Heskey says England must go back to drawing board
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Emile Heskey believes England have to "go back to the drawing board" after crashing out of the World Cup at the last 16 stage.
Fabio Capello's side were one of the pre-tournament favourites after winning nine of their 10 qualifying matches.
But they seldom reproduced that form and had to settle for being group runners-up before being thrashed 4-1 by old rivals Germany in Bloemfontein yesterday.
And Heskey refused to blame the lengthy domestic season for England's under-achieving in South Africa.
The Aston Villa striker said: "We are disappointed to go out before the quarter-finals but it is back to the drawing board.
"We have come up against a very strong German side but we have got to go back and revaluate things.
"We have to look at certain stuff.
"But you can't blame the season in England for what happened. Germany played a long, hard season as well so you can't really use that as an excuse.
"The German league is just as tough as ours, even tougher some might say."
England can point to midfielder Frank Lampard being denied a goal when they were only trailing 2-1 when his shot clearly crossed the goal-line.
But Heskey admits England were caught a little by surprise by the Germans who cause all kinds of problems for the back four.
He said: "The lads are gutted, everyone is gutted, what can I say?
"It is difficult to say what would have happened if Frank's shot had been allowed. It is ifs and buts.
"But you've just got to get on with it and they were a strong side. It is a good side we played against.
"We knew they were going to be strong but they did surprise us a bit."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments