Joe Cole has opened up about his 2010 departure from Chelsea and the reasons he wouldn’t have decided to sign with Liverpool if he could go back in time.
Joe Cole acknowledged that if he had his time over again, he would not play for Liverpool and that the only reason he left Chelsea was because he felt his playing days were numbered.
The now 42-year-old former England international saw his career take a drastic turn in January 2009 when he sustained a catastrophic knee injury away at Southend United in the FA Cup. A lifelong supporter of Chelsea, he would depart from the team eighteen months after his contract expired.
In a Bosman move, Liverpool defeated Tottenham Hotspur to get the playmaker, making him one of Roy Hodgson’s first acquisitions at the team. Nevertheless, he was unveiled at the club with potential flops Danny Wilson and Milan Jovanovic, and his tenure was not successful.
During his tenure with the Reds, Cole would only make 42 appearances, scoring five goals and providing four assists. After a dismal first season at the club, he was loaned to Lille after falling out of favour under Sir Kenny Dalglish and would return under Brendan Rodgers.
Even though he still had 18 months left on his contract, that didn’t stop him from being able to sign a free transfer to West Ham United in January 2013, just six months later.
Cole acknowledges that he would have loved to continue at Chelsea, but he decided it was best to move to Liverpool after understanding that he was no longer the same player at Stamford Bridge due to an injury.
“(Contract) negotiations started and we were getting there, but then I done my knee,” he remembered when appearing on former team-mate John Obi Mikel’s ‘The Obi One’ podcast. “When I departed, I had just turned 29 or was almost 29.
“I injured my knee, and I was never the same player after, so that was certainly the beginning of the end of my career. I completed ACL, PCL, and MCL, and I missed 11 months of work.
“It hurt, but from a business standpoint, Chelsea was correct in retrospect. When I returned, they halted the negotiations to check on me. Therefore, Chelsea withdrew from negotiations after I was in a really strong position to negotiate a contract and injured my knee.
“After that, I return in October.” Carlo (Ancelotti) had entered the club by this point. Even though I was performing well as a substitute, it was difficult for me to reintegrate into the team.
“In January, the boys travelled to the Africa Cup of Nations. I was confident that I would get to play frequently. I participated in every game—six, seven, or eight straight—playing admirably, and then they began to say, “We can offer you this new contract.” It was not at its previous level.
“Football became more of a struggle as my ego got a little involved.” I would play, knee would blow up. Some things that I used to be able to perform, I was unable to do. I was in such much pain that I needed to apply an ice pack to my knee after every game. Rarely do you find yourself back where you were.
“After that, they halted the talks. Carlo, though, was really hoping I would stay. Because Carlo is a decent human being, I believe him. “I want to play you, but Malouda and Kalou are playing so well,” he remarked.
“I’m sane enough to understand how brilliantly they’re playing. I don’t knock on the manager’s door if they’re not. However, I played well when I was playing, which is how we were able to win the double. Everyone was carrying out their share.
“It got to the end of the season,” he said. Just put, my body was failing me. I started the title-deciding match at Old Trafford. We needed to win the match; a draw would have meant that we would lose the league. In the final two minutes of practice, I injured my back.
“I won… Although we prevailed in the match, I doubt I could workout for three or four days thereafter. I truly destroyed myself. That was how my body responded to it.
I realised, subliminally, that I would never be able to return to my previous level of play. I must go now. I don’t want to end my Chelsea career by merely lying on the injury table.
In retrospect, Cole explained why he finally decided to go to Anfield when discussing his move to Liverpool. However, he acknowledged that, looking back, he wishes he had moved elsewhere.
“I couldn’t go to Spurs because Arsenal pulled out, so I had to choose between Liverpool and Spurs,” he remarked. “I was unable to go,”
“It would have made sense because I lived in London, half of my friends are Spurs supporters, Harry Redknapp was the manager, and they had a good team.” It was absolutely impossible for me.
“Liverpool is a fantastic club, and my daughter was recently born. Although it didn’t work out for me there, it’s a great club that is well-known worldwide.
However, if I could go back in time, I think I would say, “No, you know what, wait.” Additionally, I would have travelled abroad to a warm place because playing in the heat benefited my knee.
“Because I travelled to Liverpool, West Ham, and Villa after that.” I was just managing my issues with my knee, but I had a terrific season in France. Continuing to play, not as consistently as I had, but occasionally playing well After 2010, I never played for England again.
Then, it was almost a miracle when I travelled to America. Living in the sun, I had 60–70% of my knee left. I could still play, but it’s not right now. It seemed miraculous.
“If I could go back in time, I would have travelled to a hot place, like Spain or Southern Italy, and I believe I could have played at the highest level for a little while longer.”
“In the end, I wasn’t the same player after that knee injury,” he said. That’s unfortunate, but my career was lengthy.
“My only regret, which is unavoidable, is that I believe I could have won the Champions League with the boys in 2012 if I hadn’t injured my knee at Southend and had been able to play for Chelsea for an additional five, six, or seven years.”
But you are unable to change it. At the age of seventeen, I began playing professional football in the Premier League and was promptly destroyed. I was basically an old automobile with a worn-out fan belt by the time I was 29! By the end, I had lost my knee and was driving a Ford Cortina!
