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Players to look out for this World Cup


Keefaz

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Pretty much no-one worth looking out for so far. Heskey had a good game.

 

I was thinking about this the other day. Sure, he set Gerrard up well in the opening minutes but as he can't score (painfully proven later on) the general justification for playing him is that he's brings the best out of Rooney. Who was almost completely anonymous. Heskey won a lot of headers but if that's all you want then you might as well stick Upson up front or something.

 

Conclusion: Heskey is shit.

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Pretty much no-one worth looking out for so far. Heskey had a good game.

 

I was thinking about this the other day. Sure, he set Gerrard up well in the opening minutes but as he can't score (painfully proven later on) the general justification for playing him is that he's brings the best out of Rooney. Who was almost completely anonymous. Heskey won a lot of headers but if that's all you want then you might as well stick Upson up front or something.

 

Conclusion: Heskey is shit.

 

Yep. But as long as he "works well with Rooney".

 

Absolute bullshit. We can't afford to have a non-goalscoring striker in our team, it's fucking ludicrous.

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Pretty much no-one worth looking out for so far. Heskey had a good game.

 

I was thinking about this the other day. Sure, he set Gerrard up well in the opening minutes but as he can't score (painfully proven later on) the general justification for playing him is that he's brings the best out of Rooney. Who was almost completely anonymous. Heskey won a lot of headers but if that's all you want then you might as well stick Upson up front or something.

 

Conclusion: Heskey is shit.

 

But as long as he "works well with Rooney".

 

Absolute bullshit. We can't afford to have a non-goalscoring striker in our team, it's fucking ludicrous.

 

Yeah, we were fucking great when Crouch came on for him :lol:

 

edit: while we're here...

 

We couldn't afford to have a non-goalscoring striker in our team in qualifying :lol:

 

France couldn't afford to have a non-goalscoring striker in '98 :lol:

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In the full, what, 10 minutes he had? :lol:

 

At least he can stick the ball into the back of the net; a characteristic that ultimately defines strikers. We need all the goal threat we can get.

 

Edit: I wouldn't actually start either of them, but Crouch would without doubt be ahead of Heskey in my book.

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I'm just being a nob :lol:

 

Basically though, I don't care about the individuals, only the team. The team has been much better with Heskey in it than not in it over the last 4 years, and I haven't seen any evidence over the last year to the contrary despite Heskey's well documented flaws. Therefore I'm happy for him to play, especially based on the evidence I saw on Saturday. If we come up with something that works better than having him in I'd love to see it but I'm still waiting.

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Guest Heneage

wanted us to sign elia two years ago when he was at twente, he's got a great mix of speed, balance and trickery.

POIDH.

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But how did he have a good game when he failed miserably at his two overriding tasks (help Rooney and be a goal threat)? I mean I thought at the time he played well too but looking back I don't really know why. :blush:

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I'm just being a nob :lol:

 

Basically though, I don't care about the individuals, only the team. The team has been much better with Heskey in it than not in it over the last 4 years, and I haven't seen any evidence over the last year to the contrary despite Heskey's well documented flaws. Therefore I'm happy for him to play, especially based on the evidence I saw on Saturday. If we come up with something that works better than having him in I'd love to see it but I'm still waiting.

 

I'm with you on the evidence of the qualifiers but Rooney's no-show the other day was a bit worrying.  And the fact Heskey has played so little first team football this year.

 

Plus Rooney told Shearer the other day that he'd rather play up front on his own if push came to shove, but he might have just been trying to sound hard in front of Al.

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But how did he have a good game when he failed miserably at his two overriding tasks (help Rooney and be a goal threat)? I mean I thought at the time he played well too but looking back I don't really know why. :blush:

 

Because quantifying football is bollocks and using your gut instinct on whether someone had a good game is generally far more sensible than using stats etc.

 

Setting up a goal qualifies him as a goal threat too. He's also there to help Gerrard (and Lampard if they're both playing in attacking roles) almost as much as Rooney imo by twatting the defenders out of the way and somehow creating a bit of space for them.

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Guest Stephen927

Crouch does a better job at linking midfield and attack, and he carries a goal threat. But really, with Barry back fit we should be looking to play Gerrard in behind Rooney. Capello loves having a big man up front to be a focal point though so I can't see it happening.

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Crouch does a better job at linking midfield and attack, and he carries a goal threat. But really, with Barry back fit we should be looking to play Gerrard in behind Rooney. Capello loves having a big man up front to be a focal point though so I can't see it happening.

 

This.

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Stupid question time: what formation/line-up did Capello normally pick in the qualifiers?

 

Barry played quite a lot didn't he?

 

Lennon/Walcott Lampard Barry Gerrard

Rooney Heskey

 

In reality Gerrard played a lot further up, it was almost him and Rooney in behind Heskey at times. He certainly wasn't a conventional winger.

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I thought Heskey was awful (as usual) the other night. Assist or not.

 

Apart from that one moment he made no contribution at all to the rest of the game. He's so static, slow, has no technical ability, doesn't use his strength to trouble defenders because he's on his arse or sulking every 2mins and needs a miracle to finish a chance.

 

The amount of caps he's got is ridiculous.

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It's number not amount.

 

I agree, it's staggering there hasn't been a single good 'big' English striker who can do the jobs Heskey is there for in the last 10 years or so.

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Stupid question time: what formation/line-up did Capello normally pick in the qualifiers?

 

Barry played quite a lot didn't he?

 

Lennon/Walcott Lampard Barry Gerrard

Rooney Heskey

 

In reality Gerrard played a lot further up, it was almost him and Rooney in behind Heskey at times. He certainly wasn't a conventional winger.

 

Cheers, couldn't remember. Hopefully the return of Barry will see us playing some more clinical stuff in a formation they're more comfortable in then. It certainly explains why they were so keen to take him despite the injury and him being of pretty ordinary (IMO) ability.

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Heskey's international career is one of the big mysteries of modern football.

 

Really, if you want some lump to play target man I'd rather pick Cole or, heck, even Andy Carroll. At least those two manage to be an actual threat.

O0

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It's number not amount.

 

I agree, it's staggering there hasn't been a single good 'big' English striker who can do the jobs Heskey is there for in the last 10 years or so.

 

Carlton Cole & Crouch are a lot better than him and can do that job.

 

Not that having somebody of that ilk in your team is essential anyway. Especially in international football.

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