MICHAEL Owen met the question with a knowing grin.

Asked if his catalogue of wasted chances against Newcastle United were a sign that he was coming into form, the striker concurred.

"That's often what happens with me," he said. "I go a while without scoring, then I miss a few and then the goals come."

So, when is this purple patch going to start?

It might have begun on Saturday, only for Owen to produce a pathetic excuse for a penalty against West Bromwich Albion's substitute keeper Joe Murphy.

Another shot that scudded across the face of goal and flashed just wide might have gone in on another day.

After seven Premiership games, the Community Shield and a Champions League match, Owen has just one goal to his name - a penalty against Newcastle.

So, we must wonder why he is so obviously off his game. And the answer that screams out at you is: he's suffering from burnout.

Five years of almost non-stop football, save for a handful of breaks forced upon him by his hamstring injuries, has taken its toll on him. Whereas once there was a smile etched across his face, now there is a scowl.

He looked exasperated, even mystified, by his failure to score on Saturday.

But more than anything, he looked like someone in need of a hard-earned rest.

That he set up Liverpool's second goal, for John Arne Riise, that finally ended West Brom's resistance is of no relevance here.

The cutting edge, the killer touch, that Owen possesses has been blunted. His exploits for club and country have clearly had a major effect on him.

Gerard Houllier has been fortunate enough to stumble across the solution to the problem of who replaces Owen in the last nine days.

With two goals against Bolton Wanderers and another on Saturday, Milan Baros is a ready-made deputy, albeit a temporary one.

Emile Heskey is still struggling even to flatter to deceive, and El-Hadji Diouf is not an out-and-out goalscorer.

So, with Basle coming to Merseyside on Wednesday, Houllier has the perfect chance to give Owen a back seat.

Taking such a decision would not be an admission of failure by the European Footballer of the Year; rather, an acceptance that Owen needs a break.

If Houllier times it right, it could prove to be a masterstroke.

But if he keeps Owen in the firing line, the wait for that elusive goal rush might be a long one.