Will this man with much to prove actually get a chance?

After the Rabotnicki match last night I had a broad smile on my face. Of course we were playing sub-standard opposition but what really got me enthused about Liverpool’s performance was the link up play between Steven Gerrard and Joe Cole. Cole looked to be really enjoying his central role in the team and although he will surely not be given so much space when playing against better teams in the Premier League, you can still see straight off that both Gerrard and Cole are on the same wavelength. Cole has stated that he came to Liverpool because he wants to play and because he wants to play in his favoured role. He told BBC Radio Merseyside after the match that he hadn’t played the position for seven years since he joined Chelsea and that he never really felt comfortable playing in wider areas with his lack of pace.

Cole’s desire to play centrally alongside Steven Gerrard does mean however a selection dilemma will crop up with other players wanting to play in his position. The most notable player who could miss out on a starting spot because of Cole is Alberto Aquilani. Aqua was unfortunate last season as his ankle injury and various other minor injuries and niggles after, really hampered him settling into English football. I said in an article a few months back that it can take at least six months to a year for a foreign player to settle in, especially if the player in question has been out for a long time with a serious injury.

By the end of last season, we began to see glimpses of what the Italian was capable of and playing in a more advanced position to Gerrard (where Cole is currently playing), we began to see his true colours. His goal against Atletico Madrid in the Europa League semi-final indicated that the 26 year old had finally arrived on Merseyside. Still there was speculation that he was to return to Italy, but his agent today once again affirmed his position that he wants to stay at Liverpool and prove himself in England:

“There is no chance of a transfer. Alberto is happy at Liverpool and intends to stay in England. He has no desire for a return to the peninsula.”

I am happy he is staying for I believe there is a lot more to come from him in a Reds shirt, but the emergence of Cole in the hole behind the striker raises the question as to whether he will be given the opportunity to shine at Anfield. He came on as a substitute for Steven Gerrard in the match last night, and I think that initially at the start of this campaign he will be used in a more withdrawn position than he ended up in at the end of last season. Whether he starts many games is open to debate, although there is a ray of hope after Roy did say yesterday that Joe Cole may not always start in his favoured central position:

“Joe can play a lot of positions but it is going to be a question of where we need him most and how he will fit in best with us and the rest of the players. When you have got a player of his quality, you work hard to get him on the field and you put him on the field in a position where he is going to best serve the team.”

Not many Liverpool fans would feel that Aquilani doesn’t have anything to prove in a Liverpool shirt. Even though it was only a brief cameo against Rabotnicki last night, he looks like a man with something to prove and clearly he is determined to stay to prove himself in the best league in the world. With Cole linking up so well with Gerrard though and Hodgson looking to bring the best out of the pair, Aquilani will surely have to play out of his skin to get a look in in his favoured central midfield role.

Follow us on twitter @live4Liverpool

Live4Liverpool is recruiting columnists. For further info contact the site editor at editor@live4liverpool.com