Date: 5th May 2011 at 12:20pm
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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.

Post courtesy of Live4Liverpool

 

4 responses to “Do Liverpool give Joe Cole a chance?”

  1. Imran says:

    I’d rather see Joe playing for us than against us. YNWA

  2. Graeme says:

    I think if we want to improve our squad depth we have to keep him. If Kenny and perhaps more importantly Clark thinks he still has it then we have to keep him. We know he can do it – form is temporary, class is permanent.
    The only problem is he is not a winger and if we’re going 442 next season he will struggle to play in his position especially with Meireles and Gerrard capable of playing off the target man? it all depends on what he wants to do then i suppose? Cups and the occasional league performance?

  3. Dave says:

    I think I would rather see him warming someone elses bench (or fitness suite).

  4. Graeme says:

    I think some people may have him confused with other high earning players who would be quite happy sitting on the bench taking their wages, else why would he turn up to training on his own on the player’s day off rather than having a trip to Europe?
    He hasnt go where he has being rubbish.