West Ham United midfielder Joe Cole has admitted that he regrets his 2010 move to Liverpool.
Joe Cole has spoken of his regret at making a move to Anfield two years ago. The former England international called the move a “mistake” and regrets wasting two-and-a-half years of his career at the club. Cole also admitted that he felt no passion for the Merseyside giants and that he is happy to be back in London, following his return to West Ham in January.
“I can only play for teams that I’m passionate about,” admitted the former Chelsea midfielder. “I think that’s what went wrong for me at Liverpool. I didn’t feel a connection with the club or the place that I had at Chelsea and West Ham.”
Cole also admitted that Tottenham Hotspur offered him a five-year deal, but Cole rejected the move as a mark of respect to Chelsea and West Ham fans.
“I had seven great years at Chelsea but the club wanted to go in a certain direction and I wasn’t involved. So I was left with two real options — Liverpool or Spurs.
“Spurs was probably the best option because they were offering me a five-year deal and it meant I could stay in familiar surroundings. But I just couldn’t do it, I just couldn’t see myself pulling that Spurs shirt over my head. With the rivalry between Spurs and West Ham and Chelsea, it felt a bit mercenary.”
Cole was quick to straighten out the misunderstanding with the media that plagued him throughout his Liverpool career, stressing that he never referred to Liverpool as the “biggest club in the country”.
“When I joined, the guy interviewing me said ‘ you’ve joined the biggest club in the country’ and reeled off the trophies they’d won. I just said ‘yeah, if you put it like that, I suppose you’re right’ and Liverpool used that as the headline to the interview.
“I didn’t want to upset anyone so I just went along with it. But obviously they’re not the biggest club in the country any more.”
Cole has enjoyed a return to form since joining boyhood club West Ham and has earned plaudits for his leadership on the field. The Hammers currently occupy 12th place in the Premier League, nine points behind seventh-placed Liverpool.
albey
03/06/2013 at 12:14 pm
Joe cole was a complete waste of space for Liverpool FC why has it took him until now to come out about his alledged statement about LFC being a big club ? well joe they are masive and you had better believe the trophys the fella rolled off because they are all in the trophy cabinet at Anfield . I notice you didnt metion the masive wages you were on and the signing on fee did you as for spurs you jumped ship quick enough from your beloved west ham to go to chelsea you clown your a crock you were just a complete waste of time and money at LFC kenny seen right through you straight away and sent you off to france so dont give us the bull about spurs being to close to your other little clubs you deserve west ham about your level fighting relegation every year and by the way jjoe we had no affinaty with you either
Mick
03/06/2013 at 3:14 pm
Cry baby just could not make it at big club like LFC fill stop.
coldog
03/06/2013 at 6:39 pm
As a liverpool fan I regret we ever signed joe cole. He was complete rubbish!
Jimbob
03/06/2013 at 11:27 pm
Although we haven’t won the prem yet, we’ve always been up there and winning trophies. Is Cole trying to say that LFC saying they’re the biggest club in the country is compatible to Nottingham forest doing the same? Is he serious? Liverpool have won the European cup five times, not two. We’ve won over 10 trophies since 2000. Yes, we may be lagging behind at the moment, but we’re still the most successful in terms of silverware. I wonder what defines the biggest club these days? New money? European football? It seems that as soon as you finish in the top four then you’re a big club… And if not you get a load of jokers saying you’re not. At the end of the day, Cole is an idiot, he couldn’t cut it at Chelsea, Lille didn’t want him and neither did we, hence him being sent on his bike to long ball football at a yoyo club, west ham. Good luck Joe, you wazak.