Joe Cole on Messi: bit of a bold one, that

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MessiMagic10

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Jan 25, 2025
Joe Cole has come out with the line that “we’ll put Messi to bed”, and it’s already doing the rounds for obvious reasons. It’s the kind of quote that guarantees people will either laugh it off or take it as proper fuel, depending on who they support.

It does feel a bit like classic pundit talk though, doesn’t it. Big statement, lots of noise, not much room for subtlety. Still, you have to admire the confidence, even if it sounds like he’s asking for trouble.

What do people make of it then, genuine belief, cheap chat, or just the sort of thing that gets everyone talking for a few days?
 
The officials will probably let him get away with saying it as well which is the funniest part because if a player even looks at Messi funny theyre all over it but pundits can come out with this nonsense and nobody bats an eyelid its just constant double standards from refs and officials and the whole lot of them love the spotlight when they should be keeping their mouths shut
 
There is a point in having confidence before a big game, and pundits are always going to lean into that sort of language, but this one is so over the top it almost becomes self-parody. You can tell exactly what he is trying to do, create a bit of edge, make it sound like there is a plan, make the whole thing feel bigger than just another interview, but then you remember it is Joe Cole saying we will put Messi to bed and it just turns into a meme instantly. That is modern football media in a nutshell really, everyone wants the quote that travels, nobody wants the sensible answer, and half the time the sensible answer would be boring anyway, but still, this is the kind of line that gets quoted forever and probably used against him if it goes badly
 
It is a classic pundit soundbite, nothing more. The confidence is amusing, but Messi is the sort of player who makes that kind of talk look ridiculous very quickly. If anything, the quote says more about the media cycle than the actual football.
 
If you strip away the bravado, it is just a very standard bit of pundit theatre, the sort of thing that exists to make everyone pick a side and argue about whether it is disrespectful or hilarious, and that part is fine because football needs a bit of nonsense now and then, but the problem is he has chosen Messi, the one player where that sort of confidence sounds absurd before the ball is even kicked, and now every touch will be framed like some kind of judgement on the quote itself and honestly I love that because it is ridiculous and completely self inflicted and if it goes wrong he deserves every bit of stick coming his way
 
I get why people are laughing, because it is a huge statement for any pundit to make about Messi. But at the same time, it is only a quote, and football people say daft things all the time to get attention imo
 
honestly this is exactly why football twitter and pundit culture is unbearable sometimes because one bloke says a massive line like this and then everyone acts like its the second coming of war and peace when really its just joe cole chatting absolute rubbish for a headline and half the replies are just people pretending they wouldnt be saying the same thing if they were on telly and the funniest bit is when it inevitably gets thrown back in his face because thats how these things always go and then everyone suddenly becomes a tactical genius overnight and starts pretending they knew it was nonsense from the start
 
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