The best is yet to come – Cole

(GSM) – England’s Joe Cole believes his best playing days are ahead of him as he searches for a new club. The midfielder became a free agent on July 1 after his Chelsea contract expired.

Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal are among the teams reported to be keen on Cole. Spurs boss Harry Redknapp, who had coached Cole at West Ham, revealed that the pair have spoken over a potential deal.

The 28-year-old told the Sunday papers: “I’m thinking about my own future now. I want to play in a more central position, like I did at West Ham.

“I feel I’ve got a lot more still to offer and my best days are ahead of me.

“I want the right kind of manager – a manager who loves me, who will put me in the team.

“At Chelsea there were players who could have two or three dreadful games before they were left out. I only had to have a dreadful 20 minutes and I was out.”

Cole reckons the big-name signings from overseas are harming the English talent’s chances of breaking through at their teams.

“When I came through at West Ham our league was probably the fifth best league in the world,” he said.

“A group of us came through at the same time and we were able to do that because of how things were in England then.

“Now, though, the Premier League is the best league in the world. That means it is much tougher for kids to break through.

“Maybe we’re paying the price for having the best league in the world.”

Cole has also backed Franz Beckenbauer’s claim that England are too-much reliant on the long-ball strategy.

“Every team I have played for – from West Ham to Chelsea to England – want to hit the front players as early as possible,” he said.

“You won’t get away with that at international level. It’s about technique, keeping control of the ball, passing and moving.

“Chelsea do that more than other teams in the Premier League, and that’s why we’ve been successful, and it’s the same with Manchester United and Arsenal.

“I was brought up that way and that’s always been the way forward.

“Maybe it’s time to really look at how we are teaching kids to play. Is there talent coming through? To be honest, I don’t know.”