Joe Cole reveals hilarious story of swapping shirts with Arsenal star Patrick Vieira

Joe Cole and Wayne Bridge have lifted the lid on the toughest players they faced oved their careers, with the England midfielder revealing an amusing incident during his playing days involving Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira.

Cole was looking back on a glittering career from being a starlet at West Ham to a trophy-laden seven seasons across London with Chelsea, during which time he won three Premier League titles. 

The 39-year-old opened up about the toughest players he lined up against, which revealed a hilarious anecdote early in his career featuring Gunners midfield talisman Vieira.    

Joe Cole (left) and Wayne Bridge spoke about the toughest opponents in their careers

Cole (left) said Patrick Vieira (right) was a very tough opponent who once asked for his shirt

‘I remember playing against Patrick Vieira when he was at Arsenal,’ Cole told Coral’s All to Play For podcast. 

‘It was like we were two different species. I used to bounce off him, it was embarrassing. You couldn’t get the ball off him. I was marking him at a corner once and he tapped me on the shoulder and asked if he could have my shirt.

‘I thought, I’ve made it here. I said to Michael Carrick, “Patrick wants my shirt. I think he wants it up on his wall”. Two days later I found out it wasn’t for him. It was for a chef at Arsenal who was a West Ham fan.’ 

Cole also pointed to his namesake Ashley as being ‘so difficult to come up against’ and being grateful that he spent the majority of his time on the same side at Chelsea. 

‘On the right side, Dani Alves was unbelievable when I played against him,’ Cole added. ‘He’d just fly past you and you’d think, “this guy is not real”.’

Cole also said he was glad he spent most of his career on the same side as Ashley Cole (right)

He also named Dani Alves as a tough customer, saying he was ‘unbelievable’ to play against

Bridge, who made more than 140 appearances for Chelsea and whose career also saw him represent Southampton, Manchester City and Brighton, had a different perspective on his toughest opponents having been a left-back.   

‘The two toughest players I came up against were Aaron Lennon and Shaun Wright-Phillips,’ he said. ‘They were just rapid. I raced Wrighty over 100 metres once. 50 metres in, he was 10 metres ahead of me.

‘You’d kick them and it was like they were made of rubber as you’d just bounce off them. When you came up against players who were so quick, you had to read the game well. As you didn’t want them getting the ball or they would roast you.’

Bridge also singled out a certain skillful Algerian winger as one of his trickiest adversaries who helped him realise it was time to hang up his boots.

Bridge (left) revealed that Aaron Lennon (centre) was one of the hardest players he had faced

Bridge also said being turned ‘inside out’ by Riyad Mahrez made him see his career was over

‘Another player I came up against at the back end of my career, and at that point I knew it was over for me, was Riyad Mahrez. 

‘I was playing in the Championship at time where I felt quite comfortable. He turned me inside out. The fact he has gone to have the career he has had, I don’t quite feel as bad now.’

Bridge went on to highlight what he believes is a key difference in elite football today compared to when he was playing. 

‘The game is a lot different today as back in my day players used to be good at tracking back. The wingers and forwards like (Kylian) Mbappe don’t do that today.’

Cole also told a second great story about putting in a two-footed tackle on Brazil legend Cafu

Reaching into his memories for another belting tale, Cole recalled a highly contentious and unexpected run-in with Brazil and AC Milan legend Cafu during his Chelsea days. 

‘We played AC Milan one season in a friendly and it was in the early days of Jose Mourinho,’ he said. ‘Wright-Phillips, who was my direct competition in the team at the time, got the nod over me. 

‘I was raging so I came on as a sub unhappy. The ball was right in front of the benches at the feet of Cafu and I just lost the plot. I two-footed him and smashed him which caused a brawl. (Gennaro) Gattuso was in my grid, (Paolo) Maldini was there. I didn’t know if to grab them or ask them for their autographs.

‘Five minutes later, the ball dropped to me and Gattuso absolutely did me. He got sent off for it. He was just laughing afterwards.’