Few players over the years have done as much to divide public opinion at Anfield as Emile Heskey. Emile made his debut as a raw seventeen year old in a Leicester team that was hardly renowned for its slick passing and movement, he quickly built up an effective partnership with the aging Tony Cottee and was named Leicester’s young player of the year in his first season. He spent four more season at Leicester, and was popular with their supporters before joining Liverpool for £11 million in March 2000.
It is now nearly three years since Emile signed as a 22 year-old striker, with undoubted raw talent, but not a regular goalscorer. He has represented his country at numerous levels, including full international. Houllier had first seen Emile playing in the European Under-18 Championships for England in France, and had been so impressed that he continued to monitor his development until he was convinced enough to pay £11 million for him. In this tournament Emile had partnered Michael Owen up front for England, this was not a panic buy. Like most of Houllier’s purchases, it had been planned for months, if not years, and this purchase was made for the long haul rather than for immediate glorification.
After a settling-in period, Emile started the 2001 season in great form and went on to produce such a consistent level of performance that he became the only forward to start all three cup-finals, as well as producing easily his best return in terms of goals. He was also one of the select few players who started all five trophy-winning matches. Many Liverpool fans, myself included, were originally sceptical, to say the least, of his ability to provide an alternative to Fowler as Owen’s strike partner.
His form lay this theory to rest. Houllier’s confidence in the player was there for all to see and Emile obviously felt at home in his new surroundings “I always knew what I was capable of. Obviously I’m always working on my game and the manager has worked on little things with me. But there isn’t much difference in my game. The main thing now is confidence. With confidence you can perform a lot better.” Explained Heskey.
The relationship between the manager and Emile is patently close, as overwhelmingly illustrated during the manager’s brief stay at Melwood, during his prolonged absence through illness. The manager shares a bond with Heskey, and he, in turn, knows that the manager has confidence in him. "I think I’m basically the same player who was at Leicester, but with the different players around me and the confidence, it has all fallen into place. The boss is always taking me to one side and having a quiet word about little things in my game whereas at Leicester Martin (O’Neill) was more of a motivator. They both have similar ideas about the game but Gerard takes me aside for specific one-on-one coaching on certain aspects of my game, which has helped me a lot” Explained Emile.
His form, during his first full season, was such that in December, there was uproar at his omission from the starting line-up, which GH had to defend in a press conference "We have five important games in just 15 days and Emile has already played in the first two (against Charlton and Olympiakos). We need to have everybody fit. Are you saying that Michael and Robbie are not Premiership players?"
How different from the response of some fans recently, who have become bemused at Emile’s selection, especially in a midfield role, which is clearly not Emile’s own preference.
Former Ipswich manager George Burley was certainly impressed after a Heskey equaliser earned us a point at Portman Road late in the season: “He's still young and, as Gerard Houllier has said, he's probably not the finished article yet. But he's got so much quality and great attributes he's strong, quick and can score goals so he's really an exceptional talent. He's strong and physical, centre-halves know they are playing against him. He's certainly going to have a big future for the England team."
At the end of the season Gerrard reflected over Emile’s performances, attitude and opportunities for improvement:
"What can Emile do to improve? Well, at times he should probably have more self-belief and more confidence in front of goal," said Houllier. "Maybe in a season he will be able to have that confidence, which all strikers need.
He should be more clinical, like Robbie Fowler. When there is a ball in the box, Robbie scores. Emile isn't there yet. Yes, he has scored 20 goals for us and one for England this season. But he has missed a lot as well it should be more."
It is perhaps unfortunate that nearly two years later, the manager is still talking about what could be with Emile: “"I've told him he is a sleeping giant. He knows that too. He is one of the most powerful players in this country. I think maybe he realises that but sometimes you have to push him a bit because he is not an arrogant or boastful person. Maybe he is too nice at times.”
His obvious feeling is that an influx of “self-belief” in Heskey could transform him from a good striker to a world class one, that is why Gerrard spoke of Emile being only 60% of the player he could be.
Last season started reasonably enough for Emile, and his form was good enough for people to be not “too concerned” his lack of goals. A fine goal in the Super Cup, against the European champions, where he waltzed between two defenders before slotting calmly passed Khan showed the qualities that Emile possesses.
Under Erickson, Emile has established himself as a regular with England. Prior to Germany game Rudi Voller identified Emile as his biggest worry, this was magnified by his performance and goal against Bayern Munich. John Barnes enthused about Heskey “they will also fear his pace along with his power and aggression.”
As for his partner, on that occasion, and many others for Liverpool, Owen said: "I've no doubt that Emile can cause problems to any player he plays against. When he's playing well, there are not many people who can stop him.
He's got pace and strength, a great combination, and no defence will relish playing against him.
I don't think the Germans will relish facing a few of our strikers but Emile can strike the fear of God into anyone when he is playing well.
Different strikers do have different attributes but I think Germany will be fearful of Emile especially as some of them played against him last week when he showed what he can do.” It becomes crystal clear that Michael relishes playing alongside Heskey, more than anybody that he has been paired with.
That night was probably the start of his barren goal-scoring run at club level, and losing Houllier for so long clearly had a negative effect on him. He kept on plugging away and undoubtedly always gave his all. One of the problems that Emile has is that his aerial ability combined with Michael’s pace are too often an easy option for other players, especially if they are under pressure. This has led to an over-reliance on the long ball, especially at Anfield, rather than perfecting the swift attacking style we used successfully the previous season.
My own opinion is that Emile often performs better when the midfield have got forward quicker, and played in more advanced positions, leaving Didi to patrol in front of the defence. His performances, both home and away against Man United, drew on his ability to bring the ball down and bring other players into the game, as well as flicking on longer balls. In both of these games he was outstanding, and contributed fully to the victory without hitting the net.
Emile consistently seems to have impressive games against European opposition where defenders are appear in fear of him, especially when he picks up the ball and runs at them. He has always worked hard and, unlike some players going through a barren spell, has never hidden.
Despite criticism, especially from the terraces, of Heskey last season, Phil Thompson noted "Emile has had some criticism but to us he has done a great job. When we went to the top of the League he played a major part - and he still wasn't scoring goals then. People should ask why Michael Owen has scored such a lot of goals and look at who is creating the space and taking the weight off Michael."
Afterwards he took a swipe at some knockers, he said: "I keep having to champion his cause. But I shouldn't have to if people knew football a bit better.
He has been outstanding for us. Even when we went top of the league and he wasn't scoring goals he played an exceptional part in our triumphs.
What you get with Emile is that he never hides, but because he hasn't scored many goals he wasn't getting too many mentions.
But his performances have been fantastic for the team and for the club. He deserved his goals today. He worked hard for them." That was after a magnificent performance in a 4-0 away win at Leeds, Heskey went on to perform even better in a season’s best performance, a 6-0 victory away at Ipswich.
It became increasingly clear that the stand-in manager had as much faith in Emile as the manager did. When the manager did return, it was to prove a night of Triumph for Heskey as well as Houllier. Heskey’s performance against Roma in the 2-0 victory, that took us into the last eight of Europe’s premier competition, was little short of majestic. He gave the Italians no-end of problems all night, and scored the goal that carried us through.
Toward the end of the season I was quite impressed with Heskey’s partnership with Anelka, especially as they combined effectively when Heskey scored in a 1-0 victory over Leicester. Perhaps our most convincing home league performance of the season was against Newcastle, when a three pronged attack, with Emile in an advanced wide position was simply too much for them to handle. Emile and Michael both played well but it was Anelka who was the undoubted star of the night. A magnificent cross, again from the left wing position, helped Vladamir Smicer claim the points in a hard fought match with Chelsea near the end of the season. It was perhaps these two matches that helped to convince both Gerard Houllier and Ericckson that Emile was suited to a role wide in midfield. Liverpool finished the season in 2nd place, their highest league position in eleven years, and Heskey delivered a total of 14 goals, quite credible for a player who had had a considerable barren spell, in the middle of the season.
The summer saw a trip to Japan for the player who is now an England regular. He was used as both a wide player and a forward in the World Cup, and contributed towards England’s progress despite the unjust attacks of the British media. He was probably England s best player against the eventual World Champions, in the game that saw their elimination.
This season has not been the best for Emile. For a forward that stands well over 6 foot and close to fourteen stone, he has been relatively lucky with injuries. But this season he has struggled to shrug off niggling knocks, and when he has played he has generally been used in wide positions. I’ve never been more disappointed in Emile than I was as he trudged off the pitch in Basel, he simply had not been at the races.
It was good to see him return to his best position against Southampton, and he rewarded his manager with easily his best performance of the season to date. Houllier has noted "We will see a different Emile for the second half of the season. I always said the best of Emile would be in the New Year.”
While Emile himself admitted “Everyone wants to stay in the side and play in their preferred position and I'm no different, I'm a striker so I always want to play up front. I haven't played that much lately but I'd say that was my best game of the season so far. You just want to play and show what you can do.
I always go out there to try and play well and never hide.”
Heskey is a powerfully built player who has undoubtedly been low on confidence recently, this has not been helped by continually being played out of position, and niggling injuries. Emile himself has identified the improvement in his form from Leicester to Liverpool as being down to confidence and his relationship with Houlllier- either/ or have been missing during his lean spells for the club. Judges as good as Houllier, Thompson, O’Neil and Errickson appear to think that he is both a good footballer and an asset to their football teams. Both Houllier and Errickson also appear to believe that Heskey is the best foil for Michael Owen’s undoubted gifts.
Many shrewd judges appear to have a belief in Emile’s strengths and abilities, that belief is lacking in some Liverpool fans. People like John Barnes and Phil Thompson enthuse at both his abilities and his potential. I have heard Liverpool fans complain that playing Emile as a striker causes the team to play the long-ball too often, and become one-dimensional. I disagree, the long ball aimed at Heskey is often as a result of the shortcomings of others. When the ball is played through the midfield, as it was at Leeds last season, to Heskey’s feet, he is far more dangerous. It is important that there is variety to the game and Emile’s strength, power, speed and heading ability offer plenty of variety. He can hold the ball up well and is very good at bringing others into the game, he can be fearsome when running at defenders. That is the way we played at Southampton and that is the Emile Heskey we need at Liverpool.
He must be given a run in the team as a central striker with Owen, there is no doubt that, for whatever reason, Owen is a better player when he plays with Heskey. But there is a responsibility on other players, on Henchoz and Hyppia, in particular, to not simply take the easy option of punting the ball up-field for Heskey to flick on or Owen to chase. They must pass the ball, they must use the midfield. Those midfielders also have a responsibility to get up and support the forwards. We need to get midfielders getting up with, and when necessary, beyond the strikers, in much the way Diouf has in the last two games, and Riise did at Southampton. It is no good Stephen Gerrard running 40 yards to get behind Carra and then playing a 60 yard cross-field pass to Riise, he has to be more incisive. Remember the youngster who burst onto the scene, running at defenders with sharp, penetrating through balls that hurt defenders and had them twisting and turning? Danny Murphy has been our best player this season and that is because he has been doing precisely that- he has joined the attack, his passing has been incisive and he has been adventurous.
I have an unshakeable belief that Gerrard Houllier will make us the greatest team in Europe again, and central to his plans is the role of Emile Heskey. But Emile is now 25 years of age, he is no longer a youngster with potential, the manager has shown untold faith in him, even through the lean times, he must repay that faith, and the time to deliver is now!
