Joe Cole Leaves London

What’s the matter with Joe Cole? Perhaps he’s been wearing the title of “England’s Most Technically Gifted Footballer” around his neck for so long that it has started to choke off the oxygen to his brain. That might help explain why he’s decided to swap Anfield for Stamford Bridge.

To each his own, we say, although we can’t understand the calculus behind Joe Cole’s decision to move to Liverpool. Please, Joe, tell us it isn’t just for the money. No doubt, Cole will claim the decision was based purely on football reasons – that he’s got a better chance of playing more with the Reds than he did with the Blues. But if all he wanted was more minutes, then why not Tottenham?  Harry Redknapp has been openly courting his former protégé in the press like some love-sick teenager.

No, it’s got to be about the money. As Carlo Ancelotti detailed this weekend, Chelsea didn’t offer Cole a new contract because they couldn’t come to an agreement over the player’s wages. You’ve got to assume that Chelsea weren’t offering as much as he wanted, so Joe Cole cleaned out his locker and left.

Whether he will be making more at Liverpool remains unclear, but what is evident is that Joe is putting money before ambition. Sure, the move to Merseyside isn’t a huge step down. But unlike Liverpool, Chelsea will be playing in the Champions League this season – and it perhaps represents their last best chance to win it all with their current crop of players.  We guess Cole didn’t want a part in that.

Joe Cole is one of the good blokes in football. We’re just a touch disappointed that he didn’t want to stick around Stamford Bridge and fight for his place in the team. It’s the team he supported as a young boy – and it’s the team that made him into the player he is today. Where’s the loyalty, Joe?

Joe, what the heck were you thinking in South Africa?