Emile Heskey is GOOD - Discuss

[mejonaNO12 aka riskit]

exactly the team i want to see play...but sadly i dont think sven will go for it. as ive mentioned bridge is a great crosser of the ball and of course so is becks. a very very 3 man midfield which becks could always slip into if there is a problem and put dyer on to the right for a sub.

i really like rooney but i also like vassel...and defoe....and heskey for that matter. i expect sven will go for rooney and owen with the typical boring diamond formation and he will DEFFINETELY play nicky butt(or hargreaves)

 

[Brighton Breezy]

If we play Heskey the other teams will all laugh at us.

 

[CHAPPERS]

If we play Heskey the other teams will all laugh at us.

Why?

 

[Brighton Breezy]

Because he is awful and falls over all the time. Look at France's forwards: Trezeguet and Henry, Italy will have Vieri and Totti. If we are to be serious about winning it we need to play strikers capable of doing something special on there own a la Owen against Argentina. It is not enough to have someone who might hold the ball up a bit. Rooney creates for other players from nothing beating players with the ball at his feet, is feared by other countries and can spank them in from outside the box; Owen is capable of beating players with the ball and is deadly in the box. Heskey occasionally runs into the ball and inadvertantly deflects it in.

 

[CHAPPERS]

. Rooney creates for other players from nothing beating players with the ball at his feet, is feared by other countries and can spank them in from outside the box;.

Rooney is feared by other countries?

How do you know that? He hasn't played against any big teams yet and is NOT performing in the league. Heskey IS feared by other countries and his form in the league is showing with Liverpools success.

 

[Marshy]

Agree with Richie.

Rooney must play if we play two up front, we simply dont have another player like him.

 

[Brighton Breezy]

Heskey is awful. Liverpool are a mediocre team being propped up by Gerrard and Owen.
Rooney is one of the most exciting talents in this country. We may not have played 'big' teams with Rooney in the starting line up, but I would imagine most of the foreigh players from the premiership who will be in Euro 2004 will be more worried about Rooney then Heskey and managers etc are bound to have been watching Premiership games and checking out England's team.

When Rooney gets the ball, the whole stadium moves to the edgo of their seats. When Heskey gets it everyone sighs.

 

[Simster]

Because he is awful and falls over all the time. Look at France's forwards: Trezeguet and Henry, Italy will have Vieri and Totti. If we are to be serious about winning it we need to play strikers capable of doing something special on there own a la Owen against Argentina. It is not enough to have someone who might hold the ball up a bit. Rooney creates for other players from nothing beating players with the ball at his feet, is feared by other countries and can spank them in from outside the box; Owen is capable of beating players with the ball and is deadly in the box. Heskey occasionally runs into the ball and inadvertantly deflects it in.

You're having a laugh if you think Rooney is feared by everyone.

But I'll qualify what I say when I defend Heskey. I think he's GOOD but not a world beater, certainly not all the time. Actually, I think it should be horses for courses. I won't argue about which teams I would start him over Rooney because I think it depends on Sven's formation and that of our opponents. And in the end, it won't matter who we play against France - they really ought to beat us (and everyone else) with the side they've got. France could put 3 teams out that wouldn't look out of place in a 2004 semi.

 

[Marshy]

I disagree with horses for courses....you must play your best 11 at all times.

 

[Brighton Breezy]

Ok, perhaps not feared, but MORE feared then Heskey who is crap.

 

[Brighton Breezy]

I disagree with horses for courses....you must play your best 11 at all times.

EXACTLY! England should not worry about adapting to the way their opponents play. We should be forcing them to adapt to us. Not many teams could live with England if we played in the same style most of the players play week in week out in the Premiership.

 

[Simster]

I disagree with horses for courses....you must play your best 11 at all times.

Hmm. Well I think we need to effectively bypass the midfield if we're going to have any chance of beating France. Their defence is the weakest part of the team and if we don't pressurise it effectively we're screwed. We won't be able to pass through their midfield, our midfield is OK but theirs is absolutely top notch. Therefore Heskey might prove more than a little useful IF he is able to hold the ball up.

 

[Brighton Breezy]

Rooney is as strong as Heskey, can hold the ball up and dosnt have Heskey's tendency to fall over when challenged.

I would say that our midfield IS as good as France's. Lampard got the better of Viera in the Euro Cup game at Highbury; Gerrad is going to be one of the stars of the tournament where as Mackelle has looked ordinary of late in the Premiership. Zidane is world class of that there is no doubt, Scholes and Beckham are not bad.

We should have more confidence in our team and not keep selling ourselves short.

The main thing though is that we should get behind WHOEVER Sven picks. If Heskey plays then I will still be cheering for him as Im sure the whole country will be.

 

[Uncle Buck]

Rooney is as strong as Heskey, can hold the ball up and dosnt have Heskey's tendency to fall over when challenged.

I would say that our midfield IS as good as France's. Lampard got the better of Viera in the Euro Cup game at Highbury; Gerrad is going to be one of the stars of the tournament where as Mackelle has looked ordinary of late in the Premiership. Zidane is world class of that there is no doubt, Scholes and Beckham are not bad.

We should have more confidence in our team and not keep selling ourselves short.

The main thing though is that we should get behind WHOEVER Sven picks. If Heskey plays then I will still be cheering for him as Im sure the whole country will be.

Richie I agree that our midfield is our strongest area, but firstly Lampard is not going to be in the starting line up and secondly the expirence of the French midfield means that they are likely to have something over us.

Knowing England, we will beat France and then sod it up against the Swiss. I guess if we need something from the Croatia game, make sure we do not play Phil Neville.

 

[Hannibal smith]

I disagree with horses for courses....you must play your best 11 at all times.

It is horses for courses if you get the right manager. Venables played the 'Christmas tree' against Holland when we beat them 4-1 (the best England performance I have seen in my lifetime) where he recognised he was able to swamp the Dutch midfield and organised the players to do it. Sadly, tactics such as this are rarely deployed or if they are the players incapable of following orders when they get on the pitch. This is why 4-4-2 is preferred and everyone knows what they are doing, in contrast to the England under Keegan who were running around like headless chickens clearly unable to string 2 passes together.

In answer to the original question who should play up front? Well Owen definitely should as he is performs much better for England than he does for Liverpool as the style of play is more suited to his strength's (i.e running onto long balls played from deep & goal hanging). Heskey is much maligned but does possess more footballing ability than he is given credit for, his debut against Argentina was phenomenal display of power and pace. However, Heskey does not perform like this enough to warrant a starting position ahead of Rooney who was likewise outstanding against Turkey in both games. Similarly, Heskey's transfer value is probably 5-8 Million & Rooney's 25-30 an accurate reflection on their abilities.

I've no idea about who else we should take though. As someone who sits near a bunch of Villa fans at work I can tell you the opinion of Vasell is that he is VILLAGE. However, like Owen I feel he plays better for England and is a squad player. Defoe is greedy gap toothed pikey incapable of passing and shouldn't be anywhere near the squad at present. Alan Smith is like Heskey but much much worse and Beattie's performances for England have been PONY. On current form I'd take Kevin Phillips as the 5th striker and pray we didn't get any injuries. God help us if we were 1-0 down against Croatia and had to throw him on to get us a goal.

 

[Marshy]

Lampard better fuc*ing start Uncle Buck...and i think he will !

But whoever he picks will get my support.

 

[Uncle Buck]

Lampard better fuc*ing start Uncle Buck...and i think he will !

But whoever he picks will get my support.

When available Sven has always picked Beckham, Butt, Scholes and Gerrard.

As I have stated before, Lampard is one of these players that looks fantastic in club football, but is yet to perform for England. Those games last September against Macedonia and Liechenstein he totally froze.

 

[Barrel of Fun]

He is very good, Chappers.

 

[Yorkie]

Every good striker needs a partner. Owen plays better with Heskey.

Blimey, I was saying the same thing 3 years ago.

 

[e77]

I have always been a fan of him. There are few, if any, better holders up of the ball in England which brings people into the game and helps the defence out.

I do wish he would put away a few more chances though!