Heskey Could Serve A Purpose

I think Heskey's problem with Villa is that he is very good at providing for runners from deep, which is why he works so well for England. He feeds Lampard (chortle, chortle), Gerrard, Rooney and Walcott, all of whom want to get into the box from midfield. Villa don't really have goalscoring midfielders, so his biggest strength is rendered somewhat useless in a Villa shirt.

I really don't get the whole Heskey appeal. I think the argument that 'he's good for the team' is just a lazy cop-out from footy fans wanting to sound intellectual. I might be missing it, but i really can't remember Heskey setting up many chances either for England or Villa. To me, he's absolutely and completely useless, and i'd even say he's the worst player i've ever seen play for Villa.

Rooney scores every 37 mins on average when playing with Heskey. When partnered with others that drops to a goal every 67 mins. England score more goals with him in the team. The stats are the same for Gerrard who scores much more frequently when Heskey is there than when he isn't.

Thats because the opposing defenders keep tripping over the prostrate Heskey allowing Rooney to score

spur gabby on to boot what MF?

Little Dutch, you can find a stat to prove anything. I could say that Heskey has only ever scored two goals for England in games that are actually important, one was the 5th against Germany, the other was in the 3v0 win against Denmark. Instead of looking at stats, watch games and come up with examples of when Heskey has actually created chances for others!

I think we should see if 'Arry fancies swapping Heskey for Crouch in January.

But his function for England is not goalscoring. England were by far the top scorers in all qualifying groups, so there's plenty of players there to do it, which doesn't really happen at Villa. You guys rely on someone like Carew, understandably as he's a good player, if Villa had a couple of scoring midfielders you'd probably see his value a lot more. As it is I think it was a poor buy by O'Neill. Capello considers the guy indispensible because he allows Gerrard and Rooney to play freer roles, which is priceless for England and for the first time ever, Lampard and Gerrard can play together. Heskey is a massive part of that and Capello is a guy who clearly knows what he is doing. It's a subtler question than "show me a great through ball or a time he passed to the geezer wot scored" he is one the key reasons England look like a team again. He's vital to the way Capello wants to play because it enables him to build the team around England's two most gifted players. England's other strikers are much more static/ selfish players. Crouch is good for a Plan B is things are desperate, but he encourages the long ball game which won't work at international level. Plus, he couldn't trap a bag of wet cement with his back to goal. I'd compare it to the situation at my own club of Alex Hleb. Many Arsenal fans derided him because he didn't score fifteen goals a season, but he was key to freeing up Fabregas and van Persie- our two most dangerous players. You're right, footbal isn't just about the numbers, but the fact that England's two most potent threats are twice as likely to score with Heskey on the pitch is hard to dismiss. That said, I understand why he's not a hit at Villa, you guys play a different way which works pretty well for you.

If we're looking for a purpose for Heskey, he can come around my house and lie in front of the gap under the back door....very draughty......

do you not think though that maybe the reason everyone's been scoring so much recently is that we've been playing in a group that contains the likes of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Andorra?! The only really impressive win we’ve had under Capello was away to Croatia, and that was all Walcott, not Heskey. I see your point Little Dutch and Capello knows more than me and he agrees with you, but I just fail to see what Heskey offers. Instead of just a vague ‘he makes the team play better’, I just can’t think of any examples of what he’s done that even the likes of Kevin Davies couldn't do (and I’m not just thinking of simple stuff like passing to who wot scores or whatever you said)

England's Qualifying Group for Euro 2008 was of comparable quality but England couldn't find the resources to score, couldn't find a way of making Gerrard and Lampard play like they've met one another and couldn't get the best out of Rooney. The only chnages Capello has made personnel wise are to reintroduce Heskey into the starting line up and to shunt Gerrard into a free role on the left. Gerrard couldn't play there if Crouch or Bent or Owen were playing upfront because they don't offer the same discipline and hold up play. Davies is good at flicking the ball on and rearranging the facial features of centre halves, but his role at Bolton is hardly to bring the ball down and play it to a gifted lothario such as Rooney or Gerrard. Crouch is pretty decent in the area, but doesn't offer anything back to goal or push defences back with his physical strength. I by no means believe Heskey to be amazing, or anything close. Where England are concerned he performs the function that serves the team better than anyone else that is available. He's not the most talented, but he's the best option for the team. Like I say, I see why that isn't the case at Villa because Carew can do those things AND he's pretty nifty at scoring.

Waste of space...