The signing of Joe Cole in January was, in my opinion, the best bit of business West Ham did in an otherwise thoroughly disappointing window. Joe Cole could have been one of the best English players ever and he would have been if things had panned out differently. Wrong career moves to clubs that haven’t treated him well and to be honest I think we could refer to his Liverpool and Chelsea career’s as “The Lost Years of Joe Cole.”
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As far as how he has settled is concerned, I will refer to his performance against Manchester United as a clear showing of how well he has settled in. Despite that classy performance I don’t feel he has really been given a chance to strut his stuff again. With Matt Jarvis costing £11 million Big Sam has refused to drop him and despite being my favourite player at West Ham Ricardo Vaz Te just isn’t effective as a midfielder, so why didn’t Joe Cole start against Swansea City? Reportedly he is lacking match fitness which is fair enough but I think he should be starting every game for us as soon as he gains that fitness back. He is one of our most skilful players and arguably should be playing in the hole where the useless Kevin Nolan is currently playing. Overall I would say he has settled in very well. He is loved by us the fans and has performed well. He can link up well with whoever is behind or ahead of him because he has a fantastic football brain. That is something that hasn’t and never will change about our very own Joe Cole. He knows the game better than anyone which is why he can play anywhere in midfield and still be incredibly effective. He fits in quite well on the wing and is one of the best crossers of the ball in the league in my opinion. We saw his class shine through in that respect in the Utd game. The biggest change I have noticed from his first spell at West Ham has been the lack of flair in his play. When he was touted as the best talent coming from England it was because of his skill and flair. That was down to his unwavering confidence in himself and that has undoubtedly left him. He is not the same player because his confidence has been robbed from him. If we want the Joe Cole of old back, he needs to rebuild his confidence and then that flair will come back. I wouldn’t say it is something that we are missing currently but if he gets that back he can change games in a second with the sort of skill he has in his locker.
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The usual things that leave players as they get older have of course affected JC a bit. His turn of pace and outright speed are not what they were. He is still no slouch but he is not the same player he was. Arguably his loss in pace hasn’t and won’t really affect him as his pace was never the defining “skill” he had in his early days. He is no Gareth Bale where without his pace you are not sure whether he would be nearly as effective, JC has a lot going for him on the football field. Overall I wouldn’t actually say he has changed that much. We haven’t seen his best yet but he has still been more effective in his handful of games than the other options in midfield. Is he the player he used to be? No, but at the same time with a bit of confidence back we could see glimpses of the Joe Cole of old and I am certainly looking forward to seeing him grow as the months continue. It is almost as if we are watching a youth player grow because of his “Lost Years.” I think he has got a lot of football left in the tank and at the age of 31 is he going to make the same mistake and leave the club that loves him again? I doubt he will and we have at least 2 or 3 more years of Joe Cole being a top rate player. He has settled in well, slots in to the team seamlessly and has been more effective than every other midfielder since his arrival. Have we still been useless as a team? Yes, but JC has been something of a shining light in what has otherwise been a disgraceful second half to the season.
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