A lot of praise has been thrown in the direction of Liverpool’s Raul Meireles recently and rightly so, with him showing signs that he can be our main midfield man in Steven Gerrard’s absence. Many would say he’s the main contender for best newcomer this season, but what about the man who was originally expected to come into the squad and help put an end to the notion that we are a two man team; I’m referring to Joe Cole of course.
As if there’s ever a good time to be out injured, Gerrard’s absence has unfortunately come at a time when we will have to take on two of our rivals for fourth spot last season in back to back league games.
Needless to say, the Tottenham Hotspur game is absolutely vital in terms of our fight to get back into the top four; win, and we can be level on points with Spurs and gain some momentum heading into December, lose, and the gap between us and Spurs stretches to six points. If ever there was a game to show that Liverpool aren’t yet dead and buried as top four material, this is it. What a match then, for our number 10 to finally make his mark on Merseyside.
Despite his unspectacular start, I actually still have plenty of faith that Joe Cole will eventually come good at some point this season. At the moment things just aren’t going for him but it is worth remembering that along with having to play for a team struggling for consistency, he and his young family are also having to settle down in a new club and city. I don’t want to make too many excuses for Joe Cole though; he is a hugely talented footballer and should have contributed a lot more than he has so far this season. With Gerrard now out, I fully expected Meireles to jump into the spotlight and so far he seems to have responded well, but it is now time for Joe Cole to prove that he too can be one of our leading lights when the going gets tough.
If Cole and Meireles can work together, they can make up for Gerrard’s absence with their combined ability to create chances and spray passes around the pitch respectively. I expect Tottenham to be fired up for the game on Sunday especially after qualifying from the group stages of the Champions League on Wednesday. They will also be keen to show Joe Cole that he made the wrong choice in choosing us over them during the summer; a fact which I’m hoping motivates him to play his best game of the season so far against the North Londoners.
This is the first time in a long while that we’ve headed to Tottenham being labelled as underdogs but as we all know, it’s at times like these when Liverpool have surprised many by showing their mettle in big games. As for Joe Cole, it’s time for him to prove why Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard were so excited by his capture in the summer; and with his former suitors Tottenham Hotspur being the opposition, he probably couldn’t have picked a better game in which to kick-start his Liverpool career.
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Lemmy and his band Motorhead at a French bar
This week it is even more of former Liverpool WAG Edita Hortova.
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but where will he play…meireles n’ lucas shud b in the centre..he’ll either have to play on the left or in the hole behind torres..
I’d say in the hole…
Cole is a difficult player to fit into the team. He does not have the awareness to play in the hole and should only be used on the rightwing when the team is playing high up the pitch as he does not have the pace to play in a team that plays too deep.
In Gerrard’s absence, there’s a perfect opportunity for him to show his quality in the hole just behind Torres with Meireles and Lucas in central midfield. If him and Meireles step up to the plate and really play to their maximum then we have every chance of beating Spurs cause these two guys are quality. I expect Roy to throw Cole right into the team and fill the void left by Gerrard and create chances for Torres up front.