The enigma that is Carlton Cole

I am a huge fan of Carlton Cole, he has significantly matured since first signing for West ham.

Over the years we’ve seen Carlton come to realise that he cannot live off the tag of being a prospective talent and Carlton has developed the attitude required that will enable him to realise his full potential as a professional football player. What level that may be seems to divide opinion among West Ham supporters.

The fastest growing Hammers website is now on Facebook, click the link to be entered into our up and coming competitions http://www.facebook.com/pages/ForeverWestHamcom/200938616608282

Carlton has made mistakes along the way for example his previous social networking misdemeanour which resulted in an FA fine, it’s clear to see from his current interactions on Twitter Carlton has learnt from that mistake and is a better person for it.

What I love most about Carlton Cole is his emotional attachment to West Ham, he seems both happy and grateful to be at the club. It was reported that Carlton took a wage cut to stay at the Hammers which deserves some respect. Cole receives more than a fair share of abuse when the team doesn’t perform and responds admirably in a gentlemanly and honest fashion.

I have seen Carlton described as lazy by his critics, I put that down to his body language, running style and what is asked of him tactically. I am sure if Carlton was genuinely lazy Sam Allardyce wouldn’t have him anywhere near the starting line up or first team squad. As fans we want our players to run relentlessly across the pitch to close down fullbacks and contest everything, as a manager you want your players to make the right runs at the right time. What the manager wants from a player and what the fans expect from a player can be two different things.

Looking for experience? Just want to be heard outside of the Boleyn? We are currently looking for writers, drop us an email at foreverwestham@snack-media.com for more details

 

Carlton had a great spell of form in the 2009-10 season that which resulted in 7 England caps (all from the bench). I would say this has to be the best period of performance in his career so far. Since that period he has yet to achieve a level of performance that would get him back into contention for the national team

I don’t think our current system is best suited to get the most out of Carlton Cole, We have been fortunate enough to witness Teddy Sheringham in a West Ham shirt, when the ball was fired up to Teddy his control and flick on’s had so much purpose about them. Andy Carroll demonstrated similar attributes contesting direct forward passes on his West Ham debut. Carlton Cole is asked to play the same roll for the team but doesn’t do it nearly as well as Sheringham or Carroll. In the right system I believe Carlton would prove to be a better player than he gets credit for, I do think he works hard for the team and clearly follows the managers tactical instructions even if he is doing a job that doesn’t best suit his attributes.

Strikers should be judged on goals and when the goals are not coming we should judge how well the team is providing opportunities for the strikers. Since Sam Allardyce has taken over West Ham I don’t think we have been putting them on a plate for Carlton week in week out. When Andy Carroll played against Fulham he caused all kinds of problems and created opportunities for our attacking midfielders resulting in a 3-0 win. If Carlton wants get back into contention for the England team and win over his doubters I believe in the current West Ham tactical set up he will have to reinvent himself, improve his hold up play and creativity.

Ever dreamt about getting paid for reading about West Ham? Well now you can make dreams a reality http://bit.ly/ffc-foreverwestham-lp

I know a lot of Carlton’s doubters will question whether he is capable of reinventing himself but look how much Bobby Zamora has improved in the last 3 years. For me Zamora is now twice the all round player he was since he left West Ham and offers so much more to his team than instinctive goal poaching. Zamora is now 31 years old Carlton Cole 28.

I hope Carlton Cole will mature like a fine wine and grow better with age just like Zamora has. As long as the manager is giving Cole opportunities I think we should have faith and believe that we are going to see more from him in the future.

Come on you Irons.

Thanks for reading, follow me on Twitter @JayHannen