Why England fans must stop worrying about goals and learn to love Emile

By Martin Lipton in 2010 World Cup Blog

Published 11:30 10/06/10

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One striker is the hope of the nation, the other seemingly the joke of the nation.

But while Wayne Rooney carries the burden of England expectations into the World Cup, maybe it's about time some fans started to realise how crucial Emile Heskey is for Fabio Capello's side.

Heskey's selection for Capello's World Cup 23, ahead of Darren Bent, caused arguably more controversy than Theo Walcott's shock omission.

Fans on Wearside howled in disbelief and there were more than a few former players who suggested the England boss had lost his marbles.

After all, hadn't Bent scored 24 Premier League goals this season, compared to Heskey's three? And hadn't even Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill lost faith in the frontman he had nurtured at Leicester a decade ago?

Yes. Both are true. As is the fact that Heskey has scored just seven goals in 58 England appearances and that Nigeria keeper Victor Enyeama scored more this season for his club side Malaga than the Villa man.

But equally pertinent are the statistics that explain why the much-taunted Heskey will get the nod, ahead of Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe, to start alongside Rooney in Rustenburg on Saturday.

Over Rooney's 55 England starts he has had seven different strike partners as well as operating in the hole behind a front pairing on six occasions and as the lone spearhead four times.

The most regular partner, and Sven Goran Eriksson's preferred duo, saw Rooney in tandem with Michael Owen.

In 19 games together, the pairing plundered 18 goals, with Rooney grabbing 10 of them.

But Rooney has scored the same number in just 11 matches alongside Heskey - who has contributed an expectedly modest two himself.

That is almost a goal a game and indeed, under Capello, the record is more impressive still, with nine in nine games.

Of course, as the old saying goes, there are three kinds of falsehoods - lies, damned lies, and statistics.

Yet you only had to watch how Rooney came alive against Japan in Graz on May 30 when Heskey lumbered onto the pitch, to realise that he loves playing with the Villa man.

While Rooney can operate as the lone spearhead for United, that is at the tip of a team that keeps the ball, monopolising possession.

It is not like that for England, who have two main ways of getting at teams and hurting them.

One, as they demonstrated brilliantly in the 5-1 Wembley destruction of Croatia which sealed their place in South Africa with two matches to spare, is to hunt the ball down in midfield, the pressing game that Capello is demanding from his players and is so much more possible at three degrees Celcius or lower than it has been at other recent tournaments.

But the other is more traditionally English, using Heskey as the traditional out-ball, asking him to hold up play, create space as the battering ram, allow the shape of the team behind him to take opponents on.

Nobody is better at that in the England set-up than Heskey.

Yes, Peter Crouch scores more goals - far more goals, three times as many as Heskey already in two thirds of the number of appearances - but he has been singled out by FIFA as a player referees should look to penalise when he jumps with his elbows square to his body.

Yes, Jermain Defoe is far quicker, far more of a predator, a much greater threat to the other side.

But Heskey is there because he gives Rooney the freedom to operate as he does best, because holding the ball up allows Steven Gerrard, Joe Cole and Frank Lampard to join in, gives England the chance to spread wide to Aaron Lennon and utilise his searing pace.

Remember, too, the 2002 World Cup quarter-final against Brazil. The best player on the pitch for the first 45 minutes was not Michael Owen, not Rivaldo or Ronaldo, not Ronaldinho.

It was Emile Ivanhoe Heskey, who utterly terrorised Lucio, Roque Junior and Edmilson, Brazil's three-man back line.

Like it or not - and many of the fans do not - Heskey is as pivotal to Capello's chosen method of play as Rooney or Gerrard.

He will probably not score a goal in the tournament and if he claims one, it will be a bonus.

But Heskey is the key that can unlock Rooney's potential, can open the door for Gerrard and Lampard too. And if the dream is to become reality, he will be the unsung hero.

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