Lescott Vs Heitinga

[carlmc25]

Heitinga has had no problems with being against tall strikers so far, it's something I've been impressed with due to his lack of height. So if he can be our aerial dominator then I see no reason why a Jags/Johnny partnership would have a weakness.

I have to say that on what I've seen so far I haven't really seen Heitinga dominated in the air so I probably agree with that assessment. Jagielka was slightly weak though. Only time will tell, I still think if Yobo can regain his form with a run in the team then he would be in my back two, he needs a leader alongside him, I'd love to see him play alongside Heitinga.

[nogs]

Well yeah, I'm just saying with the general height of our team they'll fit in perfectly. But just as with our midfield physical battles will be more taxing, and even if he keeps Drogba in his pocket like last week there's a weakness there. To be fair though it's the one weakness I can see, and if they can cope with the taller/stronger players by way of the off-balance nudge and tight marking then there's really no concern. They'll just have to work harder on positioning and composure/concentration.

 

I take your point about height to a certain extent, but strength?! Heitinga's athleticism is easily his biggest asset, he had no problem handling Drogba and Rooney, two of the stronger centre forwards in the league, so i really don't think he has any problems with strength, and he looks hard as fook!

 

I think we all get a little carried away with the need for height in centre backs anyway. Heitinga is the same height as Kevin Ratcliffe, easily the best defender I've ever seen in an Everton shirt, and an inch shorter than Dave Watson, who is probably a close second. Being good in the air is more about timing, spring and positional awareness, and I think Heitinga is pretty good in all those departments. And if we did want to stick a crane at the back to keep Crouch quiet for two games a season, we've always got Shane Duffy who's huge and possibly still growing!

[duncanmckenzieismagic]

Heitinga's pretty good, but to be honest not as good as Lescott at his best.Dominant in both boxes, some good skill for a big'un and a goal threat at the other end.He did blow hot and cold, but then so does Yobo and I rate him pretty highly (at his best).

 

If Heitinga keeps improving, Jagielka regains his form and Yobo plays at the top end of his form, then that's a nice situaton to have.

 

Heitinga's not still growing, so what you see is what you get, and if he gets out jumped a couple of times for easy goals then, maybe play Yobo against big teams that throw lots of high balls into the area.

 

Not exactly got tall full backs have we!.....Baines, Neville, coleman and Hibbert.Even standing on each others shoulders they only come up to Crouche's chin

 

So ok, as mentioned Fellaini and/or Rodwell will have to add their height to corners and free kicks, other than that it's Moyes' problem.......Cahills small and he's not too shabby in the air, timing is important......let Heitinga train with Cahill, see if he can teach him!

 

Lescott may not have been worth £22million, but Heitinga's still got a bit to do to be as good as Lescott.I think some are letting a few bad games and their hate for a man who probably did slightly disrespect Everton cloud the fact that Lescott was a pretty dam good defender......Man City thought so.Maybe Jagielka did make Lescott look good, lets hope so.

 

 

I have said many times in here before that I dont hold anything against Lescott and that I fully understand why he wanted to leave. He was a very good defender for us but I honestly dont think that he is even in the same league as Heitinga.

Johhny is easily more reliable, his positional sense if far superior, he is a leader, his distribution is far superior he is stronger in the tackle in fact the only thing that Lescott has over him is that he is bigger and uglier!

 

I think its a bit of a cop out to say that his height is a problem because some of the greatest centre halves of all time have been below sif foot and he has not had any problems so far just look st how well he dealt with Drogba

 

 

Lescott had one freak season where he scored goals for fun but he didnt have a good scoring record before that season and hasnt done it since so I dont really think that is an issue either

[marcopaulo]

I take your point about height to a certain extent, but strength?! Heitinga's athleticism is easily his biggest asset, he had no problem handling Drogba and Rooney, two of the stronger centre forwards in the league, so i really don't think he has any problems with strength, and he looks hard as fook!

 

I think we all get a little carried away with the need for height in centre backs anyway. Heitinga is the same height as Kevin Ratcliffe, easily the best defender I've ever seen in an Everton shirt, and an inch shorter than Dave Watson, who is probably a close second. Being good in the air is more about timing, spring and positional awareness, and I think Heitinga is pretty good in all those departments. And if we did want to stick a crane at the back to keep Crouch quiet for two games a season, we've always got Shane Duffy who's huge and possibly still growing!

 

 

must say i forgot about duffy he is a big lad!

 

i agree with what everyone has said and whilst he hasnt been dominated in the air yet id just always feel more comfortable with someone a bit bigger but he is as strong as an ox so lets hope im wrong eh!

[thehelmet]

GalacticAracnid - Yeah, same same, wasn't meant as an argument I'm just saying that my only possible concern with Heitinga at this point is his height.. He's proven several times though that he has the atletiscism and the general skills to deal with taller/stronger players as well and his current form makes him look fearsome.

 

For everyone slagging Lescott though, pretty much everyone, here on as well, touted him as the best centreback in England.. based on his form then. We all know it's a hard thing to maintain week in week out though.

 

Pairing him with Jagielka means we'll have what is probably the shortest centreback pairing in the league, hell probably the shortest backfour, but as we've seen with our midfield for the last couple of years this does not have to be a problem. With the right work rate, and of course the Everton spirit, I'm sure what we have is a team that can match and at times outplay every other team in the Premiership.