From wonderkid to forgotten 30-year-old, Cole enters last chance saloon at Liverpool

One of the first excuses put forward on a biennial basis as to why England are eliminated from major tournaments is normally a 'lack of technical ability' to control a game.

As much as it is a strong argument there are many more reasons in addition as to why the Three Lions flop on the big stage. But the lack of a midfield genius in the centre of the pitch has been an increasing concern since at least Euro 2000.

Since the 1980s, some of England’s finest talents on the ball, including Glenn Hoddle, Paul Gascoigne and Paul Scholes, have been either puzzlingly overlooked, controversially dropped, played out of position or driven into retirement.

Forgotten man: Joe Cole (right) in training with Liverpool at Melwood on Wednesday

Forgotten man: Joe Cole (right) in training with Liverpool at Melwood on Wednesday

This brings us to Joe Cole, one of England’s brightest prospects in the last 15 years, who has arguably been hit by three of the four above and is now starting to enter the autumn of his career.

It’s hard to think of another player who, as he approaches 31 next month, can still be subject of debate over how good he was, is, or still can be.

Back in 1999, it was a fairly short debate. As part of a West Ham youth system that in a very short space of time produced future England stars Frank Lampard, Rio Ferdinand, Michael Carrick, Glen Johnson and Jermain Defoe – Cole was touted as the best yet.

Before he even made a first-team appearance at the age of 17 he was courted by Manchester United with a view towards a multi-million pound move and there was much media hype too.

There was exposure on front pages of newspapers (for positive reasons) that David Beckham didn’t have before he played for Manchester United and arguably more than Wayne Rooney before his Everton bow.

Thankfully Cole proved it wasn’t all over the top either, putting in decent displays with his first nine Hammers appearances over the second half of the 1998/99 campaign.

Back then it was Harry Redknapp in charge at Upton Park and the recently departed Tottenham boss reflected last year how good he thought Cole was.

‘He is a real talent,’ Redknapp said. ‘I signed him when he was 11, and he was the best young footballer I have ever seen – I have never seen anyone come near him.’

Time to shine: Cole is set to get his chance in the Europa League against Udinese on Thursday

Time to shine: Cole is set to get his chance in the Europa League against Udinese on Thursday

But it never went beyond decent even if it didn’t drop much lower. After finishing in a Premier League high of fifth in 1999, West Ham failed to maintain their lofty heights, although Cole’s performances did see him become captain under new manager Glenn Roeder in 2001 after the departure of Redknapp.

The cracks were starting to appear though. Just two years after being made skipper, West Ham were relegated and former team-mate, Shaka Hislop believes Redknapp’s decision to ignore Cole’s off-the-ball development came to everyone’s disadvantage.

Hislop said: ‘Harry kind of liked Joe just to express himself, and we’d play around him, or around Joe’s unpredictability.

‘Encouraging him to be himself didn’t help him. When you sign him you identify that, talented though he is, when we don’t have the ball he’s got to give us something else.

‘Everything about his game on that side, when your team don’t have possession, he simply wasn’t good enough. Harry did not help him in that respect.’

Joe Cole bio

West Ham (98-03) - 150 games, 13 goals

Chelsea (03-10) - 282 games, 40 goals

Liverpool (10-present) - 34 games, 3 goals

Lille (on loan, 11-12) - 38 games, 4 goals

England (01–10) - 56 games, 10 goals

Honours:

Premier League: 2005, 2006, 2010
FA Cup: 2007, 2009, 2010
League Cup: 2005, 2007

Chelsea had seen enough though and in 2003 paid £6.6m to take him to Stamford Bridge where he would play a major role in three league title wins, including the domestic double in 2009/10.

His seven years in west London should have seen him emerge as an England regular who could dictate the pace of a game. But despite his success the big standout season never happened.

Injuries disrupted his progress but he still played 282 times for the Blues, and upon being released in 2010 was still attracting interest from top Premier League sides just like he was 10 years earlier.

England did get to experience some of Joe’s magic though. Few will forget his magnificent strike against Sweden at the 2006 World Cup for instance, but many more forget his international career altogether.

Cole unfortunately was a victim of the Gerrard/Lampard axis in the England midfield, which ultimately saw his square peg crammed into the round hole on the left flank in a side that failed to play to his strength of keeping possession as a team. To his credit, Cole has been one of his country’s better performers in that position in recent times but was often overlooked at major tournaments.

Despite his Chelsea career coming to an end, many England fans were up in arms over Fabio Capello’s stubborn refusal to start Cole at the disastrous 2010 World Cup where the Three Lions lacked a Plan A going forward let alone a Plan B - he hasn’t featured for England since.

Since 2010 it’s mainly been a story of decline for Cole. Liverpool ultimately pipped Spurs to the signing of the midfielder, but under the turbulent reigns of Roy Hodgson and Kenny Dalglish he fell out of favour and was sent on loan to Lille last season.

Cole proved the spark was still there after a successful spell in France, scoring four goals in 32 league games that had Lille manager Rudi Garcia expressing his desire for the midfielder to remain at the club.

Wonder kid: Cole burst onto the scene as a precociously talented teenager at West Ham

Wonder kid: Cole burst onto the scene as a precociously talented teenager at West Ham

Coming of age: Cole was a big hit at Chelsea, where he won three Premier League titles

Coming of age: Cole was a big hit at Chelsea, where he won three Premier League titles

With Brendan Rodgers and his passing philosophy now at Merseyside, Cole tactically at least should be at home. But with so many midfielders at Liverpool now it’s going to very hard for the forgotten star to find a way back into the side.

So what’s next for Joe? Cole limped out of Liverpool's opening Premier League match of the season at West Bromwich, but made a scoring return for Liverpool's Under 21 side on Monday. He could now get his chance to impress in Liverpool's Europa League clash against Udinese at Anfield on Thursday.

There is still one last train boarding the England first team - despite Gary Neville hinting that Roy Hodgson, who brought Cole to Liverpool, will only pick veteran players that can offer something on the pitch.

With England lacking strength in depth – as well as players playing first-team football – this is the sort of opening Cole needs.

He will only be 32 at the next World Cup but needs to find his top game to regain his place. The next generation, including Jack Wilshere and Raheem Sterling, are already on their way.

But there are a couple of obstacles Cole needs to overcome very quickly before he even thinks about an international return.

The first is his fitness. Injuries have already restricted him to just half an hour of football this term and the 30-year-old must prove he is able to play on a regular basis.

Unforgettable: Cole hit a brilliant goal for England against Sweden at the World Cup in 2006

Unforgettable: Cole hit a brilliant goal for England against Sweden at the World Cup in 2006

That brings problem No 2. Will he get that chance at Liverpool? Rodgers seems keen to have him around the first-team so the opportunity is there but Cole will not have many of them to prove himself again.

Moving to another Premier League side would be a realistic option, with a return to West Ham not as ridiculous as it sounds (Sam Allardyce's teams can play the ball on the ground too) and if not Upton Park there will be plenty of other teams interested.

The big question is: does Cole still want to get back to the top? It still feels like he is 21, which can be a compliment if you take the view that the talent is still waiting to be used correctly, or as a criticism that football has moved on since 2002 and forgot to take Cole with it.

With Cole approaching full fitness again it’s going to be a pivotal season for the direction of his latter career, but where does he hope it will take him?

Cole said earlier this year: ‘I loved playing for England. There were some players who you could see in their demeanour that they didn’t fancy it, they looked well nervous, shaking in the shirt. For me, I just enjoyed it. I’ll never retire from England. If they want me to go to Poland and Ukraine just to put out the cones I’ll do it. It’s a passion. Remember when you watched England as a kid, how excited you were? I still feel that.’

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