Former Chelsea player, Ashley Cole, has now officially joined his former teammate Frank Lampard in the Blues’ coaching team, as he will be working with the U-15s.
Cole was able to hang his boots for retirement back in September, at the age of 38, after playing professional football for 20 years straight.
The 2012 Champions League winner will be helping Chelsea produce the next generation as he manages the under-15 players, who could possibly break into Lampard’s first team.
In his return to the Bridge, Cole said in his first interview at the club: You have to be a top player to play for Chelsea so they want those top ex-players influencing and trying to help the next generation develop and be better players.
“Chelsea have been quick and probably one of the first clubs to really tap into that, not just with coaches but the staff in the loans team and other departments, to bring them back to pass on their experience and expertise.”
“Everyone has their own philosophy but you also have to take ideas that you like from different coaches. The first thing I learned on my coaching badges was that every coach is a thief.
“I want to take parts of Jose Mourinho in terms of how organised he was, Carlo Ancelotti for his man-management and how he would give players faith to go out and express themselves within his system and Arsene Wenger, who was definitely a great man-manager and put a lot of trust in young players.
“I want to be the best. I’ve been around a lot of great players and managers so it’s about understanding what it takes. I understood as a player what it took to be the best and now it’s about trying to transfer that into how I can be the best as a coach.”