Ashley Cole names former England and Chelsea team-mate who was ‘on another level’

Ashley Cole says his erstwhile England and Chelsea team-mate Joe Cole was connected a ‘different level’ erstwhile helium archetypal encountered him.

Born little than 11 months apart, Ashley and Joe Cole grew up playing against each different astatine schoolhouse level and were past regular opponents portion astatine their respective academies.

Joe Cole had agelong been viewed arsenic 1 of the astir highly-rated youngsters successful England and was reportedly the taxable of a £10m bid from Manchester United astatine the property of 16.

After spending astir a decennary successful West Ham’s academy, helium made his first-team debut successful 1998 aged 17 and went connected to play precisely 150 games for the Hammers.

Chelsea proprietor Roman Abramovich brought Cole to Stamford Bridge successful 2003 and implicit the adjacent fewer years the playmaker lifted 3 Premier League titles and 2 FA Cups.

Mixed spells astatine Liverpool, Lille, Aston Villa, Coventry City and Tampa Bay Rowdies followed for Cole, who besides earned 56 caps for England.

While Joe Cole was astatine the highest of his powers, Ashley was besides enjoying important success, helping Arsenal triumph 2 Premier League titles and starring successful the Invincibles 2003-04 campaign.

Ashley joined Joe astatine Chelsea successful 2006 and established himself arsenic 1 of the champion left-backs successful the Premier League era, winning different league rubric arsenic good arsenic 4 FA Cups – taking his wide tally to seven, the astir successful past – and the Champions League by the clip his namesake had departed.

‘I retrieve watching you playing astatine school,’ Ashley Cole reflected connected the Football’s Greatest podcast portion sat beside his erstwhile team-mate.

‘It wasn’t my property radical but I retrieve being connected the sidelines and everybody lasting astir a pitch.

‘I was reasoning “what’s going connected here?” and past idiosyncratic went, “that’s Joe Cole, that’s Joe Cole playing”. That was the archetypal clip I got introduced to the Colemania!

‘Because astatine that property you were unreal. What you were doing connected the shot transportation – astatine that property – it was illegal.

‘That was the archetypal clip I truly heard astir the sanction and past I saw you successful the soma and you were connected a antithetic level.

‘I was conscionable accelerated astatine that property but you had accomplishment and the method facet of football. It was bully to spot idiosyncratic similar that astatine specified a young age.’

Joe Cole is inactive regarded arsenic 1 of the astir talented players of his procreation and adjacent received praise from Brazil shot fable Pele during his heyday.

‘The Number 10 for Chelsea, Joe Cole, is simply a precise bully player,’ Pele said. ‘He has the skills of a Brazilian.’

Since retiring successful 2018, Joe Cole has worked arsenic a shot pundit for the likes of TNT Sports and ITV. Ashley, meanwhile, has gone down the coaching way and is presently moving astatine the FA with England younker players.

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