The former England striker talks about homesickness in Liverpool, falling asleep during Gérard Houllier’s meetings and picks his favourite player from the ‘golden generation’Emile Heskey exudes a Zen-like calm whether discussing criticism of his goalscoring or recalling crying. The former Liverpool and England striker is at the Alderley Hotel in Cheshire to discuss his new book, Even Heskey Scored. The title was chosen because, he laughs, this is “what everyone said”.Yet if his career numbers are low for someone who played most of his career as a No 9 – seven goals from 62 caps, 110 in 516 Premier League games – his 53 assists in the top flight is a clue to his real worth. The figure stands at only two fewer than the vaunted master-creator Paul Scholes. And when Heskey’s seventh place in the all-time appearance chart is factored in, alongside a 21-year, seven-club career that ran from 1995 to 2016 and took in Leicester City, Liverpool, Birmingham City, Wigan Athletic, Aston Villa, Newcastle Jets, and Bolton Wanderers, there is further evidence of why he was so successful. Continue readingreadfullarticle
