Ashley Cole

As arguably the best left-back of his generation, Ashley Cole was a mainstay for England for well over a decade. Having made a career of locking down the finest wide attackers in the world game, Cole enjoyed a career that seen him play for teams as varied as Arsenal, Chelsea, Roma, LA Galaxy, and finally Derby County. With over 100 caps for his country, too, Cole became a world-class presence in defence that made him easy to watch for fans who enjoyed his mixture of defensive acumen and attacking skill.

What made Ashley Cole so special?

Though never a regular attacking presence, he picked passes well further up the pitch and was rarely caught out of position. Regularly playing at a high level with his clubs, Cole was noted for his incredible week-to-week consistency and versatility. He could just as easily act as an overlapping attacking outlet as he could play a more defensively minded role.

His game was built on pure tactical understanding and reading of the game. Though fast, Cole was never the quickest or strongest; his ability to always be in position on attack or defence, though, was a priceless skill to have.

On top of his tactical intelligence, Cole was a technically sound full-back who could be relied upon to keep the ball and rarely, if ever, cough the ball up in tight and tough situations.

What does Ashley Cole do now?

Today, Cole is a pundit who we regularly see covering games for Sky Sports and occasionally on ITV for international games. He has also dabbled in coaching, taking part in coaching the Chelsea academy teams and has also held a brief coaching spell at Derby County.

Mostly, though, he is a pundit with a growing reputation who is appearing more and more regularly.