Like many, I expected Joe Cole to be one of the stand out signings of the season. His role as a key player during Chelsea’s dominant years under Jose Mourinho cemented his reputation as one of England’s most technically gifted footballers and when he opted to sign for us, nobody was more excited about his arrival than myself.
Fast forward to May 2011 and I don’t think anyone could have predicted the former Chelsea man’s first year here being quite so disastrous. It’s a shame for sure because I was fully expecting Joe Cole to be for us what Rafael Van der Vaart has been for Tottenham this season. I wasn’t alone in believing the hype as even Arjen Robben came out and commented that we would have one of the best attacking trios in Europe with Gerrard, Torres and Cole leading the line for us.
There are many factors behind Cole’s poor showing this season, most notably his injury troubles. With recurring injury problems it is easy for a player’s confidence to take a bit of a knock, and it has shown whenever Cole has played this season. He has been a shadow of his former self and seems to really struggle with retaining the ball, probably due to trying too hard to impress.
The question now is, should we just cut our losses and sell Joe Cole over the summer or shall we persevere with him and give him the chance to make up for this campaign? The fact that Cole has been a bit unlucky with injuries does make me want to see him given a chance to succeed next year. On the other hand however, he is on ridiculously high wages when you consider that he’s currently a bench warmer and his departure would also make space in the squad for a younger, more exciting talent like Ashley Young.
Naturally I want all players signed by Liverpool to succeed here so I wouldn’t be too upset to see Cole kept over the summer and given another year to show us the tremendous ability we all know he possesses. If he is sold however I will fully understand and will see the sense in freeing up some wages while gaining an exciting prospect in his place. As I’ve indicated before, I personally hope we hang on to our number 10 over the summer and eventually get to see the real Joe Cole next season, as there is no doubting that when on form he would be a huge asset to most teams.
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we should only sell Joe as bait to another club for a quality player e.g. Young, Lennon, Arshavin, Malouda, Parker, Anelka, Ashley Cole, Niko Krancijar, Enrique. Otherwise keep him and let him prove himself in Europa, Carling Cup and the reserves as he really isnt getting games.
anelka, what has he done this year, he is hardly getting any younger is he, and chelsea are maybe going to let him go.
maluoda is a moaner and has sulked for half the season.
lennon has done what and does what game in game out, this player is so overrated its crazy. he has pace but thats doesnt mean that your a great player, lennon is not wanted at liverpool at all?
niko krancijar is average at best thats why he doesnt play for spurs, i dont want spurs second rate crap here at all,,,, what a list that is? glad your not the money man at melwood!!!
the only player worth buying is scott parker and i wouldnt pay more than 8 – 9 mill for him, hes great at what he does but hes getting on.
enrique only if we cant get, vcoentrao or cissohko or fuclie, but id rather buy vargas who can play as left back and winger in one hit.
crap list of players,
good response Sam – that list was terrible, and how he thinks Cole would act as bait for players at Chelsea or Arsenal is beyond me.
I do disagree with the idea of using a left back as a winger though. We need to just bite the bullet and FINALLY spend big on a top class winger instead of shoe-horning players into that position…
to be honest he has been a complete flop. we do not need to keep players like cole now that we have decent owners and good finances.we can get a younger fitter slimmer more talented version of cole.but if i had my way i would buy iniesta he is easily a first 11 player yet spends too much time on the bench
I was shouted down when I said that we shouldn’t be looking at the guy last summer, and I haven’t changed my mind yet – obviously I wanted him to succeed once he arrived, but you just have to accept that some things are never going to happen. We have to get rid, asap!
(Iniesta isn’t a bench player though btw…)
@ Richard..I hope you meant to say Afellay rather than Iniesta because Iniesta only misses out for Barca when injured. He is a star among stars and Barca rightly consider him that.
Fair points made and I have no doubt Cole would have had a far better season were it not for injuries. He doesn’t play with the same flair and confidence he once did but the question is whether he will ever get that back.
We needed him to come in and be good for us when we got him last summer but since then things have changed. We have focused a lot more on younger players coming through and complementing them with top talent bought in. We will no doubt buy more and I doubt any will be over 27 which does make you wonder whether he simply won’t fit into the new look Liverpool with the owners philosophy of developing younger talent into a coherent and powerful force a couple of years from now.
I’m afraid I just think he’s a bit too far down the line for us now but I wish him well in finding a club where he can be a central force once again.
I agree with all you’ve said and nor do I think that Cole could be one of the older heads to bring experience for the younger players because of his expectation of being in the first team.
joe cole, should go, yes he is a good guy and he works hard as Kenny said in last match build up.
But we need to change and start being ruthless, we need players who produce and get on and get right on it straight away, who much longer can we wait for high wage earners to step up and earn the shirt that we fans pay for.
At least maxi has done things in his short liverpool spell so far, he at least keeps the ball and kenny likes maxi too.
Id like to see cole gone , off the wage bill and for me id like a younger, quicker more mobile player brought in, ahsley young’s attitude is a huge issue for me, he looks a bit up and down, bit like anelka, we need dressing room players, rather than moaners and newspaper players.
King’s building a great work place where players want to come in and work together and work hard but enjoy it.
For me we need;
mata. – left side
a. cisshoko. – left back
rolando. – center half
moussa sissoko. – center mid
hulk. – winger come – striker. can do both, worth the investment at his young age, rather him than a young.
and for me we need a utility player with huge big game knowledge and i would like scott parker.
i’m not disputing your list of players but arguably the best thing Dalglish has done is restore team spirit to Liverpool… do any of the players you’ve suggested speak English and how would such a list work next year before say christmas? i’m not saying don’t sign foreign players but maybe also have one eye on one of the key aspects that has restored this season.
I seriously doubt that it was the lack of native English speakers that were holding the team back…
I don’t know who Rolando is supposed to be, but the others are all proven top quality players and the only reason to downplay the idea of getting them is the financial outlay would most likely be MASSIVE to bring all of them in
I think you missed the point son. I did not say that a lack of English speaking players held the team back, but now that we have established team spirit maybe we shouldn’t introduce up to six players who don’t speak the same language and who disrupt the fluency of the squad. Especially if they come with hefty price tags and therefore a weight of expectation. I was simply saying it should maybe be a consideration that settling in periods should be kept to a minimum if at all possible.
Winning teams always have good team spirit and losing teams typically have poor team spirit (if they were expected to be a top team). It’s not rocket science lad.
Carroll and Suarez both arrived with record price tags at our club and neither seems to have dragged morale down with their arrival from what I’ve seen.
I agree with much of what you have said, but his wages are so very much. The money we save on his wages, not to mention the nominal fee we would receive, could fund the introduction of many other players in the summer who hopefully will be more successful.
Obviously this is not a science but even if we were to keep him I still don’t think after we remodel our squad in the summer he would be considered first team. Therefore we should let the boy go and play football somewhere where he will get a match, he is an England international and deserves to play.
When we signed him I was as excited as anyone but this season has done nothing to suggest that he will be become the player I hoped he’d be. To make matters worse for him now with Suarez and Carroll there is no longer the same position, in the hole, that he probably thought he’d fill behind the great sulk. He just doesn’t seem to quite fit!
I think the best aspect of KK’s teams are that we can all see the progression that needs to occur because we are now so close to being awesome. Either an inside forward or natural winger to complement the skills of Andy and Luis and our forward line is going to be immense! Unfortunately this is not Cole, and therefore because of this and his extortionate wages Cole should not just sit on the bench.
Sell NOW!!!
why i believe we need to sell cole- £ 100000 per week..
Something I posted a few months ago.
A player brought in by C Purslow to carry favour with us (he fans).
Cole is an English football establishment darling that we are constantly told is the very best of English players out there.
Now I can argue until I’m blue in the face that Joe Cole has as much technical ability as any player out there, but, and it’s a big but, Joe did not seem to impress the likes of Mourinho, Ancelotti, Capello and even the disaster Hodgson, and I will give good odds that Kenny doesn’t use him much either.
Why? When we look at what previous managers have said about Joe it becomes quite clear that they question his tactical ability and his intelligence to play modern football. His tactical ability to understand where he should be on the pitch when attacking and defending, and his intelligence where he is required to understand what a manager wants of him.
Some quotes from previous managers Joe has played under
Jose mourinho said:
“He has a lot to learn,” said Mourinho. “I think he has two faces – one beautiful and one I don’t like. He must keep one and change the other one.”
“When he scored the game finished for him. After that I needed 11 players for my defensive organisation and I had just 10.
“Joe can be a regular but he has to improve when the team needs him to be part of a defensive organisation.”
Carlo Ancelotti said:
“Joe Cole is quicker than Benayoun but Yossi is better tactically. He understands what I tell him.”
I am fed up of the media drip feeding us about the qualities of individual English players while deriding their more gifted (technically, tactically and intelligent) foreign counterparts. I would sell him for whatever we can get, because a salary of £100,000.00 a week equates to £5 million a year. The longer he stays the more money we will lose.
Sadly, Joe is not intelligent enough to understand what is being asked of him. Which makes him an expensive mistake for us, and I personally would never have signed him.
in my opinion id give cole until january to find his best form, if not then sell him, give him a chance to show us the player he can be.
His legs went two seasons ago. Happens to plenty of players. Result is like a spent battery that only ever recharges a small amount. He’s finished and should be plying his trade in the Championship, at Crystal Palace or back at West Ham’s Championship-bound team. At best, in the Premiership he’ll have one decent game (or rather, part of a game) in ten. That’s maybe four in a season, which is actually MORE good games than he’s managed this time around.
sell him,,,,,,,,,,,YESTERDAY!! Totally OVERATED and always has been by the british media!!!
If Cole is worth £90,000 a week than, the whole of the Barcelona team is worth a…….£1 :).
He will just about be the first player sold his wages are too high and the club are extremely unlikely to get value for money.
Cole’s best days are long gone and he should be sold with the fee and salary saved to be used to buy a decent left-back and winger.