Managing Madrid had an opportunity to interview former Liverpool striker Emile Heskey this week. The former England international, who won a treble with England, spoke about the racism Vinicius Jr faces, Ibrahima Konaté’s arrival at Real Madrid, Trent Alexander-Arnold’s omission from the World Cup, and the nonsensical dialogue from some media surrounding Jude Bellingham.
QUESTION: You were the victim of a lot of racism abuse in your career, particularly in an away game against Croatia in 2004. Do
you think enough strides have ben made to combat racism?
Heskey: “Yes and no. Yes, they’re doing what they believe they can do. No because it’s still happenning. I don’t think fines are going to do much. We can put as many things in place as we want, but until someone is prosecuted it’s still going to happen.”
QUESTION: What message would you give to Vinicius, who continues to endure racist abuse regularly?
“Keep doing what you do. Let them hate because of what you’ve done on the pitch. Keep giving it to them. Keep pushing it down their throat. One thing I will say is that they don’t get at him because he’s crap — it’s because he’s very good. Let them keep getting at you, because one day we will get to a stage where prosecution will happen and we’ll have the last laugh.”
QUESTION: Do you think Trent’s omission from the World Cup squad was justified?
“It’s justified in the manager’s eyes and that’s all that counts, really. But in my eyes? No. I would’ve loved to have Trent there. He gives you so much on the ball that we can negate some of the stuff off the ball, and he’s not as bad as people make him out to be (off the ball). His omission was not justified in my eyes, but the manager, who I like, stuck with what he believed and didn’t care what people said. There were injuries, and he still didn’t care.
“He needs to continue doing what he’s good at, which is assists and forward play.”
QUESTION: Many Real Madrid fans are concerned about Konate’s form in the past year and his injury history. Do you think fans should expect the one that’s struggled, or the one from a couple years ago?
“Right now you will likely get the one that’s going to struggle. One thing I will say is he’ll come good. He needs to just make sure he’s properly fit again. He’s an aggressive defender, and I think he’s a really good defender. Not particularly great on the ball but defensively he’s very good. If he can get back to that level, he’ll get the fans on his side, no problem.”
QUESTION: Where do you stand on the dialogue that England are better without Jude Bellingham?
“Well he showed that, didn’t he? He showed that time and time again that regardless of what people believe or the narratives they tried to push, he showed that they need him. They need his leadership, they need his aggressiveness, they need his fight on the pitch, they need his goals… They need everything. A lot of people say he rubs people the wrong way — so what? He’s there to win a game.”
Heskey answered questions on behalf of Covers.com soccer betting site.
