Former Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole has recently taken up a coaching role in the club’s academy.
Cole, who announced his retirement as a player in November, will be returning to Cobham to become a technical academy coach for the next six months. The 37-year-old has started working with various age groups for the past few weeks with the hope that he would be able to impart his knowledge over a successful playing career.
“Obviously the knowledge and experience, 20 years of wisdom as a player, so there’s that,” said the ex-Chelsea midfielder. “I think having had the career I’ve had helps the young players identify with you because you’ve trodden the road they want to go down, so they easily engage with you.”
Cole, who spent seven successful years at the club as a midfielder, reiterated his desire to instil the winning mentality of the club to the younger generation.
“They want to learn and that’s my advantage, but I’ll have to make sure I’m very clever with what I say to them to get the message across,” added Cole. “Just because they will listen to me, I need to make sure the message is clear about what’s required to become a Chelsea player.
“You want to be with quality people. The people we have here are quality. I feel I can add to that and we can develop these lads.”
A native of Paddington, Cole signed for Chelsea in 2003 and went on to make history with the club. In his seven seasons with the west London outfit, the former England international won six major titles. He has become the latest former Blues player to return to the club in an official capacity. Frank Lampard spent time with the youth players before taking up the head coaching role at Derby, while John Terry has similarly done the same before taking up an assistant role at Aston Villa.
