Joe Cole has surprisingly claimed that he learned more under Rudi Garcia at Lille than he did from Jose Mourinho or Carlo Ancelotti at Chelsea.
The BT Sport pundit spent one year at the French side on a one-year loan deal during the 2011-12 season from Liverpool.
He is most known from his seven seasons at Chelsea where he won three Premier League titles in total under Mourinho and Ancelotti.
Chelsea defeated Lille 2-0 in the first leg of their last-16 clash in the Champions League on Tuesday, and Cole has reminisced about his brief spell in Ligue 1.
He told the Athletic: 'I was 29 going to Lille and had worked under people like Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti, but I learned more at that age, tactically, from Rudi than under any of my previous managers. He was that good.
'We tried to play like Barcelona, and that was all down to the manager. We had a goalkeeper in Mickael Landreau who was the first I’d seen so comfortable with the ball at his feet.
'I’d played with Pepe (Reina) at Liverpool, but neither Roy Hodgson or Rafa (Benitez) used him as a ball-playing goalkeeper.
'Put Pepe under Pep Guardiola and you’d have seen how good he was with his feet. With Landreau, we built up from the back, trying to do what City and Liverpool do now. We held possession – that’s what Rudi drilled into us every day: Keep the ball. I loved it.'
Cole admitted he was also stunned at the quality of football in the French league.
Ligue 1 is often placed behind the Premier League, LaLiga, Serie A and Bundesliga in terms of the quality of football.
Cole though would place it as second best division in European football - behind the Premier League.
He said: 'I was blown away at how good the league was. People had been telling me it was a farmers’ league. Absolute nonsense.
'The overall quality wasn’t as good as the Premier League but, technically and tactically, it was right up there, and still is. I’d argue that the French league, now, is the second-best in Europe. It’s definitely better than La Liga.
'I watched Rennes push PSG all the way the other night. La Liga is not what it once was. Serie A had a little go with the money, but there’s no structure. Not in the way there is in France, anyway.'
zmzain72
0
well I guess he learnt how to become a good farmer, like using the tractor, watering the crops and digging up holes using the spade
NegBodLamier
1
How does that lend support to he learning more under Rudi than the 2 Chelsea managers he mentioned? I guess for him it has nothing to do with accolades he won while at Chelsea.
NegBodLamier
1
Cole enjoy your retirement brother. Only you know what you was missing I. your football before moving to Ligue 1 and what you learned after the move.
Ebubechukwu1996
0
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What are the roles 😬😬im sure i have broken all the rules here
zokkmorstthelegend
1
Ok
ok😀
tsitajulius
0
@afy. am here to render my sincere apology. my account just got banned for violating one of your rules, which I greatly regrets. Please I apologize and I beg U to unbanned my account @auwalrogo. I promise to abide by your rules and regulations next time. please unblock my @auwalrogo account @afy @allfootball
Yo! Please how can I know the rules?
riccimrsty
2
@afy. am here to render my sincere apology. my account just got banned for violating one of your rules, which I greatly regrets. Please I apologize and I beg U to unbanned my account @auwalrogo. I promise to abide by your rules and regulations next time. please unblock my @auwalrogo account @afy @allfootball
Adolfbaba
2
Joe Cole learning more from Rudi Garcia who has only one lique 1 title in his almost 30 years managerial career than multiple UCL winning coaches is the reason he will only be a pundit and never a coach....
Gunners4ever❤
1
Ancelotti was never special mediocre coach
Ok
Nowadklpuz
1
his right guys,psg have been in semi finals how many times,the best team in la Liga had been beaten by psg this season so Cole is right. Not even 1 Spanish team is among the 2 favourite to win UCL this season.
zokkmorstthelegend
3
Ancelotti was never special mediocre coach
W0linhO
0
Second best kẹ... somebody should wake him up. He is still dreaming
No u should drop ur phone go outside and play football. Someone who's been there, done it is talking and who are you or what hv done in the game? the least in ur street
fourthorty430
4
Second best kẹ... somebody should wake him up. He is still dreaming
SandeepmeehtaCR7
0
he said this nonsense for the shake of saying only
exactly . now he can go and shake himself.
Cupcmntu
3
he said this nonsense for the shake of saying only
Darboe159
3
Haha u must be real dumb not to learn from two of the best coaches. ligue 1 can't be better than la liga.