I had no qualms with Sven's decision to take him off – I might not have done the same at that point, but could completely see why he did it – it was "what happened next" which was much more concerning. He'd been played through perfectly well three or four times but was far too late on his turn and was at least two yards shy of where he should have been.

These guys aren't entitled to play. And yes; Owen can be shit in general. When he's sharp and fit, he's a very good striker, but I can give you half a million scousers who'll testify to him having worrying "spells" of crapness too frequently for comfort. He's not sharp and nothing he's done so far indicates he's anywhere near it. Breaker may be right; he may come good (he tends to), but hitherto he's been crap. That's just an empirical fact.