togetherness, stick tight and put it right in the next two games."

Owen, who looked short of match sharpness on Wednesday night, believes England will come good in next month's matches against Austria and Poland, which they must win to guarantee qualification for the 2006 World Cup finals.

"As a squad of players there's plenty of times when you're up and plenty of times when you're down," he said.

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

"That's how we felt after the game. We feel the hurt collectively and we all said we don't want this feeling again.

"Hopefully we will get the chance to put it right in the last two qualifiers. It's still in our hands to win the group hopefully that will make up for last night."

Eriksson meanwhile admitted that England's performance had been curiously devoid of spirit - but denied that he had lost the ability to inspire his players.

"It (spirit) is something we lost on Wednesday and I'm sorry to say it," the Swede said.

"I would say we have never lost it before in a qualification game. Unfortunately, we didn't have the patience that we've had before.

"When you meet opponents like Northern Ireland and Wales, it's important that we have patience, move the ball. They defend with a lot of people and do it with a big heart."

Despite admitting England had played without any heart, Eriksson insisted that his squad were more than capable of turning things around in the October matches against Austria and Poland.

"Some of our important players will be fitter in October than they are today and that's important for us," he argued.

"It's a must for us. We all have the knives here (at our throats) if we want to play at the World Cup. I'm sure we will respond in a very positive way."

Eriksson also refused to contemplate a cull of underperforming big names such as Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard.

"It's about working, talking and not panicking. If we panic and switch 11 players, then it will never work.

"I should like to see all the big players we have fit 100 percent."

Eriksson, who will have to do without the suspended Wayne Rooney for the Austria match, will consider drafting Liverpool striker Peter Crouch in as a replacement provided the currently injured forward is back playing by then.

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