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Joe Cole names the ‘brilliant’ midfielder he played with at Chelsea who never got the credit they deserved

Charles Jones

Thu 28 November 2024 16:15, UK

Joe Cole played with some absolutely brilliant players at Chelsea.

Cole worked with the likes of Frank Lampard, Didi⭕er Drogba and John Terry during his time at Stamford Bridge in a team that was incredibly successful.

Those three were all bona fide legends. Wayne Rooney even called Drogba the perfe🐈ct striker.

Chelsea had some massive names on their books during the 2000s, and spea🧸king on the Foot🗹ball’s Greatest Podcast, Cole has reserved some special praise for one of his teammates he felt didn’t get the credit he deserved.

Indeed, Cole says that Michael Ballack was a fantastic player for Chelsea, stating that while so💝me thought he wasn’t as good as he should’ve been for the Blues, he thought he was utterly brilliant.

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Michael Ballack was brilliant for Chelsea

Cole spoke highly of Ba🌠llack, claiming that🍒 he didn’t get the credit he deserved during his time at Chelsea.

The former Blues star was full of pr🍌aise for the German🌼y international.

Cole and Ballack both left Chelsea at th༒e same time in 2𓆉010.

Ballack would return to Bayer Leverkusen, while the England international would sign for Chelsea – Cole actually⭕ rejected Tottenham at that time.

“I remember with Ballack, right? Like again, he was another big game player, wasn’t he? Like a lot of people think that his time at Chelsea wasn’t quitꦺe as good as his time at Leverkusen, but I thought he was brilliant, Ballack,’ Cole said.

How good was Michael Ballack?

As Cole says, Ballack was an underrated player at Chelsea, and, in all honesty, he’s one of 🧔world football’s great underrated players.

Indeed, Ballack is very rarely mentioned in discussions around the best midfielders of his g🐬eneration, but perha🅰ps he should be.

Ballack’s career stats and achievement𒉰s a꧃ren’t to be scoffed at.

The midfielder was dynamite during the early 2000s, and if it weren’t🎃 for a Brazil super-team in 2002 he would have led an unfancied Germany team to the World Cup.

Ballack was a world-class talent in his pomp, and while he may have been slightly past his best by the𓆉 time he a🍸rrived at Chelsea, he was still brilliant for the Blues.

Ballack is🍌 one of the best players of his genera𒆙tion, and it’s a real shame he didn’t spend the peak years of his career playing in the Premier League.