About time Joe Cole was appreciated...

When Joe Cole first arrived at Chelsea in the Summer of 2003 he was little more than a flair player who on occasion could light up a game with his silky skills and extraordinary ability to beat his man.

At first he struggled at Chelsea to hold down a regular first-team place, especially under Claudio Ranieri who preferred to play a diamond formation with Damien Duff and Jesper Gronkjaer making up the wider corners of said diamond.

Today though Cole is an integral part of the Chelsea team yet like his early days at the Blues, England manager Fabio Capello appears to favour others over the matured 26-year-old.

Even following his brace against European minnow's Andorra in England's opening World Cup qualifier Capello reserved criticism for the winger.

The Italian was unhappy with Cole dropping too deep into midfield after his and England's second of the evening - In my opinion checking out the Premiership goal betting for Joe Cole's odds of a 10-plus season wouldn't go a miss.

Capello told a press conference,

"I was not happy with Joe and Wayne Rooney.

"I was asking them to go forward again because Emile Heskey was all on his own. I tried to transmit something to them but I was too far from the pitch."

Cole's desire to drop back and help out the rest of his team may have been criticised by the former Madrid coach but ironically it has been this development in his game which not only earned him a first-team place at Chelsea but also a permanent place in the England set-up.

It was under Jose Mourinho where Cole began to improve as a player after being publicly criticised by his manager following another winner, this time against Liverpool.

Mourinho was not happy with is one-dimensional approach to the game, working with Cole to understand that as well as in attack, he was also needed further back when his team were under pressure.

At the time Mourinho was himself criticised for these statements but the former West Ham trainee's game has undeniably improved since this time and under Luiz Felipe Scolari the Islington-born midfielder is quickly becoming a stalwart of the Chelsea team.

Even before this season though Cole was a vital part of the Blues side – even if former coach Avram Grant seemingly disagreed.

His chances were limited once more under the Israeli with many Chelsea fans pointing at the Carling Cup Final defeat to Tottenham as one of Grant's biggest tactical errors.

Cole only entered the fray in injury time and began to turn the game and despite almost grabbing a late equaliser many will agree that a starting place in the final should have been guaranteed for the boyhood-blue.

The Chelsea fans acknowledged his contribution to the sides campaign, handing him their Player of the year award at the end of the 2007-08 season.

On Saturday, it was only Cole's introduction which sparked any life into England's performance and in my view it is high time that his contribution to the squad is realised before his talent is wasted.

Written by John Ford - A Freelance Sports Writer