October 2nd, 2008 - Joe Cole

Second player review - Joe Cole

Like many other soccer players, Joe Cole was discovered at an early age. He was the product of the West Ham United youth soccer program and quickly rose to West Ham’s first team. His style is similar to that of Ronaldinho, incorporating flashy aggressive moves into his game.

While on West Ham’s first team he also made eight appearances for the English under-21 national team. Even though he had a strong offensive game, Cole struggled at getting back on defense. Because of this, he frequently came in off the bench.

Cole eventually moved even farther up the West Ham and English national team ladder, becoming the captain of the West Ham Club 2003 and a substitute on the National team. The midfielder continued to struggle to make the starting team against other players, failing to work as hard as them.

After moving to Chelsea he figured out that he really had to buckle down in order to put himself back in the starting line up. He has been making big plays ever sense.

His aggressive offensive and defensive play really keeps his opponents on their toes, always making them wonder what he will do next. In recent games Cole has become a real leader on England, along with his teammate Rooney. He has also stepped up as the go to guy to pick England’s team up when it’s down, whether it means scoring goals or making excellent attacking strikes.

Cole has really come into his element in the past couple years and he can only go up from here. As he becomes more comfortable with his new role on the team he will have more of a presence on the field. In the future I see him as a formidable force to be reckoned with, however only if he stays fit and on the top of his offensive and defensive game.