Former Chelsea and England ace captaining Galaxy
Sunday 23 September 2018 14:50, UK
Ahead of a crunch game for LA Galaxy, we take a closer look at how Ashley Cole is faring Stateside...
This could be Cole's last season in Major League Soccer. Yes, he's still there, and still playing well at the age of 37.
That he goes under the radar, while the likes of Wayne Rooney, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, David Villa and even Bradley Wright-Phillips take the headlines, says a lot about the way Cole has blended in, settled in, and adapted to life in the United States.
He is one of only eight outfield players to have reached 100 caps for England, and six of these - Bobby Moore, David Beckham, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney, and Cole himself - spent the latter stages of their career in the US.
Cole's club of choice was LA Galaxy, and in November 2016, at the end of his first season in Los Angeles, Cole described the Galaxy as a side "everyone wants to play against."
The club hold the record for most MLS Cup wins with five, most Supporters Shields with four, three US Open Cups, and are one of only two US teams to have won the CONCACAF Champions League. They are the team everyone wants to beat. The problem is, everyone started beating them.
In Cole's first season LA Galaxy finished sixth overall in MLS, and only managed to make it to the quarter-finals of the MLS Cup play-offs. This was a disappointing season for a side which wants to win it all, but 2017 was even worse.
It couldn't have been any worse, in fact, as the Galaxy finished bottom of the pile. In a normal league system the one-time Champions League winners and most successful club in modern American soccer history would have been relegated, but MLS doesn't operate in such a system.
The recent downturn in fortunes for the club suggests that Cole hasn't had the best of times in LA, but if anything the opposite is true.
The poor results will hurt the left-back, who remains a fierce competitor into the latter years of his playing career, but he's enjoying life in the league and has been one of the better players in the team during his time there.
"Ashley Cole deserves better than the Galaxy," says Galaxy reporter and host of the Corner of the Galaxy podcast Josh Guesman.
"He's outlasted three coaches and has generally been the best defender on the team since joining in 2016.
"He started as a quiet guy who just did his job, and eventually realised that he needed to be a leader on the field. And maybe reluctantly, he took the captain's position.
"The fact that he's suffered through two of the worst seasons in team history isn't fair to him."
As hinted by Guesman, Cole doesn't seek attention, which is perhaps a result of the amount of media coverage and criticism he received back in the UK, where his football life and personal life were regularly in the spotlight.
"I don't really like seeing myself on TV doing interviews," he said in a (rare) interview last year.
"I don't like speaking. I hate seeing myself in the newspaper. But then they always say I'm arrogant."
Despite his throwaway comment about "not being ready for the beach" when he turned down a move to MLS in 2014 before signing for Roma, Cole has fully committed to his American adventure. "We were clear with him up front that we didn't have a Designated Player spot. We didn't have that money to commit to him," Galaxy president Chris Klein told Sports Illustrated last year.
"He [Cole] just said: 'Look, that's not my motivation. My motivation is to play the game I love. Just let me show you. Let me come to LA and I'll show you what I can do.'"
Cole turned up in the league with the idea that his performances will speak for themselves and, despite the team's misfortune, the fact that he is still highly regarded indicates that they have.
He's insightful, thoughtful, and his soccer IQ is through the roof. He seems at home both on and off the field in Los Angeles.
The ability to go relatively unnoticed on the streets and enjoy life away from the game has helped him focus.
"If you've got someone like Brad Pitt next to you, then no one's going to care about the little soccer player," Cole has said.
Guesman adds: "He seems to enjoy living in Los Angeles, and his relationship with the press - something that was always bumpy in the UK - is wonderful.
"He's insightful, thoughtful, and his soccer IQ is through the roof. He seems at home both on and off the field in Los Angeles. Maybe even more so than playing at Stamford Bridge.
"While his speed has slowed, and his defence slumped a bit in 2018, he's still the smartest player on the field."
This football intelligence has led Cole into a new area of the game - coaching.
It's not something he had originally intended to go into - yet during his time in LA his coaches have not only persuaded him to wear the captain's armband, but also encouraged him to speak out in training and participate in sessions with the club's youth players.
The ability to spend time focusing solely on the football, rather than worrying what the tabloids are going to say about him tomorrow, or where the paparazzi are going to appear from next, has changed Cole's outlook.
He's appeared in every league game for the Galaxy this season, bar three when he was suspended, and has been named captain in all but one of them. He leads the team for assists, with seven, and has even managed to get on the scoresheet.
His goal against Colorado Rapids was taken with the touch, acceleration, and finish of a striker, and was scored past former Manchester United and Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard.
The club still have a chance of reaching the play-offs this season, but they are viewing the game against Seattle Sounders as "must win".
Cole will be hoping for one last shot at glory, but nevertheless he's already planning for the future, and is already one of England's MLS successes.
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