I actually think Heskey is a pretty decent player, but you need to play a certain way to accomodate him. His technique isn't great and his goalscoring record is pretty crap, but he's incredibly strong and very good in the air. He does a lot of the simple, ugly stuff that goes unnoticed a lot of the time, and I'm pretty certain that guys like Rooney and Owen have gone on the record to state that they love playing with him because he does a lot of the hard graft for them.
The problem with Heskey is that you need to put the vast majority of your attacking play through him for him to be effective. He needs to be the focal point so he can bring the ball down and wait for runners from midfield; if you put your play through Rooney then you're fucked, because Heskey's movement isn't very good at all. You need a very precise, rigid system of play to play to Emile's strengths, and this is a big part of what destroyed Aston Villa's form during the second half of last season. Before they signed him they were playing a thrilling brand of football with John Carew flanked by a combination of Agbonlahor/Milner/Young . They bought Heskey and messed with their system so that they could play him, and everything went to shit.
This is why I don't think he should be in the England squad. He was fantastic at Wigan because he was one of the best players in the squad, so they could afford to put everything through him, but he's only the third best out-and-out striker in the Villa squad and one of the worst in the England team. Defoe would be a much better option - the boy's absolute dynamite at the moment. I wouldn't start Michael Owen as I've watched him plod around the field completely uninterested for the past few years (he's not a "natural goalscorer" anymore, no matter what the media may try to tell you. Have you seen some of the chances he's missed already for United?), but he's a good option for the bench. Crouch definitely, as he gives you something a little different (I think it's important to have a strong mix of striking options).
Lennon should be a starter. He's been excellent this season and SWP's hardly set the world on fire. I'd even put Jimmy Milner ahead of Wright-Phillips; really good winger. Not the fastest in the world, but he's a good crosser, works his socks off, and he can fairly spank them from range, too. We'd never have been relegated if we hadn't sold him and Charlie Zog. |