Opta Jury: Emile Heskey
This week's Opta Jury takes a look at Birmingham striker Emile Heskey.
Criticising Emile Heskey has almost become a national pastime to rival discussions about the British weather and the declining standards of the transport system.
The England international looked to relaunch his career last summer with a move to Birmingham City, joining Steve Bruce's squad for just over six million pounds.
Heskey has rewarded his employers by top scoring for Birmingham in the league with 10 goals. This is more than any Liverpool player managed this season, where Milan Baros top-scored with nine goals.
Despite scoring more often, the former Leicester City forward has been less clinical in front of goal. Heskey attempted 2.3 shots per game for The Blues compared to 1.4 for Liverpool. However, a significantly larger percentage of shots did not test the opposition goalkeepers (seven per cent less) and this has resulted in his chance conversion dropping slightly.
At first glance, Heskey's passing success also appears to have declined. However, at Liverpool in the 2003/04 season, The Reds completed 77 per cent of their passes and Heskey completed three percent less of his passes than the average for his side. Since moving to the Midlands, Heskey has completed 72 per cent of his passes, just one per cent less than the team average.
The most notable difference since Heskey's move to St Andrews has been the frequency at which he has committed fouls. The average number of fouls conceded by the 27-year old has increased from 1.4 per game to 2.3, as Steve Bruce has seemingly encouraged Heskey to use his physical presence to disrupt opposition defenders. This has resulted in the Birmingham number 16 picking up six yellow cards in the league this term, compared to just one in his last season with Liverpool.
Heskey did not do enough to warrant a place in Sven Goran Eriksson's young England squad to America and his surprise omission suggests his days playing for the national team may be over. Steve Bruce and the Birmingham faithful will be hoping that Heskey concentrates on his club form and can fire them to the upper echelons of The Premiership.
| Season | 2003/04 | 2004/05 |
| Team | Liverpool | Birmingham City |
| Appearances | 35 | 34 |
| Minutes On Pitch | 2,400 | 2,869 |
| Goal Attempts | | |
| Goals | 7 | 10 |
| Shots On Target | 21 | 27 |
| Shots Off Target | 29 | 51 |
| Shooting Accuracy | 42% | 35% |
| Chance Conversion | 14% | 13% |
| Passing | | |
| Goal Assists | 4 | 3 |
| Total Passes | 740 | 840 |
| Pass Completion % | 74% | 72% |
| Crossing | | |
| Total Crosses | 28 | 30 |
| Cross Completion % | 11% | 7% |
| Dribbling | | |
| Dribbles & Runs | 57 | 70 |
| Dribble Completion % | 67% | 64% |
| Tackling | | |
| Tackles Made | 53 | 48 |
| Tackles Won % | 77% | 65% |
| Discipline | | |
| Fouls | 49 | 79 |
| Offsides | 21 | 38 |
| Yellow Cards | 1 | 6 |
| Red Cards | 0 | 0 |
 | ||
Send us your views on Heskey's move. Has he been a hit, a miss or is the jury still out?
