Vent that Spleen...
Emile Heskey is the most despicable player in the premiership (although Robbie Savage and Roy Keane have a claim) because he is so very, very poor. Henry a shade smaller in both height and weight has the touch, the control and the ability of a demi-god. Emile Heskey has none of these. He is quite simply a devastatingly bad player who should be devastatingly good.
Over expectations is the blight of British sport. In most cases we truly believe our national teams to succeed, only in rugby union can we really say that is likely to happen in the near future. Emile Heskey is the perfect embodiment of this. England where never going to win the world cup with Heskey anywhere near our left flank. Recently Sven seems to have broken off his inexplicable bond to the Heskey phenomenon and parted ways; hopefully there will be no reconciliation.
Gerard Houllier was foolish enough to pay £11 million for Heskey to a more than grateful Leicester where he averaged a goal in just under four games. Prolific. Henry cost Arsene Wenger about the same from Juventus. The differences are incomparable, although it is an accurate reflection on Houllier's brilliance in the transfer market.
Heskey gets on my nerves, his ball control is appalling and for a striker or winger he seems to play ludicrously deep, imposing himself very little on the opposition goal. He needs basic tactical and control training that he should of learnt at school. My games teacher's favourite football quote was 'Don't just kick it boy, look for the pass.' But with Heskey its your only option, he can't play successfully with the ball at his feet.
His size is not an excuse for his ability; Jan Kholer is significantly better than Heskey and he twice as big. When British football wakes up and realises that we need to create players who are anti-Heskeys and model themselves on the little maestro Zola instead the premiership and our national teams may finally compete with Brazil, France and the rest.
22nd May 2003