How was this ex-Liverpool man’s fall from grace so swift?

After just one season at Anfield, Liverpool have had enough of possibly the most gifted English number 10 of a generation and are currently looking to offload him. 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 thePremiership 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.

Cole originally flourished in central areas as a youngster at West Ham, before his big move to Chelsea. Although flourishing in spells, he wasn’t often afforded the same central areas to utilise his creative talents and was most often banished to the wings – where he has spent most of his international career. After a successful couple of years at Chelsea, Cole suffered injuries and one in particularly – doing his cruciate knee ligament, kept him out for a long spell. He resumed a stuttering return, however Chelsea chose not to renew his contract after his demands were not met, thus paving way for a free transfer to Liverpool who chose to gamble on his injury record, paying him in the region of £90,000 per-week. The gamble hasn’t paid off as Cole endured a nightmare first season, suffering a loss of form and confidence as well as niggly injuries. However, I’m not alone in thinking his ‘loss of form’ appears to be more permanent. Whilst Liverpool have been keen to put this down to the constant injuries suffered and being unable to establish any consistent run in the first team, I am not so sure.

Whilst still at Chelsea his form dipped dramatically, especially upon returning from his serious injury and Chelsea knew this – hence the unwillingness to renew his contract on his terms, and the seeming ease in which they allowed him to walk (or hobble) away for nothing. Maybe they knew they had gotten the best out of Cole and he was now just a spent force. A return to London is now being muted as Liverpool look to clear their wage-bill of any unnecessary ‘big-earners’. Whilst Cole may accept a pay-cut to move on, clubs will still be taking a gamble on a player whose vast potential was never fully fulfilled.

Many Liverpool fans are enjoying the fact that Chelsea seemed to have paid over-the-odds for a player who looks a shadow of his former self, and may well struggle to reach the heights of what he once attained, in Fernando Torres. Transfer fee aside, maybe Chelsea can take some small comfort in the knowledge that they got there first in offloading Joe Cole to the Merseyside club.

If you want to read more from myself including news, thoughts and views you can follow me on Twitter@fantasista1077 thanks!

Written by jimmyareabi for http://www.footballfancast.com

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