Former Liverpool midfielder Joe Cole has announced his retirement from football and fans are remembering one awful quote from Steven Gerrard.
One former Liverpool player has decided to hang up his boots. Joe Cole has announced he is retiring from football after a 20 year professional career.
After bursting on to the scene as a 17-year-old wonderkid with West Ham he moved to Chelsea where he won a haul of trophies during Jose Mourinho’s first spell at the club. He then moved to Anfield in 2010 on a free transfer as one of Roy Hodgson’s first signings.
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The turmoil at Liverpool was not good for the England international who failed to secure a regular starting place and find a role under Hodgson and then Kenny Dalglish.
He spent a year on loan at Lille before eventually moving back to West Ham in 2013. He went on to play for Aston Villa and Coventry City before finishing his career in America with the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
During his time at Liverpool he was under particular scrutiny and Reds captain Steven Gerrard came to his defense with an all-time embarrassing quote:
“Messi can do some amazing things, but anything he can do Joe can do as well, if not better.”
If. Not. Better.
Stevie believed that Joe Cole could do *anything* that Lionel Messi could do. That seems like a stretch. For a start, Messi cold run for longer than 12 minutes without bending over and blowing like a 55-year-old divorced father of three whose doctor has told him to cut down on the takeaways.
His best Liverpool clips lasts less than three minutes. Including replays and intro/outro:
Joe Cole was the most out of shape Liverpool player I can remember and despite some clear technical attributes had neither the sense nor the drive to fulfill his potential.