Played with some decent strikers in fairness.
The disrespect for Andy Cole
- Thread starter FujiVice
- Start date
Yeah I agree as time goes by players like Aguero creeping into the list and going to be hard for him to maintain that third spot but still...
I still think players like Aguero are getting an easier ride with the level of centre back they play against most games. Makes the old boys on the list more impressive again for me.
I think Henry scored 49 goals at Barca after he left the PL. Wonder what that number would have been if he remained at Arsenal - safe to say a little lower than 49? The Barca side we’re a better side than Arsenal when he left.
Yeah they were alright like
Wonder how good / consistent he would have been on them. We shall never know.
This says it all
Cole was an unbelievable striker. Imagine if we had him now! His all round game was right up there - can anyone remember his heroics against Juventus away in ‘99 - (he was named man of the match in one or two Italian papers). He was so dynamic and his movement and intelligence on and off the ball were exemplary and a major asset to us, aside from turning half chances into real chances because of his pace and clever runs. He would turn average passes into good passes because of his alertness and movement. He also scored some amazing goals and a lot of them!
Great player - definitely in the top ten for me...
Yeah, that's the one I always remember. Top player and always a joy to get it right up dirty Leeds on their own patch.
He was never a media darling though - some of his interviews were of the 'you saw it, I did it and it speaks for itself' variety. He wasn't a man that looked like a gave a toss about what the press said. Even when Hoddle said he needed too many chances, everything about Cole's body language suggested he didn't think Hoddle knew his arse from a hole in the ground.
Maybe that's why he's not talked about that often but pure speculation on my part.
Cole was one hell of a team player!
He could always go wide and bring midfielders into the game and his link up play was pleasing on the eye.
Unfortunately he played in an era where England had 7/8 top strikers hence the reason he never fulfilled his potential internationally.
A shame he left when he did as I believed he could have struck up a better partnership with van Nistelrooy than he did with Yorke.
He could always go wide and bring midfielders into the game and his link up play was pleasing on the eye.
Unfortunately he played in an era where England had 7/8 top strikers hence the reason he never fulfilled his potential internationally.
A shame he left when he did as I believed he could have struck up a better partnership with van Nistelrooy than he did with Yorke.
So whom did they have in Top 10?
With you 100% legend in my eyes was great to see him play.
First impressions stick. His first 2.5 seasons with United were below expectations. What he did from 1992-1995 and 1997 to 2001 was of the highest quality.
Shearer was the best player in the PL for many years, and one of the best strikers in the world.
I love Andy Cole, but he was never a world class striker. When Cole Scored 40 goals, everything was played through him. Shearer brought far far more to their team than Cole.
again I’m in no way saying Cole was not a fantastic player for us. But he’s nowhere near the likes of RVN, Shearer or Henry.
Let's be fair to Ian Wright. He spent the majority of his prime at a team far worse than Cole did at United in the 90's. Wright was 33 when Wenger joined Arsenal and was still outstanding. People forget very quickly how good Wright actually was. If Wright had spent his prime at United, rather than Arsenal, this wouldn't even be a point of contention in the first place.
Andy Cole would be in my top 3 favourite Utd players ever. I love how he came back from the height of ABU hate in the mid 90's to a key player in a legendary team.
Vastly underrated, he missed chances, yes, often it felt that if he had too much time he would overthink the finish, but the quality and range of his goals matches anyone/ Long range pings, chips, headers, overhead, scissor kicks, interplay goals, lone striker goals, could play with anyone(maybe not Cantona) and had that aggressive spikey edge I love to see in a Utd player.
I also think he might have the best movement I have ever seen from a striker, at least at Utd, such quick feet, and agility on the turn, great build for a forward, he used to give Desailly at Chelsea fits, when Desailly was still one of the elite defenders. Could have stayed for at least another year, but he choose guaranteed games to attempt to salvage his international career, he must look at the caps that guys like Defoe, Vassel and Crouch ended with and feel frustrated.
Vastly underrated, he missed chances, yes, often it felt that if he had too much time he would overthink the finish, but the quality and range of his goals matches anyone/ Long range pings, chips, headers, overhead, scissor kicks, interplay goals, lone striker goals, could play with anyone(maybe not Cantona) and had that aggressive spikey edge I love to see in a Utd player.
I also think he might have the best movement I have ever seen from a striker, at least at Utd, such quick feet, and agility on the turn, great build for a forward, he used to give Desailly at Chelsea fits, when Desailly was still one of the elite defenders. Could have stayed for at least another year, but he choose guaranteed games to attempt to salvage his international career, he must look at the caps that guys like Defoe, Vassel and Crouch ended with and feel frustrated.
That's what makes all this interesting it's about personal opinions. For me Wright was top class
What stats are these? And for who?
GOAT
His stats speak for themselves. People can try and dismiss him but whenever the all-time lists are brought up, he's right there with them!
His first half season at the club we lost out on the title - some blamed Cole for misses on the final day at West Ham and a few 0-0 games in the run in.
For the rest of the 90s the narrative moved on to the youth players that became the identity of the club and along with preexisting stars like Schmeichel and Keane.
Cole's most high profile time was the trebile season, he and Yorke was electric and tearing it home and away against the best in the world. But then the finale of that season is remembered as Solskjaer getting the key goal of the season.
A lot of people suggest United were so good that anyone could have played up front and got goals - but we know this is bollocks.
I also think football is a bit of an old boys club, if you're not in with the Linekers, Shearers and the FA then you're out of the loop and then those in the club promote and push their mates when talking about past stars.
Cole seems to have always lived outside of the football bubble - for example, after he had a kidney transplant the only two people from United that went to see him were Roy Keane and Dwight Yorke. No one else even contacted him.
His first half season at the club we lost out on the title - some blamed Cole for misses on the final day at West Ham and a few 0-0 games in the run in.
For the rest of the 90s the narrative moved on to the youth players that became the identity of the club and along with preexisting stars like Schmeichel and Keane.
Cole's most high profile time was the trebile season, he and Yorke was electric and tearing it home and away against the best in the world. But then the finale of that season is remembered as Solskjaer getting the key goal of the season.
A lot of people suggest United were so good that anyone could have played up front and got goals - but we know this is bollocks.
I also think football is a bit of an old boys club, if you're not in with the Linekers, Shearers and the FA then you're out of the loop and then those in the club promote and push their mates when talking about past stars.
Cole seems to have always lived outside of the football bubble - for example, after he had a kidney transplant the only two people from United that went to see him were Roy Keane and Dwight Yorke. No one else even contacted him.
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Agreed, loved him as a player, just didn't realise he was this devestating in goals. As others have said, equally imppressive is Scholes with how few (1) pens he took.
Would be fascinating to see a goals per game ratio of some foreign players aswell compared to Scholes, Lamps and Gerrard, as many weren't blessed with such longevity.
96? I doubt it. He only came the Jan the year before.
RVN was a strong step up. Shattered Cole's goal scoring level for us.
With reference to the goal away at Leeds....
Unbelievable individual goal. If ronaldo, bergkamp or Henry scored that it would have been played again and again. Awesome skills, cushioning it with his head before shielding it from Radebe then lobbing it over him and beating him for pace.. outrageous skills... I remember that as well as a number of scissor kicks, diving headers, turning players inside out and all sorts of goals ...not to mention goals against all the top sides
Everyone blames Cole for that West Ham game, but without his goals against City, Coventry and Southampton, that title race wasnt going down to the final day.
Andy Cole scored more than half his Premier League goals for teams other than Man United. Several of them much worse than the Arsenal, Wright played for.
I can totally understand all that he's going through as I've had two kidney transplants (both failed, now waiting for third). People don't see you as ill because 99% of the time nothing is visible. Kidney disease is also not seen as one of the 'trendy' diseases like cancer.
The mental side of things can be a real fight and depression is rife amongst the kidney patients I know.
Sorry to drag of topic, carry on good sirs and ladies.
I loved him. He was amazing and had a great attitude, and should be considered as one of the top strikers in PL history, no doubt about it.
Cole and Solskjær having a good night at Highbury in 1997:
Cole was one of the best strikes around and him playing so long for Utd confirms that. I even loved his song.. Great attitude and a great player.
He was brilliant, I absolutely loved the guy. He wasn't respected enough when he was playing and even less so now.
He even kept a decent record up after leaving United and hopping round a few clubs. He scored a belter for Blackburn at Anfield, scored the winning goal in the league cup final for them, and I remember an awesome curling chip he scored for City and another great goal for Fulham. I vaguely remember an incredible volley he scored for us in a pre-season friendly, but my memory is hazy on that.
His assists, teamwork, movement to make space for other players, and finishing were exceptional. I was gutted when he left even if he was replaced by Ruud.
He even kept a decent record up after leaving United and hopping round a few clubs. He scored a belter for Blackburn at Anfield, scored the winning goal in the league cup final for them, and I remember an awesome curling chip he scored for City and another great goal for Fulham. I vaguely remember an incredible volley he scored for us in a pre-season friendly, but my memory is hazy on that.
His assists, teamwork, movement to make space for other players, and finishing were exceptional. I was gutted when he left even if he was replaced by Ruud.
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One of my favorites. This match was the real igniting of the rivalry between Fergie’s United and Wenger’s Arsenal. The next time we played was an epic game at Highbury, we lost 3-2, and the rivalry went up another level. Fantastic games.
One of our many players who get underrated.
I didn't realise Sheringham had so many assists. God, I love Teddy!
Well, others are free to think or say what they like. We at United love and respect Cole to bits. He'll always be a legend here. I'm sure he knows that too...
Hope it works out for you, third time’s a charm.
Not a chance. Wright was inconsistent against fodder teams. Cole turned up every game and his speed and positioning (and playing in front of the best midfield in PL history) meant he was involved and had chances in every game he played.
I’d sometimes get annoyed that he’d miss a few chances, but post SAF, when we’ve been totally starved of chances created, let alone goals, I realised just how intuitive and intelligent Cole was as a striker. Even guys like Ibra and Falcao lacked his positional awareness and ability to run through the lines.
Andy Cole was an elite level striker, would have been in the top 2 or 3 even now and we were very lucky to have him. Journalists or pundits who don’t recognise that can do one.
I can't help but feel rival fans and certain elements of the media were happy to overlook Cole for some strange reason. I am not sure what it is. The facts are his record was sensational and his overall play was at a level that few strikers could manage. Yes Shearer was the greatest goalscorer in the PL history but everything went through him, he didn't have the speed and technique that Cole showed when he and Yorke absolutely terrorised defences during our Treble year. I accept people are entitled to their own opinions but there's something suspicious about so many people dismissing the achievements of the third highest goalscorer in PL history, to not include him in a top 10 strikers list is dodgy in the extreme.
It’s as has been mentioned for two or three reasons:
1) the narrrarive created by successive England managers. Let’s be clear the number of united players abandoned, shit on, or plain ignored by England during our period of success was ridiculous. Favouring older, players, London clubs and Liverpool caused some of this. Any excuse was trotted out and Hoddle was one of the worst. Plenty of players have said that if you turned Hoddle down, or he didn’t like you for any reason you could not get in any of his teams.
2) media narrative was similar, as has been the case for a long time, and still is, the media is full of Liverpool and London centric journalists. They loved running down Cole even during that 99 season.
3) he didn’t give bombastic interviews or cosy up to the press. He treated them like they were shit, I think due to how they treated him
4) other fans bought into it, he was a united player and very few got any respect. Look at how most other fans talk about any of our top players (scholes, beckham, Keane, ferdinand, Neville), all skated by opposition fans.
1) the narrrarive created by successive England managers. Let’s be clear the number of united players abandoned, shit on, or plain ignored by England during our period of success was ridiculous. Favouring older, players, London clubs and Liverpool caused some of this. Any excuse was trotted out and Hoddle was one of the worst. Plenty of players have said that if you turned Hoddle down, or he didn’t like you for any reason you could not get in any of his teams.
2) media narrative was similar, as has been the case for a long time, and still is, the media is full of Liverpool and London centric journalists. They loved running down Cole even during that 99 season.
3) he didn’t give bombastic interviews or cosy up to the press. He treated them like they were shit, I think due to how they treated him
4) other fans bought into it, he was a united player and very few got any respect. Look at how most other fans talk about any of our top players (scholes, beckham, Keane, ferdinand, Neville), all skated by opposition fans.
It was a decent finish, but what a hit from Keane! Don't remember that at all.
great collection
Overhead outside the box
overhead inside the box
I am amazed how many he scores with his left relatively
Overhead outside the box
overhead inside the box
I am amazed how many he scores with his left relatively
Cole and Yorke....magic. Loved Andy Cole as a kid. And think he dont get the respect he deserves because he never shone in an England shirt.
This video kind of sums it up.
Wright makes a good run and gets a great pass to get in on goal. Shoots straight at Schmeichel but gets described as 'the great Arsenal goal scorer'.
Next clip, Cole gets a more difficult ball played into him, dummies the defender, goes round the keeper and puts it away brilliantly. Described as 'flashes of the Andy Cole of old'.
Can pretty much sums up the opinions of both in that clip perfectly.
It's really difficult to where to place Cole in this sort of list, his goal tally suggests high up, but he came to us with a RVN type reputation and it didn't work with him and Cantona. Let's be fair he hardly played with Eric straight away due to his ban, but upon his return they didn't hit it off as magically as Sir Alex hoped for, a bit like Hughes and McClair before them, effective but not blowing teams away that had been envisaged.
Cole then developed a much more team orientated style of game, moving away from being the pure poacher that he'd been. He was much better than many people gave him credit for at the time and even now, but it wasn't his natural game, but as with many others he made it work successfully and was a vital player in our success at the time. I ask myself would I have swapped him for anyone else at the time he was playing for us? Perhaps that first year or so maybe, the amount of chances he took to score wasn't huge and wasn't an issue for me, he kept putting himself in the position to take the chance, but he wasn't the prolific striker we'd hoped to buy and I think that's part of the reason Fergie went back in for Shearer. However Cole turned it round and the rest is history.
Is he in the top 10 strikers all time for the Premier League? I'll be honest and say I don't know I think perhaps anywhere between 6 and 14 on my list depending on many factors. I can't pinpoint him and so whilst I think he can feel hurt he wasn't mentioned in the BBC list, I don't know where I'd put him myself. I will say this he's in the top 5 United strikers of the Premier League era for me, but we've had some beauties for sure in this time.
Cole then developed a much more team orientated style of game, moving away from being the pure poacher that he'd been. He was much better than many people gave him credit for at the time and even now, but it wasn't his natural game, but as with many others he made it work successfully and was a vital player in our success at the time. I ask myself would I have swapped him for anyone else at the time he was playing for us? Perhaps that first year or so maybe, the amount of chances he took to score wasn't huge and wasn't an issue for me, he kept putting himself in the position to take the chance, but he wasn't the prolific striker we'd hoped to buy and I think that's part of the reason Fergie went back in for Shearer. However Cole turned it round and the rest is history.
Is he in the top 10 strikers all time for the Premier League? I'll be honest and say I don't know I think perhaps anywhere between 6 and 14 on my list depending on many factors. I can't pinpoint him and so whilst I think he can feel hurt he wasn't mentioned in the BBC list, I don't know where I'd put him myself. I will say this he's in the top 5 United strikers of the Premier League era for me, but we've had some beauties for sure in this time.
Using a clip from one game to make judgement on two player's careers is so incredibly dumb. All I gotta do is find a few clips of Cole missing chances and stick up a few of Wright scoring similar chances and then I can do the same thing and we can both look dumb.