If England are looking for alternatives to Wayne Rooney in the build up to and during the group phase of Euro 2012 due to the Manchester United man’s three-match ban, coach Fabio Capello could do a lot worse than play Joe Cole just off the central striker. In two months at French champions Lille, Cole, on a season-long loan from Liverpool, has shown signs of his old self, finding form and striking up a wonderful partnership with Eden Hazard which has caught the imagination.
The pair should not work in tandem, logically. Hazard is a playmaker, most comfortable drifting into central areas, probing behind strikers and playing the through balls to unlock opposition defences. The same description could be applied to Cole. And teams with two playmakers are rare.
To fit into the same side requires both to have the intelligence not to occupy the same space and for one to stretch the game whilst the other makes it. A feature of Lille’s play has been the way in which the pair both drift around the attacking third of the pitch in tandem. Part of this is down to coach Rudi Garcia’s tactical instructions, but there is also the know-how of the players that make his ideas work.
Lille and Garcia will be delighted that, so far, the plan has been a success; the Liverpool midfielder showed the intelligence to link up with the Belgian schemer almost instantly. When Cole and Hazard have turned out together, the pair have frequently found each other, passing their way through the opposition with clever link-up moves, but never drifting into the other’s field of play.
The Englishman and the Belgian have not just played two man tiki-taka though, despite combining well for a number of goals and some important ones too, so far this season. Earlier in the campaign and trailing 1-0 at Bordeaux, it was a neat one-two between the duo which saw Hazard slot home a crucial equaliser.
And then it was the two again who linked up for Cole’s first goal in the red shirt of Lille, with the former Chelsea man receiving a pass from Hazard before firing a superb shot into the top corner of the net against Lorient. That came from Cole occupying the central area whilst Hazard cut in from the right. So well has the Englishman done, and it is a mark of how the fans have taken to him, that there was a Union Jack already waiting in the stands after his decisive goal sealed a 3-1 win over Lyon.
Part of Cole’s rapid transition has come through his willingness to immerse himself in the French culture, regularly flicking through the French sports papers and diving head first into the country’s literature (albeit football related literature). Of course thanks to the Eurostar, the 29-year-old is never more than two hours from his original home in the East End of London, but Cole does not appear as if he is homesick yet, or will be anytime soon.
At Lille, Cole has the chance to win trophies, the champions recovering from their traditional August slump to move to within six points of Paris Saint-Germain at the top of the table. Garcia’s men are still in contention in Europe too, though they have made a poor start to life in the Champions League. But if Les Dogues do get knocked out of the competition, they would at least be confident of competing for the Europa League after Christmas.
Challenging for the title in Ligue 1 and on the biggest stage in Europe has handed Cole the perfect platform to showcase his talents in a team which allows him to express his creativity. The former Chelsea man does not have to do as much defensive work as was required of him under Jose Mourinho at Stamford Bridge, though he showed during the Portuguese’s tenure that he was capable of that if required.
This has meant that the Englishman can focus his energies in the attacking third, where they are most dangerous. It has been notable just how much fitter Cole looks in Ligue 1 than he did in the Premier League, where cameos at Anfield last season revealed a midfielder well off the pace. Regular 90 minute shifts after a period of bedding in have helped as a notable feature of recent years has been how just few games Cole has remained on the pitch throughout for.
Added to that, the 29-year-old has relished not just Garcia’s style of play, which is an attack-minded philosophy where the creative attacking talents of Cole and Hazard are allowed to express themselves, but the less physical nature of the French league. Though Ligue 1 is more physical than Spain’s La Liga, referees protect creative players in a way not seen in England’s Premier League, where Cole is used to having to accept that clattering challenges are part of the culture. That simply does not exist in France, nor many other places for that matter, and it is this combination of factors which has allowed the man signed by then-Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson a year ago to thrive.
And that of course is what England struggle with on the international scene; the patience to play the slower, more tactical game. In Rooney’s absence, Cole would be an ideal fit for the England team in the ‘trequartista’ position. His new found knowledge of football beyond English borders, a patient style and technical skill would be ideal for Fabio Capello; the Italian has already sent emissaries to Lille to check up on Cole.
After the start made in the north of France though, Cole is unlikely to be dreaming of coming back to England too quickly, and who can blame him? Possibly the most naturally gifted player of his generation has crossed the channel and is finally showing why he was regarded so highly as a youngster. And for Lille, that has proven to be a welcome surprise.
Whether a permanent move is in the offing however, especially given Cole’s weighty pay-packet on Merseyside, remains to be seen. But sacrificing riches for a continental sojourn may be just what the doctor ordered.
