Why West Ham's draw with Arsenal showed Carlton Cole has grown from a cub into a lion

Published 14:24 28/10/09

Carlton Cole’s first touch as a West Ham player was a goal, the decisive strike in a 3-1 victory over Charlton Athletic in August 2006. From then on, his first touch was usually followed by an opponent’s tackle, leading to the unfortunate nickname of ‘Can’t Control’, and it appeared a player who had looked so promising when he burst on to the scene at Chelsea looked set for a career of unfulfilled potential.

If Cole was the reluctant poster boy for all those footballers whose lack of application has led to them becoming forgotten men, he now provides a lesson that it is never too late to change people’s perceptions. Few could have predicted the transformation in the striker’s game in the past year, his progress so rapid that he has become indispensable to West Ham. Cole used to be a standing joke, but no one’s laughing now.

Least of all Arsenal, who found out just how far Cole has come in Sunday’s pulsating 2-2 draw at Upton Park. In a West Ham team lacking belief after a confidence-sapping run which has brought no wins since the opening day of the season, Cole’s strength, allied with some nifty footwork and a viable goal threat, stood out, even when West Ham trailed 2-0 to Arsenal.

Until Cole’s intervention the game had been drifting to its seemingly inevitable conclusion, three points for Arsenal. Arsene Wenger’s side had taken the lead after 14 minutes through Robin van Persie, who scored after Robert Green flapped at Sagna’s cross. It is not the first time that has happened this season, and Green is currently making a firm case for David James regaining the England goalkeeper’s jersey. Shortly before half-time Gallas headed in a second.

It was Cole who dragged West Ham back into the contest after 74 minutes, heading in from close range after Vito Mannone could only direct Alessandro Diamanti’s wicked free-kick back into the danger area. That was Cole’s fifth in nine games so far this season, and three others have come against Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham. The watching England manager, Fabio Capello, was surely impressed, and will duly note the aptitude with which Cole performed the Emile Heskey role, but with added goals too.

Yet just six minutes after West Ham’s first, Cole again caused panic in the Arsenal area, his presence enough to induce Alexandre Song’s ill-conceived challenge. Chris Foy pointed to the spot, and this time there was no question of Mannone getting a hand to Diamanti’s effort.

Time and again, Cole held off William Gallas and Thomas Vermaelen to win headers or take the ball down on his chest to provide the springboard for West Ham attacks. He was no mere battering ram however, and was equally adept on the ground, a facet of his game which has not always caught the eye. The Arsenal defence, boasting the likes of Gael Clichy and Backary Sagna, are no slouches, but even they struggled to keep up wuth Cole’s deceptive pace. There were flickers of an understanding with the Mexican debutant, Guilermo Franco, too.

Cole has not always been on the end of such praise. The boy who scored 39 goals in a season for Chelsea’s reserves never became a man at Stamford Bridge. His manager, Claudio Ranieri, called him his lion, yet he remained wet behind the ears.

There were moments of promise: a goal on his debut against Middlesbrough; an accomplished shot into the top corner against Sunderland in April 2003; a rambunctious display against Bolton a week later. However when Roman Abramovich arrived, Cole moved down the pecking order. Disappointing loan spells at Charlton and Aston Villa followed, and Cole gained a reputation for scoring of a somewhat different nature.

Alan Pardew saw potential in him when he signed him for £2m West Ham in 2006, but it wasn’t until Gianfranco Zola and Steve Clarke arrived last year that he started to realise it. Zola played with Cole at Chelsea and perhaps this helped. He kept faith in the striker during a spell of eight goalless games, despite the crowd increasingly turning on him. The nadir arrived in December after dreadful misses by Cole in consecutive games against Chelsea and Aston Vila.

Zola kept the faith. He vowed to work with Cole on the training ground to help him improve his finishing. The patience paid off and Cole promptly scored six goals in seven games to help West Ham climb up the league. He made his debut for England in a friendly against Spain in February. In March he won the Goal of the Month competition after he finished off a brilliant passing move with a composed curler against Wigan. He won it again in August thanks to a stunning volley from 25 yards against Tottenham.

Cole is often compared to Heskey, but that particular effort was more reminiscent of a Didier Drogba goal for Chelsea against Liverpool in September 2006. Then Cole was just a bit-part player in a struggling West Ham side, lower in the pecking order than Bobby Zamora, Marlon Harewood and even Teddy Sheringham. A mere after-thought. Ranieri’s lion was still a cub, but not any more. Just ask Arsenal.

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