Ashley Cole: 'I hate defending. I want to coach the attacking play' (2024)

When Ashley Cole met Lee Carsley in a cafe in Surrey two years ago, they spoke at length about what they could achieve together in charge of England Under-21s.

Cole was coaching Chelsea’s under-16s at the time and was looking to take on his first major role in management. Carsley’s call, he says, came at the “perfect” moment for him.

For a decade, Cole was arguably England’s best player.

The former Arsenal and Chelsea left-back was often regarded as the No 1 in the world in his position and has the trophy collection — three Premier League titles, a record seven FA Cup wins and a Champions League triumph — to prove it.

Now aged 42, he is working his way up the coaching ladder. He has seen former England team-mates Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard take Premier League roles, but his stock will only go up following the Under-21 European Championship victory.

Carsley has given Cole the autonomy to run training sessions, and he has made the most of it — especially in Georgia, where England ended their 39-year wait for an Under-21 Euros title.

“It’s been a tough two years because I’ve had other things going on at the time, but this is why I wanted to coach and why I got into this game,” Cole said. “I want to help in whatever way I can, whether that is giving advice, tactical stuff or being around these players and telling them what it takes to go to the next level.

“I have been lucky enough that I’ve had a group that wants to listen, wants to learn and wants to get to that next level. They understood and trusted the process we had and the environment we wanted to create.

“Sometimes it is difficult, because players are on different journeys. Some are playing in the Championship, some in the Premier League. This group really took hold of what Lee and I said in meeting one — and this is what happens.”

Cole was unable to enjoy England’s win from the dugout after being sent off during a fracas following Curtis Jones’ goal shortly before half-time. Cole Palmer, who struck the free kick that deflected off Jones, celebrated in front of the Spanish bench. Chaos ensued.

With both benches joining in, Cole rose to his feet and went to play the role of peacemaker. He was then bizarrely sent off by the referee, with Carlos Rivera, Spain’s fitness coach, also being dismissed.

That did not stop him from joining in the celebrations, however, and when he spoke to the media after the match, he was grabbed by a handful of players who wanted him to get on the bus.

Levi Colwill, the Chelsea and England centre-back, described Cole and Joleon Lescott (another coach) as “humble individuals”.

“Ash gave me a big bit of advice,” Colwill said. “It’s when I try to break lines and I hit a pass with a lot of power. Normally my right foot goes in front of the ball. He showed that to me, I hadn’t even noticed.

“I thought ‘what are you on about?’ but he showed me the clips. The next day in training, I made a pass with my right foot behind the ball. I couldn’t thank him enough. It’s those little things that no one had ever told me.

“If I’m in a game and struggling with something and they can see it, they’ll come up to me straight away and say, ‘Listen, you need to try this’. That’s what I need. It’s helped me so much since I’ve been here with them giving me advice.”

Ironically, Cole’s favourite element of coaching is not fine-tuning a defence.

“A lot of fans will say you can’t play attacking football,” he says. “But me being a defender, I hate defending. I don’t want to work on defensive work, I want to do the attacking play. Cars (Carsley) really gave me the license to come up with certain game plans and style of play.”

For Cole, the Euros success has added fuel to his desire to eventually lead his own team and the lessons learned over the past two years will go a long way to shaping the type of manager he becomes.

“With Lee, what he showed me is that it is not only about the tactics but also the environment,” Cole added “This is international football. We get to see them maybe three times a year and you have got to make that time count.

“It would maybe have been difficult for him (Carsley) at times to give me coaching time, but he has trusted me to do whatever I feel works for the team. I owe him a lot.”

Cole was part of the ‘golden generation’ of England players that included David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, Gerrard, Lampard and John Terry. But they were never able to gel as a team and club cliques taking over on international duty played a big role in them failing to win a major trophy.

Cole does not see that in this current crop, though. He believes they “truly, truly love” turning up.

He said: “Me now as a coach, I am like, ‘no, you should want to represent England’, but it is not that easy,” he added. “Lee has made an amazing environment that has enabled them to flourish, to play and use the strengths of the individuals we have.”

Also not easy, Cole says, is climbing the coaching ladder and earning a leading role. “It is super tough,” he said. “International football is totally different to club football, but I have had certain people in my journey and career as a coach that have really helped me and given me the belief.

“Lee has given me the belief that I am good enough. When I got towards the latter stages of my career in Los Angeles, I got (given) a little bit more responsibility in terms of trying to help the younger players and that is something that really grew on me.

“I want to give something back. I love the game and want to help as much as I can. Coming into this was the perfect job at the perfect time for me. But hopefully I can go on and do something myself.”

With Carsley’s England Under-21 future uncertain, there may be an opportunity for Cole to step into the former Everton player’s shoes and lead the side himself.

The FA wants to keep hold of its most talented, young coaches, and Cole is one of them. Lescott has also earned praise for the impact he has had in the setup, so too has head of coaching Tim Dittmer.

Over the last two years, Cole has proven himself to be a studious, forward-thinking coach who has earned the respect of those under his control. The only question now is how long it will be before he finds himself in a leading role.

(Top photo: Sam Barnes – Sportsfile/UEFA via Getty Images)

Dan Sheldon is a football news reporter for The Athletic, covering Manchester City and Manchester United. He spent four years writing about Southampton FC, two of which were at the Southern Daily Echo. Follow Dan on Twitter @dansheldonsport