Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: Mister E on October 16, 2010, 09:29:20 AM
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See here - http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/oct/15/emile-heskey-didier-drogba
Has our Gezza been on the funny fags again (and I don't mean Gitane)?
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Emile Heskey is as good as Didier Drogba, says Gérard Houllier (Guardian, 16-10-10)
It felt like one of the most unlikely comparisons to make, and will certainly raise a few eyebrows, but there was no hint of a smile on Gérard Houllier's face today when the Aston Villa manager likened the much-maligned Emile Heskey to Didier Drogba, one of the best centre-forwards in the world. Football fans everywhere could be forgiven for wondering whether Houllier was joking, but the Frenchman was deadly serious.
With Heskey and Drogba born two months apart and both standing 6ft 2in tall there are, in fairness, a couple of parallels that could easily be overlooked ahead of Chelsea's visit to Villa Park tomorrow. The case, however, starts to appear a little thin when their respective strike-rates come under the microscope, with the six goals Drogba has scored in eight Premier League games this season as many as Heskey has managed in the 49 appearances he has made for Villa in the top flight.
Houllier, though, sees similarities between the two 32-year-old strikers. "I watched the [Chelsea] game against Arsenal. Drogba is a hard-working centre-forward," he said. "But we have a centre-forward who can do the same. Emile is strong, quick, powerful. It's mainly a matter of faith in himself. In terms of skill, he does things in training that you would be amazed and surprised [to see]. I think Emile forgets sometimes how good he can be."
Houllier said it was fair to talk about Heskey in the same breath as Drogba, who is missing tomorrow because of a virus: "Drogba is a fantastic centre-forward, probably the best in the world. He's got everything. He can score by himself, be on the end of crosses, head the ball, take free-kicks, and he works very hard for the team. But Emile has got some attributes that look like Didier, but he doesn't seem to use them. When he uses them, he's the centre-forward you saw in the last few games."
That was evident at White Hart Lane two weeks ago, when Heskey used his powerful frame to barge Tottenham's Sébastien Bassong off the ball before setting up Villa's goal in the 2-1 defeat. It is something that Houllier, who worked with Heskey for four years at Liverpool, would like to see more often. "Emile won't [smash people out of the way like Drogba]," Houllier said. "He's strong physically but he doesn't use his strength. Sometimes he can do better with that."
The chance Heskey set up for Marc Albrighton against Tottenham was his second assist in a three-game spell that has coincided with Houllier's appointment and also included two goals. "Even in training he looks as though he is blossoming," Houllier said. "He knows what I expect from him. And he knows I trust him, and that probably helps his game, because he needs to feel that [trust].
"With strikers here, and everywhere else, we are sometimes not very patient. We expect too much from them. If a midfielder has an average game, we seem to forget it. But if a striker has an average game, and misses a couple of chances, then you can sometimes destroy his confidence." Asked whether Heskey had suffered in that respect in the past, Houllier replied: "Probably. Sometimes we put too much pressure on strikers. But Emile knows I trust him."
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To be fair I always thought the same.
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When I was on drugs.
Seriously though, this is the kind of man management Emile needs. GH knows exactly what he is doing and if he keeps up with the goals and assists he can compare him to whoever he wants.
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oh How I wish he was...
Edit: that is Emile as good as Drogba not Rene on weed!
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oh How I wish he was...
Edit: that is Emile as good as Drogba not Rene on weed!
Of course he's on drugs-look at his eyes.
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From what I read of the article he just likened him to Drogba as opposed to saying he was as good as
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I just hope he can continue to get the best out of heskey i would be satisfied with that.
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Stupid thread title- GED has given emile his confidence back and let's get behind the guy instead of silly thread titles like this- gerard houllier will do a fantastic job for this club !
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Houllier can say what he likes about Heskey if he can get him playing the way he has over the last month.
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do i not like that..
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So he didn't say anything like "Heskey is as good as Drogba", just that he has some of the same atributes. Oh right. Surely he's on heroin.
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"With strikers here, and everywhere else, we are sometimes not very patient. We expect too much from them. If a midfielder has an average game, we seem to forget it. But if a striker has an average game, and misses a couple of chances, then you can sometimes destroy his confidence."
Aint that the truth.
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Since GH arrived at the club Heskey has been one of our best players. Remember that GH also got the best out of him at 'pool. It just goes to show how clueless our old manager was in employing Heskey as some kind of defensive striker or whatever the heck it was. An Emile Heskey leading the line and having the confidence to take on defenders and go for goal is a much bigger threat than a Heskey trying to knock the ball on or down and hanging about 15 yards behind the main striker at all times.
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Agreed- the big difference to me is that now we go out to go for a win whereas too often under mon the aim was to not get beaten- I like the positive things I've seen from houllier and heskey is like a new signing on his current form- bring on Chelsea !
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I don't think I've known a player that needs babysitting as much as Heskey. He really is a sensitive soul, something that GH obviously realises. To be fair to Heskey, we've never really backed him but he's hardly helped himself. He seems to lack self belief which is strange considering the number of England caps he has, the fact that he's played at the top level all his career.
Drogba on the other hand is probably the most complete centre forward I can think of. He has it all and I'm delighted he's not playing today.
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and we could do the same from a certain John Carew as well. If we have both of them and Agbnonlahor in red hot form. We might win a few more games.
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They're an interesting pair. From the outside I get the impression carew and heskey need exactly the opposite kind of management. Heskey thinks he's shit and carew thinks he's great and they're both somewhere in the middle.
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I would be very surprised if Carew stays after this season when his contract ends- I'd hope GED with his contacts in the game could line up a nice replacement who will score a bagful of goals- Carew on his day is a class act but his day is all too rare and he seems to be somewhat injury prone.
As for gabby I really think this will be a big season for him and he needs to produce , if he can improve his finishing he will be a huge asset in our squad but I would expect a new striker at least if not 2 new strikers in the summer.
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If heskey plays the rest of the season the way he has played the last 3 games. He would be very compairable to Drogba.
But this is just what Heskey needs to hear, to keep his confidence up!
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Stupid thread title- GED has given emile his confidence back and let's get behind the guy instead of silly thread titles like this- gerard houllier will do a fantastic job for this club !
After the slating that EIH has had here and elsewhere over the last 2-3 years, I think the thread title is pretty apposite actually.
Sorry you do not get the irony.
Oh, and "yes", GH does seem to have found the right buttons to press for Heskey ... surprising that MON didn't given their previous time together.
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The title could have been 'Houllier compares Heskey to Drogba' and then post your opinion in the thread? As it is, the title is misleading and not very complimentary to one of our best players this season.
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The last three times I've seen He's Key play he has looked like Drogba.
It's a valid comparison.
Mind the comparison between Bannan and Iniesta might have been a bit much...
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The title could have been 'Houllier compares Heskey to Drogba' and then post your opinion in the thread? As it is, the title is misleading and not very complimentary to one of our best players this season.
Slight exaggeration, surely?
Im happy he's had a turnaround of late, but it was a cameo from the bench against Blackburn, a good performance at Wolves and a good half at Spurs till he went off.
Before that he was as ineffective as ever. I'm happy GH is getting much more from him, but one of our best players this season seems a touch over the top.
Lets see how he does over the rest of the season, he needs to make it last. Hopefully GH will continue to get better results from him than MON did.
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Heskey's been awesome since Houllier became manager, already seems like a completely different player compared to the days when MON was around. Emile looks like he genuinely cares, is showing lots of effort and determination and is scoring and creating goals - it's all great as far as i'm concerened.
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In all the time he's been with us, I can't remember seeing him smiling. He needs to relax a little and start enjoying his football rather than carry the worries of the world on his shoulders. Miserable git.
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The title could have been 'Houllier compares Heskey to Drogba' and then post your opinion in the thread? As it is, the title is misleading and not very complimentary to one of our best players this season.
Slight exaggeration, surely?
Im happy he's had a turnaround of late, but it was a cameo from the bench against Blackburn, a good performance at Wolves and a good half at Spurs till he went off.
Before that he was as ineffective as ever. I'm happy GH is getting much more from him, but one of our best players this season seems a touch over the top.
Lets see how he does over the rest of the season, he needs to make it last. Hopefully GH will continue to get better results from him than MON did.
I honestly don't think so. We badly missed him yesterday. He's streets ahead of Carew, in terms of fitness & performance. I agree about the rest of the season, but so far he's been one of our better players and people need to recognise that. It's hard enough having to defend him to supporters of other clubs, let alone Villa fans!
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I have absolutely no problem with Emile and am delighted with the progress he seems to have made under a new manager. But the orginal
quote from GH is hyperbolic, based on performance and output to date!
Let's wait for a couple of seasons and see if he racks up the goals before making unnecessarily-optimistic comparisons.
What GH says to EIH in private from a motivational perspective is - of course - entirely up to him.
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Saying he has the same attributes is not the same as saying he's as good as. He does have some of the same attributes, that's clear. He's nowhere near as good as Drogba, which is equally clear.
I reckon we'd have won on Saturday with Emile in the team though.
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He's nowhere near as good as Drogba,
He is while they're both injured
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They're an interesting pair. From the outside I get the impression carew and heskey need exactly the opposite kind of management. Heskey thinks he's shit and carew thinks he's great and they're both somewhere in the middle.
I reckon that's just about spot on. No more to say.
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I just hope he can continue to get the best out of heskey i would be satisfied with that.
Except maybe emphasise this bit.