When Joe Cole returned to West Ham in January, it was greeted with great applause; after all the prodigal son had returned. A graduate of our youth academy Joe looked destined to reach the heights of the like of Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard etc and he did.
Although after a difficult time at Liverpool Joe did inevitably return on a free transfer. On his return Joe made an instant impact assisting in both goals in the 2-2 FA Cup 3rd round against Manchester United. Joe then went on to score on his first Premier League home game back for West Ham, Joe Cole was back!
But with the recent arrival of Stewart Downing; that has got me thinking, will Joe struggle to hold down a first team spot?
Joe can play on the wings or attacking midfield, two areas we are currently very strong in, with captain Kevin Nolan commanding the attacking midfield, it’s hard to see Allardyce dropping Nolan at any point, even if his form is lacking. We currently have 6 players who can play on the wing and although Joe still has enormous talent and has played very well in our opening fixtures I just wonder if he gets injured; how difficult could it prove to be for him to establish himself as a first team player?
Injuries have dominated Joe’s career for the last few years now, you can’t fault his ability but with younger talented players now in the squad, I feel that Joe doesn’t automatically gain a first team place, whereas 10 years back he would of.
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He wipl get his games , he should play a minimum of 25games l would say depending on other and himself he will play 17 start and 8 from bench .
He will play if he is good & fit enough. The fact that he is a home grown, fans favourite suggests that he will get the nod over the newcomers – for this season at least.
We need a big squad. Diarra is already a casualty. If we want to finish top10 or better we will need all the qualiyy we can get. Joe will get enough games to keep him happy
Big Sam has always been about prolonging older and injury prone player careers by making sure they only play as much as their body’s can take. If he can give us 15-20 starts and a dozen sub appearances this season and next, that’s perfect. Joe cole knows he can’t do 38 starts a season, he’ll be content with that. Good to have a creative man in the bench as well.
He can play both wings and through the centre. If he doesn’t start, he’ll always be the man to bring on if we are 1.0 down or level. He’s got a way of opening up a game that is different to Jarvis or Downing and if Nolan is not firing that day, Joe can excel in that position. He’s the type and quality of player that is needed if we are to fight in the premiership
I’m a big fan of our Joey but it was hard not to notice that soon after Downing departed on Saturday that we lost our shape and momentum and could have lost it to a poor Newcastle side at the death. On the bright side, Joe looked back to his best in preseason. Fingers crossed i guess!
What utter drivel! Have you not watched Joe in pre season? Or see him win MOTM against Cardiff? If he is fit then he plays! The man was and still is pure class! He is west ham thru and thru and would, like noble run thru a brick wall for his beloved irons! What more do some people want? COYI!
obviously a non biased opinion than the one you’ve given man of the match against cardiff you sure, next thing you’ll want him and noble as englands midfield pairing. he’s not got a full season in him and hasn’t for some years its great to have him back and he will do some very good things for us in the next few seasons but al this home grown hero stuff and he’s pure quality statements are myopic if he was still that good why was he released by chelsea and liverpool?? top 6 sides
Cole has looked good. Downing has looked good. Is it unthinkable to drop Jarvis just cos he cost us £10 million?