‘A lot of players will switch off from social media at the World Cup – you can put yourself in a bubble’ Emile Heskey on how England can block out the noise this summer

Emile Heskey and Paul Scholes for England.

Former England striker Emile Heskey insists the Three Lions squad must embrace positivity and shut out the external noise if they are to finally end their 60 years of hurt and win the World Cup this summer.

The ex-Liverpool and Leicester City striker turned out 62 times for England during an 11-year international career that saw him play at the 2002 and 2010 World Cups.

During that time, he became well aware of the levels of scrutiny that come with playing for the England side, a pressure that has only heightened in recent years following the emergence of social media.

Heskey on how to shut out the noise

To succeed at tournament football, Heskey insists that confidence and freedom within the squad are paramount.

“They need to be positive,” Heskey, who played in nine World Cup matches, scoring once, tells FourFourTwo. “You don’t want any negativity going into the first game – you want to play with freedom.”

Heskey played at two World Cups (Image credit: Getty Images)

The 2010 tournament in South Africa began in a disappointing manner with a draw against the USA and this set the tone for an unhappy tournament, amid criticism from fans and media.

But Heskey says it’s possible for the players to isolate themselves from that noise inside the team hotel.

“It’s easy to avoid social media,” he continues. “A lot of players will switch off from that, log out and focus solely on what they’re doing out there.

“You can put yourself in a bubble, which is good. You’re not really paying attention to what everyone else is saying.

“The only time is when you speak to family and friends, and they relay certain things.”

Heskey says Kevin Keegan's approach to the media was not welcomed by the squad (Image credit: PA Images)

Different managers will obviously bring different approaches, with Heskey recalling how Kevin Keegan tackled the issue during his first tournament.

“When I went to Euro 2000, one of Kevin Keegan’s ploys was to spread the newspapers out in front of everyone, to show what people were saying, but not everyone deals with things that way – some feed off that, but the majority of players don’t want to see it.

“Nowadays, the best thing is to log out and keep focused on the task in hand.”