Harry Redknapp has managed some truly incredible players during his career.
Indeed, Luka Modric was one of Redknapp’s favourite players during his managerial career, while Redknapp was also lucky enough to work with Gareth Bale in his pomp.
However, perhaps the most talented crop of players Redknapp ever worked with were at West Ham United.
Indeed, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, West Ham had an incredible crop of young players coming through as Redknapp helped the likes of Rio Ferdinand, Jermain Defoe, Frank Lampard and Michael Carrick become stars.
However, perhaps West Ham’s most exciting talent at that time was Joe Cole.
Cole was a prodigious talent when he was coming through at West Ham, and according to Redknapp, speaking to Al Arabiya News, Cole could’ve been as good as Lionel Messi at one point.
Joe Cole could’ve been as good as Lionel Messi
Redknapp shared his verdict on Cole and his potential.
The former West Ham boss says he honestly believes Cole could’ve been as good as Messi, but, unfortunately, things didn’t quite work out that way.
Indeed, Cole declined on a technical level after leaving West Ham, and he never quite reached this potential.
“Joe could have been Lionel Messi. He was that good. I honestly believe that. But you had to let him play. He had to play like Messi. Go and get the ball Joe, play where you want to play. Get Joe on the ball because he can do magic. He can win the game,” Redknapp said.
Why didn’t Joe Cole reach his potential?
Joe Cole being compared to Lionel Messi sounds ludicrous at this point, but 25 years ago, Cole was the brightest young talent in England.
Indeed, Cole was seen as one of the most exciting players in the world at West Ham, but, at Chelsea that ability was stifled.
Pep Guardiola has been accused of coaching the individualism out of Jack Grealish recently, but 20 years before Guardiola and Grealish, there was Cole and Mourinho.
Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea weren’t about flair and individualism, they were about efficiency and hard work, and that’s where Cole changed as a player.
No longer was he this Messi-esque midfield star who could dribble past three or four players at once, he was a workhorse who was tasked with making the right decisions at the right times rather than expressing himself.
Who knows? Perhaps Cole could’ve reached his potential under a different manager, but, then again, maybe he wouldn’t be a multi-time Premier League winner if he’d not played under Mourinho.
Joe Cole has always been a fan of Mourinho, but, individually, there’s a case to be made that Mourinho made Cole into a worse player.
