Joe Cole burns brightly on Anfield debut
How ironic that, amidst talk of all the riches supposedly flowing into Anfield and the great players they will bring, surely the best signing that Liverpool will make this season hasn’t cost them a penny.
Joe Cole has played in front of the Kop many times before, but where once his every touch would have been greeted with the kind of jeers that would have made his ears pop, now he can do no wrong. Almost literally, judging by the warm applause that greeted one misplaced cross that went straight out of play against Rabotnicki in the Europa League last night.
Such mistakes were few and far between though, and Cole appreciated the backing he received.
“It was nice to get that reception off the fans and they gave me a great welcome,” said the 28-year-old, who joined the Reds on a Bosman free transfer last month.
“It's always special to play at Anfield in front of the Kop. I just want to work hard for these supporters and try and make sure we get some good results for them.”
Last night was always likely to produce a good result as Liverpool, 2-0 up from the first leg, took on the Macedonian minnows with an even stronger line-up than the one fielded in eastern Europe a week ago.
Then, as here, David Ngog opened the scoring, another timely boost for the quickly developing – and strengthening – French forward, and another one in the eye for the mindless racists who abused him in Skopje last week.
Ngog’s excellently-placed header from Cole’s 21st minute cross got the scoring started for the Reds, and while that threatened to open the floodgates, only Steven Gerrard’s penalty added to the scores amidst a decidedly pre-season feel to proceedings, not that the captain was too bothered. “I thought there were a lot of positives to take from this game and it was good to get the minutes in to get us back to full fitness,” said Gerrard.
“It's a fresh start when a new manager comes in and expectations rise but rightly so. We've got a good manager here and he has brought some good additions into the squad. Hopefully there will be a few more to come and I don't see why this can't be a successful season for us.”
Gerrard was impressed with Cole too, and the combinations between the England team-mates frequently got the crowd purring. “Our fans pay good money to see us play good football and I thought Joe was brilliant in his first game at Anfield,” he said.
“I'm sure there's plenty more trickery for our fans to see from him in the future.
“The fans here appreciate Joe is a good player who will create goals and score them. They also saw a different side to his game tonight as his work rate was phenomenal and we need more of that.”
There is no doubt that Cole will have a much more significant role to play at Anfield than he did in his often bit-part existence as a Chelsea player, and while there is also little doubt that he and Liverpool will come up against much tougher, much sterner opposition this season, the early relationship between the crafty Cockney and his new Scouse followers looks like it will blossom.
Who said anything about a north-south divide?
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