Heskey holds key as England hunt for goals

ENGLAND'S century so far has been the tale of three forwards. Eight years in, Fabio Capello looks at his options and probably realises that, for the foreseeable future, his attacking choices still distil down to the same three names.

With the stubborn perversity that remains one of his managerial traits, Capello has chosen to omit the most successful international footballer of the three, Michael Owen, from his plans. Owen has spent the two years since sustaining an anterior cruciate ligament injury at the start of the 2006 World Cup match with Sweden trying to revive his career. Ostensibly Owen's fitness is still the issue, even if he has managed to score five times in his last seven games for the comedy troupe that is Newcastle United.

Given his international record, leaving him out of a second successive World Cup qualifier squad is contentious, and would have been much more so had Capello not been basking in the glow of England's remarkable 4-1 victory in Zagreb. Capello's inclination for a fluid 4-5-1 formation should not entirely exclude Owen from his plans, but the manager seems inclined to get him hungry, motivated and a little riled before bringing him back into the fold.

Owen will be both gratified and frustrated to see that his faithful foil, Emile Heskey, remains central to the new coach's plans. Heskey, often reviled unfairly for supposed clumsiness and lack of subtlety, is a recurring factor in England's infrequent successes. He has been the key presence in the honeymoon high-spots of two England mangers. He was instrumental in Sven-Goran Eriksson's team's incredible 5-1 win in Germany seven years ago, and no less significant in Capello's side's Croatian triumph last month. His brief recall under Steve McLaren almost saved the bilingual coach's job, and had he been fit to face Croatia at Wembley last year, England's fate might have been different.

Heskey's misfortune has been to be the kind of player installed in the foundations of a side, rather than its flashy facade. Although Gerard Houllier appreciated his worth at Liverpool, it has taken Steve Bruce to instil in Heskey a sense of his own worth, reviving his international career in the unlikely locale of Wigan. Heskey, at 30, now appreciates his own abilities.

Capello will realise that, just as Owen was a more effective forward when Heskey played, Heskey may also be the key to unlocking Wayne Rooney's unquestioned abilities. Despite the rapidly disappearing hairline, Rooney only turns 23 this month. By that age Owen had scored 23 times for his country. Rooney has managed 15, despite starting his international career a year younger than Owen. Part of the explanation is injury. Rooney's international career began spectacularly in the 2004 European Championship with four goals, but has never reached the same heights since he was carried out of the third match with a broken metatarsal.

Rooney's Manchester United form is improving, and it might be argued that Sir Alex Ferguson owes Capello a grateful phone-call as the catalyst seems to have been that win in Zagreb. Certainly Rooney's form will be vital in defining whether Capello's England can be a force at the 2010 World Cup.

It has been Heskey's privilege to be cast as the minder for England's two prodigious attacking talents of the last decade, Owen and Rooney. Last month it even seemed possible that his aegis might fall on England's next golden child, Theo Walcott.

Hat-trick or no hat-trick, looking at Walcott you are reminded of Glenn Hoddle's notorious and misinterpreted suggestion that Owen was not a natural goalscorer. A decade ago, Hoddle's point was that Owen was an all-round player as adept at setting up chances for others as scoring them. Perhaps his subsequent career suffered from being stereotyped as a striker from the day after that stunning goal against Argentina in St Etienne. If his scoring record remained impressive, he rarely recaptured that exuberant freedom of movement and attacking verve.

With Arsenal, Walcott is used as an impact player, attacking from deep and in wide areas. His goalscoring has been sporadic. Far more familiar is the sight of him skinning a full-back, looking up from the goal-line to deliver a precision pass for Emmanuel Adebayor to score.

Capello's 4-5-1 formation allows that kind of freedom, and exploits Walcott's blistering pace. It also allows Rooney to play a little deeper. Although his work-rate is impeccable, he rarely looks contented when deployed as a lone striker, for club or country.

England's game against Kazakhstan this afternoon is a sell-out. Part of the attraction may have been the excuse for fans to dress up in Borat mankinis, but most of the anticipation is down to the desire to see what Theo does next.

If the Kazakhs offer England the chance to build on what they achieved in Zagreb, and play some expansive attacking football, with 4-5-1 blending into 4-3-3, a sterner test awaits in Minsk. Belarus are a side habitually dismissed by the English press, but merit considerable respect and no little caution, having beaten the Netherlands and drawn with Germany and Argentina over the year.

Walcott offers an obvious head-to-head contrast to the man he replaced in Arsenal's starting XI, Aleksandr Hleb, but Wednesday may be a night more suited to the robust virtues of Heskey. He, along with the occasional David Beckham cameo, provide a lingering link with England's history. Michael Owen can only hope he gets another chance to recapture those past glories.