After just one season at Anfield, Liverpool have had enough of possibly the most gifted English number 10 of a generation. I’m talking, of course, about Joe Cole. In fact the signs were there less than half way into his debut season for the Reds, even before the ill-fated reign of Roy Hodgson came to an end. If we’re being totally truthful, a few even saw the signs before he actually put pen to paper on his lucrative new deal in signing for the Merseyside club, and are not surprised to see it end in failure. The majority of those few probably reside in London and support the blue of Chelsea, the team that allowed Cole to leave for free, barely putting up a fight in wanting to keep the former child prodigy of English football.
Due to his sheer playing style and the fact that he was born in England, Cole has faced adversity virtually his whole career. A child star, known for his dribbling, tricks and skills, Cole looked like a natural number 10, a player often given a free role and usually operates ‘in the hole’ – a fantasista. The problem was (and still is) that England has never been a natural habitat for the fantasista, with the football managers of this country viewing them with a certain degree of mistrust – ‘they don’t defend, they don’t work hard, they’re lazy…’ are just a few labels players of this nature were tarnished with. English football culture has had no place for them, although they were most often the most naturally gifted.
Whereas on the continent managers would build their team around the creative talents of a number-10, English teams would fail to utilise their characteristics fully, often employing them ‘on the wing’, or using them as a standard central-midfielder. In the past, it was often said that the likes of Glenn Hoddle, Paul Gascoigne and Peter Beardsley would have flourished more, particularly for the national team, if they had been born in a Latin country, where the fantasisti are part of the footballing culture. In today’s modern game however, it is true that the old-style number-10 has been in decline – artists have given way to athletes, and have therefore had to evolve. Conversely, since the Premiership era, England has seen an increase in this style of player having imported the likes of Cantona, Bergkamp and Zola, right up until this summer were we have seen the high demand for the likes of Modric, Nasri, Sneijder and Fabregas – all modern day fantasisti.
Farewell Joe thanks for giving it a go sadly it wasn’t to be.
I hope you find your feet at Lille and return to England with renewed vigour….
I think most Chelsea fans would swap Joey Cole for Torres tomorrow, and I think Liverpool fans would be happy with that deal too.
He was one of Chelsea’s best players and gave 100% for the team every game.
It’s a shame to see him leave the Premier league.
http://keelbyunited.co.uk/Blog/Enemy_of_football.htm
There were also some Chelsea fans who were delighted to see the back of Joe Cole. They were the fans who realised that there was a growing gulf between the myth of Joe Cole and the sad reality: a player who would spend whole games runnin into blind alleys, stick out his tongue, and then lose the ball in a rather weak tackle. In addition, the bloke lost it after having been out for the best part of two seasons but demanded to be on wage parity with Lampard and Terry (and that was the real reason why Chelsea let him go). So offloading him was necessary.
BTW; lest we all forget, it was little more than a year ago that Steven Gerrard was claiming that Joe Cole was ‘better than Messi’ on the back of some impressive training ground tricks. And Stevie G. added that he really fancied Joe Cole for Player of the Year. Your article is spot on that he was really a spent force since, oooh, late 2008, but the view when he joined Anfield last year was that he was the final piece of the puzzle.
I think the overhaul of the squad and the way we done it is nothing short of amazing, brought in quality, sold the deadwood, and loaned out the players whose value could rise significantly if they have a good season at their new clubs.All that and we still even managed to cut the wage bill by 20million+.We have got to be happy with our new structure.strenght in dept was our main worry but now have a look at our squad, reina,kelly,carragher,agger,enrique,henderson,lucas,adam,downing,
suarez,carroll, 7 man bench, doni,kuyt,gerrard,johnson,skrtel,maxi,bellamy. now thats a squad.and as you know we will always have injuries, even more quality backup in the shape of coates,aureilo,spearing,sterling. and a batch of youngsters waiting in the wings, wilson,flanno,robinson,coady.This is the best and most well balanced squad ive seen at anfield. Great starting 11, great bench,great backup and youngsters snapping at thier heels for a chance to impress.THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT. THE FUTURE IS RED. YNWA.
re: euroblue
Some fair points well made but Cole has always been talked about from top tp bottom in football. The potential was HUGE & he did often show it – I remember a winner for Chelsea against ManUtd only two seasons ago..?
Sadly injury takes it’s toll and to be fair the classic clever link player between midfield and attack is being sidelined acorss Europe.
StevieG’s comments sound overhyped now but at the time Cole was signed on a free, injury free and raring to go.
If Capt Fantastic thought back then that Cole was good enough who are we to argue one year, several injuries and a loss of form later…?
What injuries has he had since being at Liverpool?
One FA cup night away at Roots Hall signalled the end of Joe as a footy player. Ironically, it was a mate of his, a former Chelsea loanee called Anthony “the judge” Grant once earmarked as a new Makalele that wrecked Joe’s knee for good. He lost the five yard burst of pace he relied on and it killed him.
Two attempted returns ensued:one successful With Deco operating as dual number tens making up for each other’s broken legs and another which bore only one fruit-our last league EPL triumph at OT. Sadly, that was it and I was appalled when L’pool wasted those wages on him-I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Joey but the fact remains he’d gone a long time before the collective idiots of the English pundit scene cried out for him at the last WC when a 43 fitting Carrick, Lamps and SG was the obvious answer in front of Cash, Johnno, JT(as capitano)and King when fit-chuck in a front three of Young, Rooney and A.N Other(Defoe as preference with Bent as cover)and we’d have had a pop.
Anyway, the calls for Joey were silly and Liverpool taking the boy on was just adding insult to massive injury but the assertion he was EER this magical number ten is also fallacy. England bred TWO real number tens in the last thirty years of any quality(maybe Le Tiss if fit)in Gazza ans in Hoddle) Rooney can also do the job but is a striker really so lets not sully both Joe nd the position by comparison.
Joe, at his very best, deserved a free role but not as a ten but more a wandering eight because in the hole the boy was too loose, too free and not coy and not strict enough positionally to ever carry it off-he also liked tackling back and had a massive work ethic at his prime and played best on the left wing cutting inside keeping RB and RCB honest. Remember the night he and /Robben killed the great L’Arse side at Highbury?
Great number eight play from a wide, free position as opposed to an 11 or 7 position with Lamps only a number eight by the number ion his back. Shame you guys saw nothing of Joe-he WAS genius on his day but never cut out for the pressure but the nicest man in football without a doubt but, saying thatm I’ll keep Nando, ta!
Good luck for this year and my cash is on you for third, Utd for top, Citeh for Second and, definitely, Spuds for fourth. Chelsea, hurts to tell, will not make top half aty this rate.
So whats this post got to do with the questions i asked?
Why can’t we admit Gerrard got it wrong even if he’s our captain?
When was his form anything to shout about even before he signed for us?
so according to you there is no place for players like David Silva, Fabregas, Messi, Iniesta, Ozil, Sneider, Aquilani and most importantly Gerrard in the modern game?
The British media love Joe Cole, they have always implied he was the English football golden child.
Unfortunately he was never as good as many have propagated. We should never have signed him, and it has proven to be a very expensive mistake. Joe to his credit is very skilful with the ball at his feet, unfortunately the negatives out way the positives.
It’s well known that he’s not the most intelligent football out there, and that is being complimentary. Also while at Liverpool he always seemed unfit, but more damning is his inability to understand what is asked of him both tactically and positionally. These are the reasons both Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti never played him, and that is recorded knowledge. It’s also the reason Fabio Capello generally overlooked him.
If Kenny had seen anything in him he would definitely have given him a chance, but he also came to the same conclusion as Roy Hodgson. How many managers does it take before we realise someone just doesn’t have it.
Fair point DJ. But I think there is also a good argument, as set in the article, that had Cole been nurtured in an environment where teams build themselves around the number 10, he could have been one of the best. The fact is, the Premier league and English football in general is not geared to nuture these types of players into becoming world beaters. Cole’s decision making is generally poor, but those players need to be trusted into the role over years of development. Xavi and Iniesta were no doubt promising talents as youngsters but they have become the best as they have matured. The point is that we’ve never produced a number 10 is same manner as Spain, Argentina, Brazil et al. Our culture produces box to box midfielders like gerrard and lampard. We buy in our number 10s (Zola, Cantona, Bergkamp etc)
Good post Parm,
The wider debate though is how intelligent are English/British footballers compared to there foreign counterparts? Education seems to be forgotten when we identify a youngster that shows footballing promise.
I think your point is fair when you say we do not nurture technically gifted players to play these important positions in the UK. However, my point is whether these players are intelligent enough to begin with to be able progress into the full package we require for our club and Country.
Joe Cole sadly is one of those. Technically gifted but thick as two short planks, thus the reason he could never be trusted by the managers I have mentioned.