Friday, 17th October, 2014
Former Liverpool striker Michael Owen has criticised Raheem Sterling for asking to be rested for England's Euro 2016 qualifier against Estonia on Sunday.
The 19-year-old asked Three Lions boss Roy Hodgson if he could be sit out of the contest after complaining about fatigue.
As a result, Sterling started on the bench and came on as a second half substitute as England defeated Estonia 1-0, courtesy of a late Wayne Rooney goal.
And Owen, who does not believe in the theory of “burnout”, is the latest man to lash out at the Liverpool winger for trying to sit out of playing for his country.
The ex-England international further added that during his playing time at Liverpool, none of the players wanted to be rested.
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"We're surmising how he was feeling but I never felt like telling the manager I was tired because I never felt particularly that I needed a rest," Owen was quoted as saying by ITV.
"I know people will say, 'Well, we don't want anyone having burnout'. But I'll ask you now – can you name one player who has ever been burned out? I don't know of anyone."
"I can only speak from experience of me being in that situation and we always used to have a bit of a joke at Liverpool because the manager Gerard Houllier would always come around and ask everyone if they're fine, if they're tired.
"You'd always be saying, 'No, no, no, I'm totally fine' because you didn't want to get rested."
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