ARGUABLY only George Weah greatly enhanced his reputation after leaving Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager, so Ashley Cole had better ensure that he impresses if he is not to be bracketed with such disappointments as Nicolas Anelka and Emmanuel Petit, players who have come to regret their hasty decision.
Arsenal have nurtured Cole since the left back was a child, but his antagonistic wriggling to escape to Chelsea has inflicted wounds that will take years to heal. A cerebral Wenger was not about to provoke any more bad blood yesterday, after nearly two years of antipathy between Arsenal and Chelsea.
“Time always helps you to see who helped you in life or not, and one day he will see that,” Wenger said. “Maybe not this year, but in ten years he will see that Arsenal was not as bad for him. We have helped him to become a world-class left back, he is a good guy, but he was in a situation where his feelings towards the club changed.
“It was disruptive for the players and clubs. We lost a world-class player who wanted to go and gained a world-class player in William Gallas who wanted to come. If the transfer had not happened, Cole would have played for us. I don’t expect Ashley to have a bad game at Chelsea. He will get better and better.”
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Wenger said that he promised Cole that he could leave Arsenal without the condition of a deal involving another player, and was then encouraged to move for Gallas when the defender did not move to AC Milan. Some believe that Arsenal have the better deal.
At Chelsea, size matters, according to José Mourinho, and even the Special One is willing to compromise when the object in question is a world-class defender. Thus, the lack of four inches — in height — meant little as Mourinho welcomed Cole into the Chelsea fold at the club’s training ground.
Mourinho even made light of a comment that he had made to the commission into the “tapping-up” affair last year, when he stated that he would sign a left back only if he was at least 5ft 11in tall. Cole is 5ft 7in. “Oh,” Mourinho joked, as he and his latest acquisition posed for the photographers. “You seem to have grown a bit.”
When Cole was asked later to explain Mourinho’s apparent change of heart over his stature, he replied, unconvincingly: “I’ve eaten my vegetables.” It was one of many uncomfortable moments for Cole as the harsh spotlight of the media bore down on him.
Mourinho was not totally upstaged and managed to get in his tuppence-worth before leaving Cole to fend for himself. The Portuguese felt that losing Gallas as part of the deal was almost insignificant. “I had no Gallas since the start of the season so I cannot say I have lost a player,” Mourinho said. “But I have got a player, I have got Ashley. The negotiations were correct. Chelsea fought for a player and his best interests, Arsenal fought for the best deal. If you buy an ordinary player from an ordinary club, it can be easy. But when you are talking about a big player from a big club, it is more difficult.”
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Cole will vie with Wayne Bridge, his England team-mate, for the left-back slot. “It is not difficult, it is easy,” Mourinho said. “It is only difficult when you want to choose a good player and you don’t have a good player to choose.”
Mourinho also believes that the sour relations between Chelsea and Arsenal might now ease. “I cannot wish them good luck for the season because they have the same objective as us, to win the title,” he said. “But I have no problems with them.”
His problems were more with Gallas, who disliked playing at left back, but will make his debut in that position for Arsenal against Middlesbrough today. He will switch to centre back when Gael Clichy is fit. “Everybody knows that I play to help my team,” Gallas said. “If they have a problem at left back or right back it is normal to help.
“Arsenal have young players, but they have a lot of quality also. I just wanted to play for them. Wenger spoke to me about the future. I talked to Thierry Henry when we were away with France and I said maybe I would come to Arsenal and he was very happy.
“I have some experience and Arsenal can win something with me. When you are 29 and have experience, you train with young players and help them.”