Stoke City striker Michael Owen feels he is now suffering due to his heavy workload as a young player at Liverpool.
Owen rues the incessant workload during his formative years which he believes cost him the chance both to prolong his career and add to his medal collection.
"I cringe when I look back on a quote that I came out with after Gerard Houllier rested me for a game," he wrote on his personal website.
"I will rest when I'm 40, I muttered in an interview. How wrong could I be? You can't force nature and nature has certainly forced me to rest far more than I would have liked in the second half of my career.
"While I was playing every game available to me there was another young kid in the Liverpool academy called Steven Gerrard who was showing huge potential.
"Unlike me, who was playing 80 games a season, Steve couldn't stay fit. I am convinced that this was to his advantage in the long run. His body just needed time to grow into itself and at that time it couldn't take the stresses and strains of football."