Can the Enigma
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We also forgot Karl-Heinz Riedle, or however you spell it
The spelling is spot on and yes, I liked him too. He was excellent in the air and the only real partner, as opposed to hod-carrier, Owen's ever had.
Yessir.
I consider that an own goal
It hit Terry and then Cahill. That level of skill means it's not an own goal.
Woah,hang on. Heskey was amazing in his first full season. Far better than reidle ever was.
Shame he couldn't keep it up
Was he ever really 'amazing'? For a whole season? I think we've had this discussion before, but personally I don't remember him like that. He never quite looked like the almost unplayable striker he seemed when playing against us for Leicester. In his first season his bright moments helped obscure his infuriatingly naff ones, but the truth is surely that he was never anything but a maddeningly inconsistent player.
I stand by what I said. Owen was out for much of that season and Heskey took his place as point man in the attack. When Owen came back Heskey was reduced to fetching and carrying for him, as was Shearer for England over the years. I agree with macca's summary of Heskey overall, but I have a degree of sympathy for the way he was shoehorned into a workhorse role which never really suited him, instead of being let loose to go at defences the way he did in that first season.
2000-2001.
22 goals. Three trophies. A hat-trick against Derby.
He was *really* good that season.
Owen played 46 times and scored 24 goals that season, and was our top scorer, with Heskey just two goals behind.
He was, he was unplayable at times that year. I think between he, Owen and Fowler we bagged 50-60 goals. His rapid decline was staggering though. He went from bossing some of the best defenders in Europe, to becoming a player who's match performance would depend on his first touch of the ball in the game, which generally involved him losing it and then spending the rest of the match feigning injury everytime someone so much as touched him. If we're talking about weak mentalities when discussing Sturridge, then Emile is the original. But you're right, him and Owen were unstoppable that year, with Fowler in reserve, that's about as good as it gets.
Yes, but remember the number of games we played in a season where we went all the way in three Cup competitions. Heskey did play in Owen's place up top when scoring a lot of his goals. He was certainly better for us individually than Riedle (though I doubt that would have been the case had Riedle come to us in his prime), but Riedle's experience and aerial prowess helped Owen enormously when Owen first came into the side.
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I wouldn't go quite that far. Riedle was in the home stretch of his career when he arrived anyway and was quite often out through injury. They played together a fair bit and Owen thrived on Riedle's flick-ons (way more than on Heskey's) and general experience.
No he didn't. Riedle was sidelined by Owen. Owen's best partner was Heskey. And Owen himself would tell you the same.
I know Owen's praised Heskey's contribution to his Liverpool career (though I'm not aware he's ever compared him with Riedle) and there's no doubt Heskey occupied defenders' time and attention to a degree. The fact remains that as the years passed Heskey spent an increasing amount of time getting outmuscled and dumped on the deck, and a correspondingly lesser amount of time playing Owen in on goal. Owen increasingly had to rely on long balls from deep and could often be seen complaining about it at the time, regardless of whatever he might have said since. By contrast Riedle was rarely if ever bested in the air, took up clever positions on the deck and, for a season or so, played a crucial role in helping Owen establish himself.
For the record I liked Heskey, and didn't think we (or England) always made the best use of him. We're clearly going to have to agree to differ, though, on who Owen's best partner was.
For the record I liked Heskey, and didn't think we (or England) always made the best use of him. We're clearly going to have to agree to differ, though, on who Owen's best partner was.
It's a rather small sample, but this is interesting:
OWEN-FOWLER
Games started..............26
Owen goals...................10
Owen strike-rate:
38.5 per cent
OWEN-RIEDLE
Games started..............23
Owen goals...................19
Owen strike-rate:
82.6 per cent
OWEN-FOWLER
Games started..............26
Owen goals...................10
Owen strike-rate:
38.5 per cent
OWEN-RIEDLE
Games started..............23
Owen goals...................19
Owen strike-rate:
82.6 per cent
Agree with you. No idea what he actually is. I'm hoping Klopp knows. I can imagine that at peak fitness he could become a very decent central midfielder. Let's hope so anyway.
He should be moulded into the Xabi Alonso type if you ask me....
He would be perfect for this kind of role, he seems to have the eye for a pass.
He would be perfect for this kind of role, he seems to have the eye for a pass.
I can see why some are saying that, but I don't think he should be moulded into anything TBH. We should make sure we know what his strengths are and build on those. My guess is he'll turn out to be more of a midfield runner than a deeper-lying Alonso type, provided his fitness improves (without which he won't make it anyway).
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