An animated Ashley Cole could be seen handing out some very clear pre-match instructions ahead of Chelsea’s Champions League quarter-final clash against Real Madrid.
The 42-year-old former Blues defender joined Frank Lampard‘s coaching team this month alongside Joe Edwards and Chris Jones.
Cole, who previously worked alongside Lampard at Derby and Everton, is now trying to turn around what has ultimately been a disappointing campaign at Stamford Bridge.
He was, of course, present for Tuesday’s game against Real Madrid and ahead of kick-off, Cole was spotted giving some advice to the likes of Marc Cucurella, Reece James and Thiago Silva.
As you can see in the footage below, Cole concentrated most of his efforts on full-back Cucurella, who has struggled in recent weeks.
One fan commented on the video, saying: “Could’ve desperately used Ashley and Frank leading by example tonight for us… though on the pitch and not from the dugout,” while another said: “This us what we have missed all season – passion, winners.”
A third wrote: “Show me a single one of the current lot that have even close to this level of passion. This, exactly this is what we are missing, passion, fire, self f*cking respect.”
A fourth added: “Interesting. Ashley Cole really is integral to Lampard’s coaching staff.”
Ahead of kick-off, some were surprised when interim boss Lampard decided to operate a back-five.
He explained his decision to BT Sport, saying: “Well, I think when I look at us at the moment, firstly you have to respect the opponent, you have to respect the level of the game and I also have to pick players that I feel are in good shape.
“It’s up to us how that looks and how we use that offensively and defensively, how we can join in with pace and obviously the wing-backs in the team, shaping up like we did last week, was a part of the game I thought we didn’t use enough last week in the game.
“When we’re gonna use our system we must have possession of the ball, we must use our wing-backs high up the pitch and then you must join in from midfield to get into the box.
“I actually think we have the legs and energy in there and also defensively the capacity to deal with one of the most important parts of the pitch with the level of player they have in there.”
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