BBCNoughty Boys: Ashley Cole, an elite left-back whose ability was overshadowed by his celebrity
It feels odd to describe one of the most decorated footballers in English history as “underrated”, but caught between the world of football and celebrity, Ashley Cole’s greatness is often lost and left unloved.
"When I heard [my agent] Jonathan Barnett repeat the figure of £55k, I nearly swerved off the road. ‘He [Arsenal Director David Dein] is taking the p**s Jonathan!’ I yelled down the phone. I was so incensed. I was trembling with anger. I couldn’t believe what I’d heard."
A three-time Premier League winner with 107 England caps to his name. A Champions League winner who went toe-to-toe with the best attackers in Europe. A record-setting seven-time FA Cup winner, and one of the small group of players to win the Double at two clubs.
In his pomp Ashley Cole was the greatest left-back in the world, a rare member of England’s so-called ‘Golden Generation’ who delivered for both club and country, but it is the “trembling with anger” line from Cole’s 2006 autobiography My Defence that shaped the Englishman’s career more than any one game.
The underrated high-achiever
It feels odd to describe one of the most decorated footballers in English history as “underrated”, but caught between the world of football and celebrity, Ashley Cole’s greatness is often lost and left unloved.
Getty ImagesIt’s a shame because Ashley Cole truly was a great of the Premier League. Born in London, Cole was initially a forward at youth level, but when he was 14 (at Arsenal's academy) he opted to fill in at left-back following an injury to a defender playing two age groups above him. He went on to make his Arsenal debut at the tender age of 18 (in the League Cup against Middlesbrough in the 1999-2000 season), and such was Cole’s early impact at Highbury, Patrick Vieira compared the Englishman to Milan legend Paolo Maldini.
It can be easy to overlook how impressive Cole was for Arsenal. Mentored by Nigel Winterburn and modelling his game on Roberto Carlos, the Englishman’s link-up play with Robert Pires and Thierry Henry was integral to the Arsenal title-winning side of 2001-02. In the 'Invincibles' season, Cole was a transcendent two-way threat on the left, allowing Arsenal’s star Frenchmen to drift inside and work their magic. He featured 228 times for the Gunners, and despite rotating with Gael Clichy in the 2005-06 season, looked well on his way to becoming an Arsenal legend.
Love me or leave me alone
Then came Chelsea and Jose Mourinho. After an elongated transfer saga (which included fines for Cole, Mourinho and Chelsea for 'tapping up' and during which Arsenal’s quibbles over an increased contract fee brought about the “trembling with anger” quote) Cole signed for the Blues before the 2006-07 season. Cole released a statement on signing for Chelsea saying he “forgave” Arsenal for how they treated him; Arsenal fans, however, never saw it as water under the bridge.
Calling their former hero 'Cashley' and waving fake £20 notes with his face on, Arsenal fans would boo the full-back whenever the two London sides met. During one derby, Cole responded to the chants by pointing to the golden Premier League badge on his shirt that indicated Chelsea were reigning champions. It was a message that encapsulated much of the Englishman’s post-Highbury career - love me or leave me alone.
Getty ImagesSomething changed with Cole once he left Arsenal. Playing for Chelsea, the flying full-back no longer foraged past the halfway line with the same wild abandon he had under Arsene Wenger. He was still the same fantastic player at Stamford Bridge that he was at Highbury - if anything the increased defensive tasks given to him by Mourinho turned him into a more rounded player - but at Chelsea, the perception of Cole began to change.
After 2006 he stopped conducting interviews with the British press, an understandable position after the blowback to his autobiography, but Cole’s mistrust of the media possibly played a part in the distorted image of him in the footballing world.
As Jermaine Jenas put it, by refusing to set the record straight, stories like Cole’s very public divorce from popstar wife Cheryl, his involvement in the Anton Ferdinand and John Terry investigation and the incident involving him shooting a work experience student with an air rifle overshadowed his footballing prowess.
In a rare interview with Sports Illustrated in 2017, Cole cut an enigmatic figure, displeased at his portrayal in the public sphere, but resigned to it. “I’m never going to win. You can never win against [the press], especially in England. They’re so powerful. My friends, family, team-mates, they know who I am. It’s not good, the way they portray me. It’s not my personality. It’s not who I am.”
Getty Images'It was like I was the invisible man'
What was Ashley Cole after 2006? Perhaps the best left-back in the world. Still a phenomenal attacking player - Opta stats chart Cole as creating 200 chances in his 229 Premier League appearances for the Blues – but at Chelsea Cole’s defensive actions became more apparent.
One of the few Premier League full-backs to regularly get the better of Cristiano Ronaldo (not to mention locking down Lionel Messi in the Champions League), Cole possessed a phenomenal tactical awareness, rarely finding himself caught out of position and frequently popping up to make important interceptions and goal-line clearances.
An essential part of the Chelsea ‘spine’ that secured Champions League glory in 2012, by the time he left Chelsea for AS Roma in 2014 Cole had lost only 14.8% of his 385 Premier League games.
He was no slouch in the international arena either - arguably the only member of that 'Golden Generation' not diminished by the heavy weight of an England shirt. He featured for the Three Lions at three World Cups and two European Championships.
And yet there is something missing when charting all of Cole’s accolades.
So the story goes, when he was 17, Cole sat down with Arsene Wenger and his agent at a football dinner. At the end of the meal, on saying their goodbyes, Wenger told the agent to “just look after the boy Cole”, a wish that, for many, fell on deaf ears.
Getty ImagesIt takes a footballer of incredible talent to win Premier League titles under both Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho, and that Cole performed so well under both speaks volumes about how the player was able to adapt and learn contradictory styles as the full-back weaved through his Premier League career while the world watched and speculated on his personal life.
He once wrote: “My worst fears were confirmed as Thierry and I sat in the centre circle after the final whistle. His name was sung from the rooftops, while my contribution was recognised by a deafening silence. It was like I was the invisible man”.
He was clearly hurt by the perceived lack of support during his career but it seemed, at times there was an internal conflict he was battling about how much he'd let it hold him back versus how he'd use it to motivate him. A 2012 tweet summed up the latter...
Sometimes he wished to be loved, at others he seemed to revel in the status of villain others gave him. Perhaps it would be kind to say that he preferred to be left alone and let his football do the talking. And for that, he was a player par excellence.
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