Liverpool’s Joe Cole attends a press conference at Anfield after joining the club in 2010. Joe Cole wants to set the record straight about his Liverpool career.
The former England international joined Liverpool from Chelsea on a free transfer in the summer of 2010 but has been plagued by injuries during his two and a half years at the club. Limited to 42 appearances (23 of them as a starter), he was loaned out to Lille after just one season at Anfield and, after a brief reprieve under new manager Brendan Rodgers, left for West Ham United on a free transfer in January 2013 .
Of course, Cole is not Liverpool’s most famous ex-player. Although Bosman’s big-money signing was celebrated at the time, his struggles eventually soured relations with ousted manager and former owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett, who disliked Roy Hodgson’s signing. So I didn’t shed many tears when I left the club. But the 42-year-old knows it. He himself admitted he regrets the difficulties he faced at Liverpool after recovering from a serious injury at Chelsea.
After comments about a move to the Reds sparked fresh backlash from fans earlier this month, he is now looking to set the record straight with a move to the club. “I did the John Obi Mikel podcast and I think what I said was taken a bit out of context,” Cole told the ECHO exclusively on behalf of TNT Sports, who are broadcasting the Premier League midweek games this weekend. Includes the home game between Liverpool and Chelsea on Wednesday 31st January. “I would like to make a few corrections.
Jurgen Klopp faces the challenge of breaking his promise to Liverpool as a new job offer emerges.“We talked about my whole career and then I came to Liverpool and looking back, I think my body was ready. I will never be who I was a few years ago.“After that, as history shows, I continued to fall apart.
They said it would be easier to take care of my body if I stayed at Chelsea or another country.“But you go to Liverpool with high hopes and then they keep falling apart. I signed it thinking I was stupid but it never happened.”At the time I was thinking, ‘OK, this is why I want to sign here…’ Chelsea decided they wanted to go in a different direction and I chose Liverpool over a lot of other clubs.” I loved the big night I played there with Chelsea.
I thought it would be nice to stay here. “But my body was ready. I didn’t go in with the intention of not doing it. Anyone who knows me knows that back in the day I was an expert at trying to accomplish this. It just wasn’t right.
Cole is a self-proclaimed Chelsea fan and admitted he will support his former club against Liverpool on Wednesday night and the League Cup final next month. But he has no hatred or anger towards the Reds.He still laments how his time at the club went and said that despite his best efforts, his short spell at Anfield was blighted by injuries.
