Joe Cole has urged England’s Young Lions make every moment of their development count while with national development teams.
The former England midfielder, who won 56 caps during a career took in stints at West Ham, Liverpool, Chelsea, Aston Villa and now Coventry, has spent the last few days in camp with the Under-18 squad at St. George’s Park.
England U18s 4-1 Republic of Ireland U18s
Friendly
St. George's Park
12pm Sunday 27 March
Manchester City’s Lukas Nmecha gave England a 24th-minute lead, which was doubled by Tottenham Hotspur man Marcus Edwards soon after the half-hour mark.
Ireland pulled one back on the hour, but Edwards added a second before Everton’s Antony Evans wrapped things up 12 minutes from time.
And Cole, 34, says he’s learning just as much from his time with the youngsters as they will from him.
Cole told TheFA.com: “This is a new challenge for me and an exciting one too. I’ve got a lot to learn but spending time with squads like England U18s, learning how they do things and how they learn is a really important part of developing as a coach.
“I’ve been in squads with Andre Green when I was at Villa and I’ve coached him. I coached Reece Oxford at West Ham when I did my B Licence, which I really enjoyed, so it’s been nice to have some familiar faces in the camp.”
Cole is following in the footsteps of Steven Gerrard, Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney in spending time with England’s young players, and is happy to pass on advice.
“As an experienced player you always wished you knew what you knew when you were 17 what you know now,” he said.
“You need to soak up everything that the coaches are giving you, and make every minute that you’re away with England count.
“England is a massive thing for me. I loved playing for my country at all levels and it’s something I never took for granted.
“Hopefully a lot of these players will progress to the senior ranks – I’ve seen the group train and there are some really good technicians in the squad, and the spirit around the camp is really strong.”
Dewsnip welcomed Cole’s impact on his players: “It’s really valuable to have a coach and player of Joe’s experience work with our players.
“Joe is someone with huge knowledge of the game and someone the players can look up to, but it’s also important for us as an organisation to help develop coaches.
“He is on our coaching pathway and that is something we really want our country’s great players to do, especially when they are getting their coaching qualifications while still playing.”
England: 1 Aaron Ramsdale (Sheffield United), 2 Cameron Humphreys (Manchester City), 3 Trent Arnold (Liverpool), 4 Tom Davies (Everton), 5 Ro-Shaun Williams (Manchester United), 6. Reece Oxford (West Ham United), 7 Marcus Edwards (Tottenham Hotspur), 8 Herbie Kane (Liverpool), 9 Lukas Nmecha (Manchester City), 10 Antony Evans (Everton), 11 Andre Green (Aston Villa)
Substitutes: 12 Easah Suliman (Aston Villa) for Arnold 57, 17 Chris Willock (Arsenal) for Evans 82, 18 Isaac Buckley-Ricketts (Manchester City) on for Nmecha 82, 15 Jacob Davenport (Manchester City) for Davies 85, 16 Nathan Holland (Everton) for Green 85.
Unused substitute: 13 Alfie Whiteman (Tottenham Hotspur)
Head coach: Neil Dewsnip
