Emile Heskey Exclusive: Arne Slot MUST Fix Liverpool Defence ASAP

During an exclusive interview with Pundit Arena, Premier League legend Emile Heskey labelled Liverpool’s defence as ‘jaded’ following their recent blip in form. He also feels like Florian Wirtz’s mega price tag may be playing on his mind. 

Pundit Arena: Do you feel like the manner of those two stoppage time defeats to Chelsea and Palace would’ve been particularly damaging? Or was that loss to Galatasaray actually more worrying? 

Emile Heskey: In some ways yeah, [the Galatasaray defeat] probably is, because if you can’t break a team down, to have that much possession and can’t break a team down… That’s the toughest part sometimes. The funny thing is the Premier League is getting stronger and stronger and who would’ve thought Palace would be in there fighting so well, early doors. That’s what we want. We want a Premier League that goes right to the death, goes right to the wire. So no one’s really running away with it. That’s what you want from the Premier League. So this, at the minute we’re still in the hunt. 

Manchester City are always there or thereabouts and you never know. Obviously they’re building now and they’ve got some top young players, Oscar Bobb and Doku on the left wing, he’s on fire at the minute. He’s coming into his own. You can’t count them out. I know a lot of people would count them out when they had a couple of losses. You can’t really count anyone out and this is what you like about the Premier League, anybody can beat anyone on a given day. 

PA: Do you think it was the right decision to drop Florian Wirtz? It may have dented his confidence a bit..

Emile Heskey: I don’t think it would have dented his confidence. Sometimes you’ve got to take someone out of the firing line. You’ve got to remember this and we talk about it all the time with this being the toughest league in the world and being the most relentless as well. So some players need to be taken out the firing line and taken out the firing line for their own good, because if you ask the player, they’ll say, ‘no, keep me playing’. And it might not be right for them. So sometimes you take them out the firing line, give them a little freshen up, and then put them back in and slowly bring them back into the team. When you look at the intensity that he has to play at in this Liverpool side, I doubt he would’ve had to play like that ever before. So he’s got to get used to that and then as well, when you’re talking about defensively, you’ve got to say some of the Premier League defences are the best in the world. So I think you’ve just got to give the players like Wirtz time. I think Hugo Ekitike has done really well since he’s come. Still a young lad, but he’s done really well in the sense of getting goals, creating chances, running the show, he’s kind of a throwback, isn’t he? Because when I was playing, forwards had to run the channels. He seems to be all over the place. He’s not just a typical Erling Haaland kind of player who stays central and focuses on the box. He wants to get involved in a lot more, so he’s looking good as well. He’s got a bit of Thierry Henry about him hasn’t he…And obviously being French and the French connection, I’m guessing he would’ve idolized him when he was younger.

PA: Do you think Wirtz only previously playing in the Bundesliga is the problem? It’s just not on the same physicality of the Premier League is it? 

Emile Heskey: No it isn’t the same. And that’s just not me saying because I’m English that we’ve got to have the best, no, we’ve seen it before. The relentlessness of the Premier League and it’s not just against the top teams, it’s against everyone. You’ve gotta be at it against everyone. Look at Bournemouth. Who would have thought Bournemouth would have been playing the way that they’re playing? And Palace? Who would’ve thought Palace would be playing and winning games the way that they’re winning. So I think you’ve got to give him time to understand the tempos. If you look back at when arguably one of the best midfielders to do it in Patrick Vieira came over, it took him a while. It also took Thierry Henry a while to get going as well. But look what we had! Two of the best to ever come into the Premier League. I don’t think you can write Wirtz off right now, no. Especially not at that price! I just think you’ve got to give him a little bit of time to bed in. 

PA: In terms of Arne Slot, with the international break here, what do you think will be keeping him up at night as he plans for the next Liverpool game? 

Emile Heskey: I think defensively, he wants to get things solid again. Konate and Van Dijk before were solid. That was like a rock. But it just looks a little bit jaded at this moment in time, and then obviously with the fullbacks as well. Trent’s (Alexander-Arnold) not there anymore. Frimpong, he’s just bedding in as well. And Kerkez too, he’s trying to bed in as well. So Slot is trying to find that match that had Robertson, Van Dijk, Konate and Trent. They were solid and he’s got to try and find that again. It might not look exactly the same, but it’s got to have some sort of solidity to it. 

PA: People on social media were quick to judge the amount spent by Liverpool, saying they can’t be a team in transition spending that amount of money.. 

Emile Heskey: The thing is, no matter how much a team spends, they’re still going to need a little period of bedding in. And it might be longer for some than others. When you look at Luis Suarez, he hit the ground running. But not every player’s like that. So we’ve got to try and have that bedding in especially with the price tag, because that will be in your head as well. Because every minute we like to throw that price tag at them. So that’ll be over their head. So you’ve got to give them a little bit of a chance, a little bit of time to just bed in.

PA: Arne Slot seemed to get angry and blame the referees after the Chelsea loss, do you think the pressure is finally getting to him? Because he was so calm and collected last season..

Emile Heskey: I think you will get wound up anyway. But I don’t think the pressure’s getting to him. I think this international break has probably come at a good time, where you can work and there’ll be a lot of players out where you can work on certain things and go and watch back and really start analyzing it in depth to say what do we need to do now going forward? How do we want to look?

PA: Who do you prefer seeing up top with Liverpool’s current system? Would you rather see Isak or is Ekitike the man for you? 

Emile Heskey: I’d probably say Isak. I probably say him only because I’ve seen him do it before. And don’t get me wrong, I think Ekitike has done fantastic and he’s got so much to give. I’d be interested to see if it could be done with two of them up front or one of them on the left drifting in. With Kerkez coming over and overlapping a little bit more. So you’re kind of playing with two tens in there with your left back going very high, then you probably have to sit with two sitters. There’s so much you can do with the players that they’ve got. For me, if you’re talking about out and out strikers, I’d rather have Isak starting than Ekitike at this moment in time. It’s difficult isn’t it, because I would love to see 4-4-2 come back, but I can’t see it. So I would love to see it, but I can’t see it to be fair. A lot actually defend in 4-4-2 but not attack in that formation. Teams get overloaded in midfield. 

 PA: Daniel Sturridge recently claimed Liverpool are massively missing Luis Díaz since he moved to Bayern Munich. Do you think the club is regretting letting him go?

Emile Heskey: No, I don’t think they’re regretting it. I think you gotta remember, it’s a business as well, so when someone comes in with that sort of offer, you can go and get someone younger. I think Gakpo needs to come into his own. I think he’s gotta show a little bit more, especially on that left wing. He’s gonna show a little bit more for me. I was hoping he could be the one that would be stepping into that void that Luis Diaz has left.

But then you got the young lad Rio Ngumoha as backup. You could play Ekitike out there as well. I did like Díaz because when he played up front, he gave you something different ’cause he was drifting as well, that’s what Ekitike gives you. But then on the left, I love the way he drove up at defenders, we’ve got very few wingers that do that now, drive at defenders, especially on the outside.

PA: No one’s more desperate to win it than Arsenal – do you think they’re the biggest threat to Liverpool or is that still Man City right now?

Emile Heskey: I think Arsenal at this moment in time – but you can’t count Man City out. It’s now or never for Mikel. He’s done really well up to now, he’s put a solid team together. He talks about getting the forward, now they’ve got the forward. Saka has been injured, now he’s back. The other injured  players are back. You’ve gotta do it now. You’ve gotta do it.

PA: With the defensive partnership of Saliba and Gabriel, that’s what they say wins titles, isn’t it?

Emile Heskey: Well, it does. If you look at the Invincibles, it was Sol and Kolo Touré. Then you go back to when they won under Arsène with Tony Adams and Martin Keone. So it’s actually all built off that, isn’t it?

PA: Do you believe England can win the World Cup next summer with Tuchel? 

Emile Heskey: I do believe. I do believe they can. I think they’ve got a really good squad. There’s gonna be a bit of a shake up, but I do believe that they have got a good enough squad to do that. The players have to get together though. The players have to get together and be as one like they have been before and really give it a good fight. To get to the final and the semi-finals. Next we’ve gotta try and win that. We’ve gotta try and win it. We’ve got some fantastic players. And we’re talking about not taking players like Phil Foden. That shows how much talent we’ve got. 

PA: Jack Grealish missed out last time in the Euros, but at Everton now – would you be picking him in your England squad?

Emile Heskey: I think he’s got a lot to give, Jack. That’s what I mean. We’ve got so many players that we can choose from who have a lot to give. All Jack needed was a bit of love. He just needed to play and a bit of love and he’d be fine. He’ll be coming back to himself.

That’s one of the main things with football itself. You’ve gotta put it in the training. If you’re not putting it in the training, you’re gonna slack in the game for sure. You’re gonna have a moment where you switch off in the game if you can’t do it in training. The game’s supposed to be the easiest part. You’re supposed to have done double in the training. That’s my take on it. 

PA: What current England Striker reminds you most of yourself and you know, the way you played the game?

Emile Heskey: No. I don’t think there’s that type of forwards anymore. We played with two up front. So you run the channels. You’re trying to hold the ball flick on this and that. We were doing a lot more than what they’re doing now. Ivan Toney? Yeah. He’s a bit old-school though, isn’t he?

PA: Were you sad to see him go out to Saudi?

Emile Heskey: It would be nice for him to stick around, but you can’t blame a player for that, especially when someone comes into the game so late as well. When I say so late, he was at the top end. You can’t blame him if he decides to do that with his career. He was at Newcastle then went to Peterborough. And did he go to Brentford after Peterborough? So when you look at it, you don’t blame him.

PA: Looking back at your career, did you have a manager that you played under that you felt truly understood your game?

Emile Heskey: I think I had two. I had Martin O’Neill and I had Gérard Houllier. Both of them understood my game. Both of ’em gave me so much confidence to go out there and perform. I could make mistakes. They didn’t care as long as I went out and did what they wanted me to do, what I knew that I could do. One who didn’t get me was probably Alex McLeish. I was at Villa with him.

He came in after Gérard. We obviously had players like Gabby and Benty. The thing was, we had a really, really good team under Martin. We just needed a few more players. Then you start losing your Gareth Barrys. You start losing your James Milners. You start losing Ashley Young’s. And who are you replacing them with? You’re not replacing them with anyone anywhere near as good. That’s no disrespect to anyone else, it just shows you the levels that they were playing at.

PA: I heard Spurs came in for you when you were at Leicester, but were there ever any other London clubs that tried to get a hold of you – were you tempted to play down in London?

Emile Heskey: No. I don’t think there was any other London club. I think there might have been rumors of Chelsea, but they got Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

PA: This is more of an open-ended question – who was the toughest defender you ever faced and why?

Emile Heskey: I would say Sol Campbell. I would say Sol Campbell because he was just a man-mountain and a player as well. Quick, strong, could play. And he was game. So I would say Sol.

The other one was Walter Samuel. I never felt someone so strong in my life. He was a beast. Played for Roma at the time and Argentina. The Argentinians know how to defend. The Italians know to defend as well. 

PA: Have you got one goal or one moment from your career that you are a bit annoyed that didn’t get the reception or the recognition that it deserved?

Emile Heskey: Overhead kick against Birmingham for Liverpool and then this one was a good goal, it wasn’t me who scored, I set him up, Steve Claridge, but it was in the League Cup so that’s why it didn’t really get loads of coverage. Leicester against United it was, ball came over I back heeled it to Claridge, ball in the air, back heeled to him and on the volley, he volleyed it into the top corner. No one talks about it, it was a really, really good goal. 

PA: So we have a quick word about Emi Martinez at Villa. Do you think, because he’s obviously a character, isn’t he Emi and he wanted to leave, but he ended up staying. What do you think is gonna happen in January? Do you think he’ll still be there?

Emile Heskey: I think he’ll stay and the funny thing is Villa’s still building so he could be part of that and this is the thing, everyone thinks sometimes the grass is greener and we’ve seen time and time again that’s not always. I think Villa are building something, so there’s no reason why he shouldn’t stay. He would’ve been disappointed not to get his move, you can probably see that a little bit, but he is still at a big club.

PA: I think I saw on talkSPORT a lot of Man United fans said they would happily take Unai Emery at United instead of Ruben Amorim. Do you think his job is under pressure?

Emile Heskey: Yeah, I think they’re both under pressure, aren’t they, really? The thing is, when you’re not winning games, regardless of who you are, you’re under pressure. Nothing seems to go right for Ruben Amorim. Everyone keeps talking about the tactics, this and that, for me you put 11 players on the pitch, they’ve got to fight. We can give you all these different tactics, you’ve got to fight. Where’s your leaders? I remember playing at Liverpool, I was only 22 at the time, we had Gary McAllister and he would be onto us. Steven Gerrard was younger than me, he would be onto us, Sami Hyypia. So we had leaders on the pitch. Doesn’t look like they have any leaders on the pitch, who are really digging people out. Now come in here, you sit back, you sit back and then marshaling people about, we used to do that all the time. When you look at it, it is changing a little bit. I watch a lot of youth football now, and they don’t really scream and bellow like we used to and get after players and all that. They don’t really do that. 

PA: Birmingham City, obviously now they’ve got the new owners. Do you think their promotion may be a little bit too ambitious at the moment?

Emile Heskey: I think so, but I think they’re going in the right direction. It would be great if they get it, but for me their aim should be getting into the playoffs and then see if they can sneak in. But I think they’ve done fantastic to get to where they are. Obviously they have spent a fair bit of money but they’ve done really well and it’s great to see.

PA: What was your experience of the Second City Derby? Because obviously, you’ve played for Birmingham and then you played for Villa. Did you feel accepted by the Villa fans in the Derby and things?

Emile Heskey: Well the Derby wasn’t there when I was at Villa. They were in the championship but it was great, lively. We did well against Villa to be fair. In the first season we won I think both of them. We drew the second one. I know we won the one at home, that was a great atmosphere, they are amazing. Derbys are always amazing games, you throw everything out the window because you never know what’s going to happen and the fans make the actual atmosphere and the fans make the game.

PA: Leicester, the club that you made your debut for and kind of made your name at really, what are your thoughts about them being a bit of a Yoyo Club? What do you think needs to change for them to get themselves back to being a steady Premier League club?

Emile Heskey: I think they are building again, they’ve had to build again because they had a, they had a good core group of players that took them there and solidified them in the Premier League, but they obviously then never built again underneath that to then take the next steps. So now they’re starting to do that. They’ve got some really good young players. Some wonderful young players that are coming through now that are gonna show really where the club is and really where the club can go. So I’m expecting big things, probably not this season, but in the future, I’m expecting big things from Leicester. Then obviously when you lose players like Tielemans and players like that, it’s not easy to replace them because obviously he’s gone on and done fantastic things at Villa and one thing I remember about them going up into the Premier League, it’s a lot different, it’s a lot quicker in the Premier League than in the championship. So the players that look sharp and ready in the championship might not be able to do the same in the Premier League. Totally different, when you think about the players, the teams that come up, they generally go back down if they’re not able to buy players. 

PA: Sunderland have splashed the cash as well haven’t they?

Emile Heskey: They’ve spent it in the right way as well, in the right areas. Xhaka in the midfield, he gives you that steadiness doesn’t he.

PA: Do you keep an eye on your other former teams like Bolton and Wigan? 

Emile Heskey: A little bit, my son played against Bolton not so long ago, in the EFL trophy, so I do keep an eye on it a little bit. 

PA: What do you think are Bolton’s chances for getting back out of League One?

Emile Heskey: They should have got out last season really. Well, it was the last season or the season before, it just fell away towards the end. It’s a tough one for them unless they can spend money and recruit in a way that gives them a little bit of an edge, but it’s going to be tough for them.

PA: You and Rio Ferdinand, you tackled him in training and it ruled him out of the World Cup, but obviously he didn’t blame you and Fabio Capello said it was just a regular tackle. Was he pissed off at the time?

Emile Heskey: I’m guessing he would’ve been pissed himself at the time, so what happened was, he came in from behind, it was a normal tackle, it wasn’t nothing malicious or anything like that, but I fell back, but I fell back on him and his leg was in a funny position and I fell back on that leg and it just crumpled underneath him. Well it was no one’s fault really because he had to go and make a challenge,  it was just one of those freak accidents.

PA: Do you think racism in English football has actually gotten worse since your playing days?

Emile Heskey: I don’t think it’s gotten any worse, but I don’t think it’s gone anywhere. I don’t think it’s got any worse, it’s just how it is. I think the reality is, it’s how we deal with it, that is going to be the big thing. But we’ve never dealt with it. You get bigger fines if you mess with the sponsors, so if you had a sponsor that went contrary to something else, you get a bigger fine than actually being racist.

PA: Do you think black managers are being overlooked in the Premier League still?

Emile Heskey: Yes, I think so. The thing is, you need experience and if you haven’t got experience, the clubs are not going to give you a chance. But you need to be given a chance to get experience, so it’s just the roundabout that we are in right now. Darren Moore’s getting a chance at Port Vale in League One, and he obviously did the Championship and he’s done the Premier League as well with West Brom, so he’s got experience. 

PA: Your sons, Reigan and Jaden made their debuts for Man City in the Carabao Cup win over Huddersfield, you must have felt incredible pride. What advice did you give them ahead of their debut?

Emile Heskey: I didn’t give them any advice. I didn’t know they were playing. I knew the day before that they were in the squad but that was it really. I didn’t give them any advice, I just said, go enjoy it. They’ve been brilliant up to now and they deserved every minute of it because they’ve worked so hard to get to where they are now.