AEROFLOT Manchester United Trophy Tour. Image credit: Norio NAKAYAMA, Flickr
During an exclusive interview with Esports Insider, Manchester United legend Andy Cole spoke about all things football after the new Premier League season kicked off.
Cole had his say on what to expect at Old Trafford this season, suggesting the club should have signed PSG shot stopper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Moreover, he also revealed he used to play old video games on his Nintendo 64 and Commodore, suggesting new-gen consoles are too tricky to play.
Esports Insider: Have you ever played EA Sports FC (FIFA), or do you still play?
Andy Cole: No, I’m so old school. I haven’t played in games like EA Sports FC. There are too many buttons now.
I was on the Nintendo 64, Commodore and all those kinds of things. Now there are too many buttons up and down.
ESI: Does your son ever challenge you?
Andy Cole: No, because my son’s decent, but like I said, because I’m so old school, it’s far too many buttons.
ESI: Moving on to real-life football, Ruben Amorim said the club proved United can beat any team in the Premier League after the Arsenal performance. Do you see where he’s coming from?
Andy Cole: Well, that’s what the Premier League’s about. Any team can beat any team. I think that’s what makes the league so exciting. But it was a positive performance for the first game of the season. Nobody wants to lose their first game of the season, especially at home, but you just have to try and take positives out of it. And it was a good, solid performance and come the weekend, hopefully, they will be able to get their first three points.
ESI: Mbuemo’s pace frightened Arsenal a little bit, don’t you think?
When you’ve got someone like Mbuemo who’s got loads of pace, it’s going to be a huge plus when he’s running in behind looking to stretch teams. He did it against Arsenal, and he did it at Brentford for many years. Now he’s got the big move to Manchester United, I can see him doing exactly the same thing.
ESI: What about Benjamin Sesko, given your experience, what advice do you have for him in these first weeks leading the line for United?
Andy Cole: Just enjoy it. The Premier League is totally different to the Bundesliga, so naturally it’s going to take him a little bit of time to settle.
Fingers crossed he’s given that little bit of time. But as you know, football now means people don’t really give anyone any time. So when he does get the chance to start week in week out, it’s ideal to try and get off the mark as quickly as possible. But just try and enjoy it as much as you can.
The pressure’s always going to be on, being a Manchester United striker, because it’s Manchester United. He’s still a young man. He’s still learning the game. Hopefully, everyone alongside him can help him in the next few months and then go from there.
ESI: Gianluigi Donnarumma, is he a goalkeeper Man United could do with having in net?
Andy Cole: He is a top goalkeeper, and I’m very surprised that he’s in that position he’s ended up in PSG.
His performances have been unbelievable. But then again, you don’t know what’s going on. Wherever he ends up, he will be an unbelievable goalkeeper for whoever he plays for. You mentioned Manchester United there. You don’t know because as a goalkeeper you’ve gotta know what he wants. Obviously, when you are at that level, Italian national team goalkeeper. You’re gonna look at yourself and say, well, I won the Champions League last season. I wanna be involved in the Champions League this season. He’s one of the best goalkeepers in the world.
Ultimately, what he ends up doing, he’s definitely a top goalkeeper. I’d love to see him at Man United. Of course I would. He’s a top goalkeeper. If Manchester United do get back in the Champions League, that obviously is a big temptation, and maybe they could tempt him. If it doesn’t happen from now to close the window, for instance, he’s gone somewhere by then. So you just don’t know. So you’ll have to wait and see. Football’s a game that can happen out of nowhere.
Image credit: StockSnap from Pixabay
ESI: What do you make of Isak’s situation? Back in the day, your move to Man Utd from Newcastle kind of just came out of nowhere. I guess you knew the deal was going through already?
Andy Cole: I remember I played for Newcastle in the FA Cup on Sunday, then I joined Manchester United on Tuesday. We’re all different. We’ve all got our likes and dislikes. We’ll deal with things differently. I’m not going to sit and say he’s been advised poorly or anything like that. I don’t know what’s going on.
You don’t know what’s going on. Obviously, he and his camp know what’s going on, and that’s a decision he’s taken. Am I saying he’s right or wrong? No. That’s not for me to say, but personally, I’d think about what I’d look to do. People might say I’m right, people might say I’m wrong. It is what it is.
ESI: Arsenal finally got their man in Victor Gyokores, but he got a bit of criticism after the game on Sunday. What have you seen of him in preseason, and will he be what Arsenal hope he can be?
Andy Cole: He played one game against Manchester United, and all of a sudden the knives are out!
I mean, no one is given time these days. People should be talking about him after five or six games, not after his first game. Fair enough, he didn’t play well, but it’s the first game of the season. I think we’re going to have to wait and see with him.
We know the Portuguese league is totally different to the Premier League. There’s an adjustment period, settling in, and obviously Arsenal need to be playing to his strengths, and then he’ll go from there. I’m not going to sit here and have a go at anybody, because he needs time to adjust.
ESI: United have got Fulham away next, and the team has got a great record there. How much confidence will eight wins in a row at Craven Cottage give United ahead of that game?
Andy Cole: You’ve got to approach every game to try and win every game. Like you touched on, they got a good record there, but sometimes you might go into a game thinking we’ve got a good record, and it doesn’t work out the way you want to work out.
Fulham ended up nicking a draw at the weekend away to Brighton, but this will be their first home game of the season. So it is not as if they’re going to say, right, we’re going to lie down for Manchester United. So I think it’s going to be another good game. Fulham played some real good stuff last season.
ESI: It looks like Ruben Amorim is not too keen on Rasmus Hojlund at this point in time. If you could give him some advice on how to turn it around, what would you say to him?
Andy Cole: Well, that’s another one. You always try to give advice, but ultimately you turn around and say, ‘you are not in that position anymore’.
You know when you’re playing, you’re in that position. You hear all the noise from the outside saying, ‘oh you should do this and you should do that’. If I go back to when I was playing, everyone’s got an opinion on everything, but no one knows what’s going on. It’s not for me to say, but if he stays or if he goes. in his head, he knows ultimately what he’s going to have to do.
If he moves on, ultimately, he’s going to have in his head what he has to do if he moves on. Only he can get himself in that position where he feels comfortable in whatever he’s doing. And at centre forward, you are always going to be judged on your goals anyway.
I mean, you could be terrible for 89 minutes and then score a tap-in from a yard, and the 89 minutes previously don’t count for anything because you’ve got the winner. That’s football, and that’s what it is for a centre forward. He’s just got to get his head down, like I say to young kids coming up, get your head down, enjoy it and it’s no different to when you’re a so-called senior pro or younger pro, you’ve just got to get your head down, enjoy it and when you’re given the opportunity you’ve got grasp it with both hands.
Image credit: PublicDomainPictures, Pixabay
ESI: I think people forget how young he still is. He’s been there two years, but really hasn’t had as consistent a run in the team as he’d wanted, but maybe he can knuckle down and get back in there?
Andy Cole: I think sometimes when you’re inexperienced yourself, you could do a little bit of help from someone a few years older, which I was fortunate to have in my time at Manchester United.
Players I played with, like Mark Hughes, Eric Cantona… With players like that, I felt like I was learning. I’m constantly learning from these guys and then not just those guys, but the guys in midfield and at the back as well. I had a lot of senior pros there that I could learn from and I could turn to. I think when you go to Manchester United and you’re a young individual, there’s a lot of pressure on you as a Manchester United centre forward.
ESI: What’s your favourite memory of Roy Keane from off the pitch?
Andy Cole: Roy is one of the nicest people you could ever come across. I’ve always said I’ve been fortunate; I’ve always had a good relationship with him. So to sit down in his company, have a conversation, have a laugh and a joke, I mean, those things for me are always things that I’ll always remember. He’s genuinely a really nice individual.
ESI: I’ve seen the United fans debating who’s the most underrated Manchester United player since 1992, and Dennis Irwin gets a lot of shouts. Who would get your vote for most underrated?
Andy Cole: Den has to be up there because he was Mr. Consistent. I think they paid £650,000 for Den. He was possibly one of the best left or right backs that the Premier League has ever had. But no one talks about that.
He did his job week-in, week-out to the best of his ability and the best of his ability to the top draw. You know, but like I said, he was the darling of the media? He wasn’t that guy really. But I definitely put Den up there. Free kicks and penalties too.
ESI: It’s only a couple of weeks until the Manchester derby already. If United play like they did against Arsenal, can the club get a result against City?
Andy Cole: They can get a result against anybody. Like the manager’s already touched on. What you’ve got to factor in your football as well.
Sometimes, that little bit of attention to detail. There might be that one mistake that costs you whatever may be, but you can beat anybody in full. Look at the FA Cup final. Did anyone expect Crystal Palace to beat Manchester City? Did anyone expect Crystal Palace to beat Liverpool in the Community Shield? It’s a new season, the Derby comes up and anything’s possible.
Image credit: Shutterstock
ESI: Newcastle is fighting for European spots again and winning trophies. Do you feel pride because you represented that club? Or do you still see a club that let you go too early when you could have done more?
Andy Cole: No, I don’t look at it like that. I think watching Newcastle win the League Cup last season, I was very happy for them. If you speak to any football fan and they’ll turn around and say, ‘delighted Newcastle finally won that cup’, because they were virtually everyone’s second team.
I played there under Kevin Keegan, the way they used to play football and they were nicknamed the entertainers at that time. It was always everyone’s second team. The passion of the fans, and in the Northeast as well, is just phenomenal. So when they won the League Cup, I was very, very happy for them.
When Palace won the FA Cup, I don’t think you could find anyone who said they didn’t want Palace to win, the first trophy they’ve won in their club’s history. Of course, you’re going to be happy for them. Why wouldn’t you be? You could be a hardened fan of any other football club, and Crystal Palace won their first ever trophy, so be happy for them. That’s what football is, football is about dreams.
ESI: For Newcastle, do you think playing in Europe this season might cost the club the chance of having a solid Premier League campaign? Or do you think they’ve got enough to fight on both fronts this year?
Andy Cole: We’ll have to wait and see, on that side, you’ve got more games. I think Eddie Howe has been trying to bring in players because you need more numbers. Because you’ll have more volume of games. So we’ll have to wait and see.
Pre-season hadn’t gone the way they would’ve liked it to have gone because they hadn’t won a game in pre-season, and drew at the weekend.
Ultimately, again, playing the way they did at the weekend, all that was missing was someone who could put the ball in the back of the net. And you end up finding yourself in positions like that. I think they’ll be okay, they’re a good team. They proved it last season, and the reinforcements will make them a better team.
ESI: Darwin Nunez never made the grade at Liverpool. In the end, he went over to the Saudi Pro League. Do you think he’s found his level over there?
Andy Cole: I’m not sitting here to say he’s found his level, he’s not found his level. He went to Liverpool, and I think he did well at Liverpool. I mean, people are going to talk about how he missed some good chances or whatever may be, he gave a hundred percent every time we watched him play, he gave a hundred percent, and he got himself in those positions.
He could get himself in those positions. He didn’t take every chance that he got, but you can’t take away the fact that he scored some really important goals for Liverpool as well.
ESI: Is it disappointing to see players like Ivan Toney go over to the Saudi Pro League at the peak years of their career?
Andy Cole: Look, the decisions they make, I’ll go back to, you can only ask these guys.
I’m not going to sit here and say, ‘oh you should never have done that’. If I found myself in that position, I don’t know what I would’ve done. So I’m not going to be trying to be hypocritical about anything because when you’re in a certain position, you don’t know what decision you would’ve made. So, for me, at my age, outside looking in, you turn and say, well, he’s made that decision based on X, Y, Z.
I’m not one of those Ex-Pros who turns around and says ‘but you should never have done this. Should never have done that’.
I had my time. I thoroughly enjoyed my time. I’m not going to sit and have a go at anybody for making decisions that they feel are best for themselves. I’m old enough, stupid enough to know what I’m saying now. Because sometimes you say something, then someone misconstrues it or makes it out the way they want and makes it to say, Andy Cole said he’s an absolute idiot for going there.
And that’s the kind of decision you need to make between yourself, your wife, or your girlfriend. You have to think about everything.
ESI: You said before that one of the most clinical finishes in Premier League history was Robbie Fowler. Is there anyone in the Premier League at the moment who can come close to him?
Andy Cole: I don’t think so, no. He was probably an individual that I used to watch closely, I mean, finishing, he was quality. The game has changed now, everyone’s crying out for that number nine.
ESI: If the 1999 Andy Cole played now in 2025, would you score more goals or or less goals?
Andy Cole: I’d always turn around and say, I back myself to score more goals. The game has now just changed so much. But then you can factor in return and say, well, VAR. That would take goals away because if you’re talking like you’re going to be ruled offside because of you’re kneecap or if you’re size six and you’re a size 10, all these kinds of stupid things, you’ll have more goals chalked off.
So I’d sit down and say, yeah I think I will, but then I turn around and say to myself, well, I’m not sure because the one when you are, you are half a yard onside, they’re giving it offside, so you just don’t know.
ESI: Do you think linemen used to give the benefit of the doubt to the striker back in the day?
Andy Cole: Yeah, of course they did. But it’s not down to the linesman anymore, is it? It’s down to the camera saying, he’s a size 10, that’s why he is offside, but if it were a size six, he’d be onside. You know, straight away, that’s nonsense. That’s the benefit that the centre forward should have.
Image credit: Sergey Nivens / Shutterstock.
ESI: Mo Salah equalled your record of 187 Premier League goals this weekend. What do you think of him?
Andy Cole: He’s been phenomenal. Absolutely phenomenal. He’s got as much in the tank as he wants. I mean, he looks Uber fit, hungry to win games, hungry to score goals. If he keeps going like that, he won’t have any problems surpassing me. I don’t rock myself to sleep.
Say to myself, ‘Oh my God…’, no. I don’t care. I literally don’t care. What makes me happy is that I’ve been retired for over 15 years now. You know, I’m 53 now, and I look at and turn and say to myself, sh*t, I’m still up there. 187 goals, one penalty. I was never a penalty taker.
So I look at that and I say to myself, sh*t. That has stood the test of time for sure. Now, if I’d taken penalties, I’d have had a hell of a lot more. I was thinking that you could have got to 230, 240 maybe. I’m very, very proud of my record.
ESI: Obviously, you played for Manchester United and Manchester City. Would you rather be playing for Man City or Man United right now?
Andy Cole: Man United. Obviously, it’s gonna take time as a project to be built now. If I’m a young centre forward now, spearheading that project for the next, I don’t know, five years or whatever. And then ultimately, you know, if you get that project right within the next five years and you help them get himself back to the pinnacle.
ESI: The target for this season is top four, but getting back to challenging for the title, you think that’s the five-year plan at Man United
Andy Cole: It has to be. And everything’s a process. It’s gotta run its course. Now you can’t close gaps within a year, two years, it’s gotta be superhuman. There can’t be any PSR if you’re gonna close the gap that quickly, so it’s gonna take time.
If you look at Liverpool winning the league last season, it was brilliant. Never bringing any new players. Liverpool has now spent £300 million. In turn, you say to yourself, are they gonna be a better team? Of course, they’re gonna be a better team now. They’ve gone here, spending 300 million to improve themselves. So now the team in second place has gotta try and catch them. The team in third place has gotta try and catch the team in second place. So it’s a bit of a domino effect, and it’s gonna take time to improve.
Liverpool didn’t win the league for 30 years. And then they’ve got themselves in a position now where people are saying this season they’re gonna win the league and could possibly dominate for the next four or five years. Football goes in cycles. Last season, everyone said Man City would win the league.
Liverpool won. But before that, everyone would say Man City time’s come to an end. So it’s about building blocks, closing the gap. I think Manchester United will close the gap, but it’ll be steady within the next four or five years maybe. You gotta close that gap.
ESI: Sunderland have spent £130m in the summer. Do you think the club has a chance at staying up this year?
Andy Cole: Yeah, like all the teams, Sunderland would give it a very good go. It all depends on results going their way. A little bit of luck. Experience, inexperience. There’s many factors in the teams when they come up to stand in the Premier League. Nine times out of 10, it is about winning more games than another team in your position.
So that’s not gonna change. We can talk about, yeah, they’re gonna go straight back down. We never know, but if you win more games than the other teams around you, you will stay up. It’s harder for teams that come up. It’s because you’re trying to find players that want to come to your club, not knowing if they’re gonna be good enough to stay up. But if you stay up, you look to build on that.
ESI: Final question, do you feel like football is not as entertaining right now as it was in your heyday?
Andy Cole: It’s changed a lot. It’s a little bit sterile. Sometimes, watching the other team,s you try and play like each other. Come on, man. Think outside the box.
You all can’t be sheep. You know, someone’s gotta do something a little bit different. And when I think about football, when I played, people say everyone played 4-4-2, but everyone was trying a little bit somewhere else.
Someone played a long ball, flick on or whatever, some wanna get it down and play and all, it was always different. There was a mixture of everything going on. If you take away the Premier League and you go to the Championship or League One, everyone’s trying to play like that as well. And you think, come on, everyone can’t play the same way. We’ve gotta be a little bit different, we’ve gotta wanna be different. Everything’s based on stats now; it’s become very American.
