Emile joined Liverpool for a club record, 11 million pounds in March 2000 from Leicester City. This was one of the worst kept secrets in football as there was speculation all season that Emile was joing Liverpool. Martin O'Neil, the Leicester boss at the time, said that he wanted Heskey for the Worthington Cup final which they won that year. After teh final, he moved to Liverpool. Houllier had seen him an Owen play at U-18 level for England and he liked what he saw which is why he splashed out the cash for his services.
Before coming to Liverpool, Heskey was not a prolific goal scorer but in his first full season at the club he scored 22 goals and was second top scorer behind Michael Owen. He had never scored more than 15 goals in a season before coming to Liverpool. At Leicester, Heskey had won 2 worthington cup medals and played in the UEFA cup and also helped them gain promotion to the Premier League in 97, throught the play-offs.
Heskey made his Liverpool debut against Sunderland where he had an instant impact on the Liverpool fans by winning a penalty for Liverpool in the third minute. He also put in a good performance. He is a tall, strong and very quick striker. He's also very good in the air which does help Liverpool because he is able to flick balls on to Michael and Anelka. He can also play on the left side of the field and has played in that position for England and Liverpool.
His international career took off after coming to Liverpool and he is now an England regular with his strike partner, Micahel Owen. The pair are seen by many as England's first strike partnership. Heskey's run in the side, saw the departure of Liverpool legend and vice-captain, Robbie Fowler. Fowler couldn't force his way into the side and decided it was time to leave Liverpool and went to title rivals, Leeds United.
Heskey played a big part in Liverpool's treble success and also scored a great goal against Bayern Munich in the Super Cup in Monaco as Liverpool won 3-2 against the European champions.
Heskey has grown to be a better Liverpool palyer but he needs to learn how to be more selfsih in front of goal if he is going to be scroing over 20 goals a season, regularly. Heskey was the only big forward at Anfield until the arrival of Milan Baros so maybe we will see competition for places between these two because they are similar in size and playing style. |
