Andy Cole has to be the most underated player

in the premiership. Listen up everyone,

some of his goals have been the most

spectacular we've seen. Also, as far as

scoring the easy goals, if there was a such

thing as "easy", why aren't others getting

all those easy goals? True he plays on a

great team, but he is proving everyone wrong

and those who are TRUE football fans, should

be able to appreciate some of the skill and

pace he has displayed last year and this

year especially. Cut the guy some slack, he

finds the space, scored some great bicycle

kick goals (for those who play, know how

difficult it is), and has created space for

others on the team to do some damage. Thanks.

Why do you think he's underrrated, and by whom?

Just because some ManU haters are posting about him (and I haven't noticed any of that either)?

He's a lineup player in Manchester United, for Chris's sake.

But any, Solskjaer rocks. He should start in lineup!

I have been a big fan of Andy throughout his career and he isn`t credited for his exceptional skill.

Andy Cole...Englands #1 Striker, forget Shearer and owen. Andy should be up there with Phillips.

I think that Kanu and Bergkamp are the most talented strikers in Premier. But Cole is without a doubt on better form that Shearer and Owen.

Englands starting pair should be Cole and Phillips.

For the future Owen and Heskey

Sorry, but I think the man's goalscoring record speaks for itself. As Sella said, he's a first choice in the euro and world champs Man utd. If Keegan and the Hoddle doesn't think he's good enough there's little he can do about it though.
The problem for England is that they hardly ever dominate games, and that's why Cole has always struggled for them. He's used to an abundance of good possession with man utd, but can't get the same from his england teammates.
I don't think Phillips and Cole will combine well, they're both great players but I just can't see them making a good partnership for england.

Hoddle and Keegan great players..so ..so managers.

Cole should have been a regular with England since 97 but it seems to have become very political. Beckham Scholes the Neville's and Sheringham all see regular England duty so its not Man United. Campbell Ince Heskey Sinclair have all been called up so its not colour.

That leaves Shearer and Owen and I think neither of them are too fond of Cole. Jealousy maybe or Cole maybe an ******* but he's the best english striker at the moment. do you think the Germans wouldn.t play him or france if he was one of them.

for years england has done this..even did it to Hoddle...not played our best players because they weren't seen to be squad players. Valderama, platini even Maradonna weren't squad players they were great individual players. England has a problem with any player the world might consider a great individual. See what they did to Gascoigne...they will do it to Cole and when Owen gets too good ...him too. Remember Owen did not start in the world cup Sheringham did...work that one out.

keegan needs a kick in his pants

instead of playing strikers in form he always sticks with shearer, i admit shearer is a very good striker but internationally he doesnt quite cut it. its a shame to see players out performing shearar like phillips, cole, owen, heskey but some how when it comes to selections these players are left either on the bench or not even selected for the team. If england want to succeed they have to drop shearer, keegan owes him nothing shearer has had his days i want to see cole and phillips rip it up at euro2000 england has way to many guns, rather than wasting there time with shearer

I wouldnt say that he is the most under-rated player in England players like Hadji, Wanchope, Schwarzer and Ricard are players who I think deserve more credit.

But I would agree that he is the best out and out English striker and he does have a fantastic goalscoring record.

People always say that he only scores because he plays for Manu, but they seem to forget how he used to play for Newacstle and though they had a few superstars back then (i.e. Beardsley) he didn't have that much support and he was baging in the goals then.

I do think that he seems to buckle under the pressure of playing internationaly and it is important that Keegan plays him in some more friendlies to allow him to adapt.

Why does england get crap managers?

Hoddle just wanted all the spurs and Keegan seems to like giving everyone a go wheather they can play or not, which is fair but doesn`t win games.

Good responses, I have to agree with most of the comments, by the way, how can we get Juninho out of here? LOL he knows how to cause a rumble, that's for sure.

One thing about Shearer is that he is a great leader. He may not be as good technically as Cole, but his other abilities, such as leadership, get him the nod. He had a rough time under Ruud Gullit at Newcastle Utd and even he admits he began to deteriate under Ruud. He is now on the rise and his form is improving imensley in the premier league.
Another reason he is always in the lineup is because he blends with the other striker(s) well. The problem with Cole is, he doesn't do this. The national team needs players to play together and blend, not play individually. Shearer doesn't really mix with Cole well because of the comments Cole made about him earlier this years. They have tried to reconcile but im afraid it will be a pair that will never work.
When Shearer and Owen are in form, England are explosive. Canoe was right about Cole, Englands play (as opposed to man u, which is different) doesn't suit him. If he wants to play for England, he'll have to learn to play that way (Shearer does this well, thanks to playing for the toon!).
It is very political, but England current pair is the best for the team.

I see what your saying Down Under but Andy doesn't have a problem blending in with Teddy, Dwight, or Gunner.

the thing is, he's very skilled but he's not the greatest finisher.

they don't call him -1 out of 10-cole for nothing http://www.soccergaming.com/ubb/smile.gif

I have always rated Cole in the striking elite group and still do.

Toronto, I understand that Cole works well with his manu team-mates, but that is because he trains with them everyday of the, most weeks of the years. Also, as i said in an earlier post, man u's type of play is more suited to Cole, though he doesn't have much of an experience in the national team to adjust to type of play.
Cole has trained with Man U a long time, with the likes of Teddy, Gunner and Yorke but this doesn't help him much in the ways of making the national team, he has to train and learn to blend with england's current strikers, Owen, Shearer and co.


As a footnote, i can see Phillips to be the striker to replace Shearer. Though he needs to keep up the consistant form he is displaying for Sunderland. If he keeps this up, and plays well with Owen (or even Cole!) than England have a strong future in terms of strikers.

You guys think Andy Cole is the most underrated player ?What about Filippo Inzaghi of Juventus .This guy was the top scorer in Serie A in 97 with Atalanta ,averages 18 goals per season .This guy is a constant player .The reason he is also underrated is cause Del Piero and Zidane plays with Juventus.

I don't know that Cole is that underated. Sure he is a fine player but he is outclassed by many strikers in the Prem and I would even say that Yorke and Solskjaer should start instead of Cole. Owen might not be on the greatest form at the moment but he is coming back and he has already shown he has the potential to become a Legend. Phillips is also scoring goals far more consistently then Cole this season and if he keeps it up I think that in the future it will be Phillips and Owen who will represent England up-front. Although I will admit he did deserve more chances then what he was given.