{"id":613583,"date":"2026-04-29T16:26:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T16:26:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/613583\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T16:26:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T16:26:16","slug":"ashley-cole-the-players-have-to-trust-what-im-asking-them-to-do-ashley-cole","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/613583\/","title":{"rendered":"Ashley Cole: \u2018The players have to trust what I\u2019m asking them to do\u2019 | Ashley Cole"},"content":{"rendered":"

It has been a long journey for Ashley Cole, but also for his wife, Sharon Canu. It took seven years for Cole to get his first job as a head coach, with Cesena in Italy<\/a>, having retired from playing. During that time, Sharon had to endure many dinner table tactical briefings with salt and pepper shakers. The pair met a decade ago while Cole was playing for Roma \u2013 Canu is from Italy \u2013 and that period clearly left a lasting mark beyond the pitch. \u201cI bored her a lot,\u201d Cole says, smiling. Now that he has a dugout of his own, Sharon may finally get the seasoning back.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was always in our plans to live in Italy because we love the food and the calmness of the country,\u201d Cole says. \u201cShe [Canu] told me the fans here are passionate about their team and their city. I had to embrace that, understand what makes them tick, so we can represent them properly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cole\u2019s first managerial role has come at a club who sit ninth in Italy\u2019s second division and are scrapping for a playoff place. It is a long way from winning Premier League and Champions League titles with Chelsea. Yet he speaks with the quiet conviction of someone who has found exactly where he needs to be.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really appreciate the opportunity I\u2019ve been given,\u201d the 45-year-old says. \u201cWhile it is true this is my first head coaching role, the body of work I\u2019ve done over my seven years on the grass [as a coach] means there is nothing more I could do to prepare. The hours I\u2019ve put in, the experiences I\u2019ve had, and the managers and coaches I\u2019ve worked under have guided me to a place where I feel ready and that I should be a head coach. I am definitely thankful to Cesena<\/a> for the opportunity, but I have more than enough experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cesena is a working-class city of fewer than 100,000 people, tucked into Emilia-Romagna, Italy\u2019s food valley. The locals are fiercely proud of their club\u2019s rich heritage: they enjoyed a golden era in the mid-1970s, qualifying for the Uefa Cup, and have spent 13 seasons in Serie A overall. Emanuele Giaccherini, Sebastiano Rossi, Massimo Ambrosini and Vincenzo Iaquinta are just a few of the prominent names to have represented the black and white of Cavalluccio over the last three decades.<\/p>\n

Ashley Cole, in Chelsea\u2019s colours, against his former club, Arsenal, in 2006. Photograph: Tom Jenkins\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

Cole lined up against Cesena for Roma during their most recent Serie A season, 2014-15. Now, he is the man tasked with reviving their fortunes, and was approached to do so by Mike Melby, one of the club\u2019s American co-owners. \u201cThey knew I was looking for a head coach role,\u201d Cole says. \u201cThe fans weren\u2019t happy with the style of play and the owners wanted something different: an exciting, energetic team that plays on the front foot. They made the decision to sack the manager [Michele Mignani], and I came in to continue the project.\u201d<\/p>\n

Results have so far been mixed. The former England left-back, who was appointed in mid-March, lost his first game in charge but then came a memorable 3-1 win against fellow playoff contenders Catanzaro that sent the home crowd into raptures. \u201cWhen I arrived the team hadn\u2019t won in six or seven games. Confidence was low,\u201d Cole says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I did the same thing as the previous manager, it wouldn\u2019t work. I want this team to reflect the fans. They are humble, hard-working people who work every day to afford a ticket. We need to give them everything on the pitch to reflect that work ethic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked about his football philosophy while sitting in the stands of Cesena\u2019s Stadio Dino Manuzzi, Cole looks up, seemingly searching for a profound answer. Eventually he replies: \u201cTo win games. To do that, we\u2019re implementing a tactical shift. Possession-based, but attacking. Playing between the lines, playing fast. I want intensity without the ball, staying in the opposition\u2019s half, sustaining attacks. I don\u2019t want wingers defending; that\u2019s not their job. I want them on the ball in front of the goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Does Cole worry about the cynical, defensive reality of Serie B? \u201cWe play against a lot of teams with low blocks, 10 players behind the ball, you need patience,\u201d he says. \u201cBut control of the ball gives us more opportunities to attack. If you just play long, it\u2019s 50-50 in the air, the team gets stretched, and you can\u2019t press effectively.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018I really appreciate the opportunity I\u2019ve been given\u2019 says Cole of his appointment at Cesena, a club with a rich heritage. Photograph: Roberto Salomone\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

In the dressing room and on the training pitch, Cole operates with a mix of English and Italian. \u201cSto migliorando il mio Italiano [I\u2019m improving my Italian],\u201d he offers, before adding: \u201cSono timido [I\u2019m shy].\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are moments where I address the team in Italian and moments where I vent frustration in English. It\u2019s a mix,\u201d Cole says. \u201cSome players actually ask me to speak English because they want to learn it. I had the same issue at Roma; I\u2019d try to speak Italian and they\u2019d say: \u2018No, speak English.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cFootball is an easy language because you can show things with passion. We also have a staff member, Nicola Capellini, who came from the Primavera [youth team]. He\u2019s an ex-player who knows the club\u2019s ethos and knows the players in and out. He is the bridge between English and Italian, going between the two languages to keep the message clear.\u201d<\/p>\n

The players call him \u201cMister\u201d, the traditional Italian honorific for a manager. Cole tells them they don\u2019t have to, but he respects the custom. \u201cI want them to see I\u2019m human and not a monster,\u201d says Cole. \u201cBuilding that connection in a short time has created real trust. The players have to trust what I\u2019m asking them to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cole is emphatic that he will not coach anyone to be a replica of himself. \u201cNever. I don\u2019t coach a left-back to play exactly how I played\u00a0because we are different,\u201d he says. \u201cWe have different physical and mental attributes. I might give pointers, but I don\u2019t expect a player like Gianluca Frabotta, who is tall and has a different style, to do exactly what I did. I was faster over the first five yards.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the same with midfielders: I\u2019m not coaching them to be Steven Gerrard or Frank Lampard. I coach them how to be [Dimitri] Bisoli. I look at how he moves with his attributes and how he can be efficient with his box-to-box engine. It\u2019s about adapting my style to the tools I have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ashley Cole gives Riccardo Ciervo, the Cesena midfielder, some advice on the touchline. Photograph: Image Photo Agency\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Does Cole ever get frustrated when a player cannot execute a movement that was instinctive to him, one of the finest full-backs of his generation? \u201cNever,\u201d he says firmly. \u201cWe have different physical and mental attributes. It\u2019s about adapting my approach to the person in front of me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cole is forthright about the state of Italian youth football. \u201cEngland has one of the best loan systems in the world because our leagues offer different styles,\u201d he says. \u201cIn Italy the league is very defensive, so players often only develop one aspect: defending. It\u2019s hard to develop technical players if they never touch the ball because the team plays 50-yard long balls. At the youth level it shouldn\u2019t be about winning; it should be about technical development. You don\u2019t see the \u2018Insignes\u2019; the small, technical players in the pocket.\u201d<\/p>\n

Quick Guide’I\u2019ve been lucky to play under top managers’Show<\/p>\n

Ashley Cole on…<\/p>\n

Jos\u00e9 Mourinho: Very diligent in his coaching, planning, and team setup.
Ars\u00e8ne Wenger: He allowed freedom. I made many mistakes as a young player, but he trusted me. I learned from these mistakes \u2013 for example, I\u2019d be too aggressive and get “one-two’d”; I learned to adjust my positioning, like getting closer to protect my centre-back. I learned you can’t keep making the same mistakes.
Carlo Ancelotti: He treated the person before the player. He made you feel
invincible and cared about your life outside football – how the kids and family were.
Rafa Ben\u00edtez\u00a0Even as an experienced player, I learned positional effectiveness from him, like where to be as a left-back when the ball is on the other side.<\/p>\n

Thank you for your feedback.<\/p>\n

Cole\u2019s overriding ambition is to take Cesena back to Serie A and he is sure that will happen under his watch. \u201c100%,\u201d he says without hesitation. \u201cSince I\u2019ve been here, I\u2019ve seen a dramatic change in the players\u2019 mentality. They\u2019ve embraced change and want to be better. I\u2019m not saying it will happen this season, but the idea going forward is that we need to be in Serie A.\u201d<\/p>\n

And what about England\u2019s chances at this summer\u2019s World Cup? \u201cThe talent is unbelievable,\u201d says the man who earned 107 caps for his country. \u201cThe challenge is handling the pressure and expectation. As a player we failed in that regard, and with the talent we had that is a regret of mine. The current squad has the character and belief to win it. It will be hard against countries like Brazil, Spain and Argentina, but England should be right there competing at the top.\u201d Which is exactly what he intends to do with Cesena.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It has been a long journey for Ashley Cole, but also for his wife, Sharon Canu. It took…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":613584,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[403,99],"class_list":["post-613583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=613583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613583\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/613584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=613583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=613583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=613583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}