Emile Heskey

[rjbseagull]

England's best 3 performances of the last TEN years:

England 5 - 1 Germany
England 4 - 1 Croatia
England 5 - 1 Croatia

Anyone here who thinks it's a co-incidence Heskey played in all 3 is a f***ing idiot. Seriously, stop watching football. How can so many people STILL not understand what he does for a team? It's actually ridiculous.

Oh and also:

Stephane Guivarch (striker) - 14 caps, ONE goal, ONE WORLD CUP WINNERS MEDAL.

Yes Heskey does hold the ball up, but he adds no goal threat, and the bottom line is I cannot see us winning a world cup with him in the team.

What if Rooney has a poor tournament?

Lets face it Rooney could have an absolute mare and still wont be dropped, so whos going to add the goal threat if Heskey is going to be in the team evey game?

 

[Common as Mook]

So what though? He's not in the team to score goals. We might as well talk about Ashley Cole's scoring record.

So when Rooney icks the ball up deep and plays it through to his centre forward partner through on goal with 5 minutes to go and 1-0 down, you'd be fine with the fact that it's Heskey because he isn't in the team to score goals?

 

[8ace]

Were Higuita's goals all penalties?

 

[Mellotron]

So when Rooney icks the ball up deep and plays it through to his centre forward partner through on goal with 5 minutes to go and 1-0 down, you'd be fine with the fact that it's Heskey because he isn't in the team to score goals?

The point is (as mentioned above) we are more likely to have scored more in the first 85 mins with Heskey in the team. With him in the team, we score more. Simple. And yes, I would probably take him off with about 15 mins to go if we were struggling to score.

 

[Mellotron]

Yes Heskey does hold the ball up, but he adds no goal threat, and the bottom line is I cannot see us winning a world cup with him in the team.

What if Rooney has a poor tournament?

Lets face it Rooney could have an absolute mare and still wont be dropped, so whos going to add the goal threat if Heskey is going to be in the team evey game?

When Heskey plays, the players around him are much more effective. Surely you'd do whatever is necessary to give Rooney, Gerrard and Lampard the best chance of a great tournament?

 

[Common as Mook]

The point is (as mentioned above) we are more likely to have scored more in the first 85 mins with Heskey in the team. With him in the team, we score more. Simple. And yes, I would probably take him off with about 15 mins to go if we were struggling to score.

I see your point as to how important he is and I understand the Guivarc'h argument. I do struggle with the fact that the basic role for a centre forward is to score goals- a department in which Heskey is WOEFULLY lacking.

 

[Simster]

Quite. If Crouch was playing instead of Heskey it's more likely we would be struggling. Regardless of whether HE scores more goals, WE score more goals with Heskey in the team. Simple really.

It's not simple though. The obvious flaw is that he is a striker who doesn't score. However, I'm prepared to overlook that because, as you say, his presence does seem to help the team when he links up with Rooney.

But: what happens if Rooney is injured or sent off in the match? All of a sudden, Heskey becomes redundant which means we'd possibly need to make an additional substitution. So accommodating Heskey will cause problems if anything happens to Rooney, IMO.

 

[sam86]

[yt]BAphZQti85c[/yt]

 

[Mendoza]

It's not simple though. The obvious flaw is that he is a striker who doesn't score. However, I'm prepared to overlook that because, as you say, his presence does seem to help the team when he links up with Rooney.

But: what happens if Rooney is injured or sent off in the match? All of a sudden, Heskey becomes redundant which means we'd possibly need to make an additional substitution. So accommodating Heskey will cause problems if anything happens to Rooney, IMO.

Theo Walcott should go upfront in that case as he cannot cross for shit, but seems to be OK when shooting

 

[Stumpy Tim]

It's not simple though. The obvious flaw is that he is a striker who doesn't score. However, I'm prepared to overlook that because, as you say, his presence does seem to help the team when he links up with Rooney.

But: what happens if Rooney is injured or sent off in the match? All of a sudden, Heskey becomes redundant which means we'd possibly need to make an additional substitution. So accommodating Heskey will cause problems if anything happens to Rooney, IMO.

If Rooney gets injured we're f***ed anyway

 

[sam86]

But then again...

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[Common as Mook]

Theo Walcott should go upfront in that case as he cannot cross for shit, but seems to be OK when shooting

Walcott is a striker. His reputation was built on that, and Wenger has turned him into a winger.

 

[Simster]

Theo Walcott should go upfront in that case as he cannot cross for shit, but seems to be OK when shooting

I tend to agree. But if Rooney is injured then that will mean TWO substitutions required, because Heskey would need to come off too. I'd play Walcott with Crouch or Defoe.

If Rooney gets injured we're f***ed anyway

Not entirely true. He might get an injury that takes him out of one group game, not the entire tournament. In such cases, we still need a goal threat in the odd game Rooney is out for.

 

[Acker79]

It's not simple though. The obvious flaw is that he is a striker who doesn't score. However, I'm prepared to overlook that because, as you say, his presence does seem to help the team when he links up with Rooney.

But: what happens if Rooney is injured or sent off in the match? All of a sudden, Heskey becomes redundant which means we'd possibly need to make an additional substitution. So accommodating Heskey will cause problems if anything happens to Rooney, IMO.

There have been people who say they'd be happy to see walcott as a striking option, Gerrard just behind Heskey, Joe Cole all over the pitch as an attacking midfielder.

Losing Rooney doesn't mean we lose our goal threat or have to make lots of subs to counter for it. Take of Heskey and bring on a defensive midfielder to sure up the defensive side of things, and use Gerrard/J Cole/Walcott/Lampard even as an attacking outlet.

The trouble comes if we've already used 3 subs, which will only happen if:

-We're getting several injuries
...In which case the tactics will probably have been altered and Heskey may well have been sacrificed already.

-We are struggling to find a goal and are trying different tactics/defending a lead and trying to counter our opponents changes in tactics.
...In which case Heskey will most likely have been sacrificed alread.

 

[Acker79]

Michael Owen score more goals for England with Heskey than with any other partner. Like Rooney.

It is Heskey's strength that he helps his partner excel. Why should Rooney's replacement (if Rooney goes off injured) not benefit from teaming with Heskey like Owen and Rooney have? Why does Heskey have to come off with Rooney?

 

[beorhthelm]

But: what happens if Rooney is injured or sent off in the match? All of a sudden, Heskey becomes redundant which means we'd possibly need to make an additional substitution. So accommodating Heskey will cause problems if anything happens to Rooney, IMO.

so Heskey-Defoe wont work? i rather think it will.

Theo Walcott should go upfront in that case as he cannot cross for shit, but seems to be OK when shooting

we've just come up with this at work, in a sort of "Heskey, meet the Owen replacement..." mode.

 

[mejonaNO12 aka riskit]

If Rooney was an out and out striker, such as a VILLA or TORRES i would be FINE with Emile leading the line. at least when the ball gets whipped in we have a goal threat.

unfortunately rooney is so intent on dropping 40 yards all the time that he only has 2 options. play it wide, which will lead to a cross for heskey to miss. or playm it through for heskey to have a 1 on 1. Neither are good outcomes.

i LOVE heskey, before anyone thinks i have an agenda. but you look at that croatia home game and he couldnt score for TOFFEE. yes his hold up play was good, but i honestly believe crouch does a better job at it.

i realise this will make me an idiot in mellotrons view but for me, in a world cup, you need a striker who will SCORE. crouch will. heskey wont sadly. EVEN villa play with carew instead of him, and he's NORWEGIAN

 

[strings]

Theo Walcott should go upfront in that case as he cannot cross for shit, but seems to be OK when shooting

This is an area I hope will improve through the tournament. I hear that Beckham has been giving Lennon and Walcott ball-crossing masterclasses.

 

[Simster]

so Heskey-Defoe wont work? i rather think it will.

I disagree, but then Defoe has never really filled me with confidence in an England shirt.

 

[sten_super]

The first youtube video shows just how far Heskey has fallen (and also, just what he's never really produced for England). Whether it's a lack of confidence thing or something else I don't know, but he looks so far away from the marauding striker he was at Leicester and to a degree at Liverpool, when he was able to both score and set up goals. Yes he does a great job for England, and I really do think he should be playing alongside Rooney. But just imagine if we had Heskey c.2001 AND Rooney in the same line up.