Joe Cole interview: ‘Winning the FA Cup is crucial for Chelsea. It can help settle things down’

“Wow, it is a long time. That is quite damning.”

Joe Cole has just been reminded that it has been eight years since Chelsea last won one of the domestic cups — the FA Cup or Carabao Cup.

Such a barren streak was unheard of when the former England international was at Stamford Bridge between 2003 and 2010. During that period, he collected three FA Cup winners’ medals and another two in the Carabao Cup. After Cole left Chelsea won another three — the FA Cup in 2012 and 2018 and the League Cup in 2015.

Chelsea supporters used to light-heartedly joke about Wembley being the club’s second home, such was the frequency of going there to see the team win. But that feeling of comfort is a distant memory.

It is not as if they have not come close since 2018. Chelsea own the unwanted record of being the first English club to lose six domestic cup finals in succession (three in the FA Cup, three in the League Cup), the last of which was the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool in 2024. That is the only time they have got to a domestic cup final in the May 2022-onwards Todd Boehly-Clearlake era.

Chelsea did win the Conference League and Club World Cup last season to get the current regime off the mark in terms of silverware. But in their fourth season, the FA Cup is the only trophy still on the table. Cole believes winning is a must.

“Lifting the FA Cup would mean more than both the Conference League and Club World Cup,” Cole tells The Athletic. “What they did last season was an achievement, and the players should be proud of it. But the FA Cup stands above them.

“The financial side of the club may beg to differ and say, ‘We won a lot of money from the Club World Cup’. But you can’t buy history, culture, what it means to people. The FA Cup has it in abundance. It won’t have the same financial clout, but in the hearts and minds of all football fans, not just Chelsea fans, it will certainly sit above those two trophies.

“In the Chelsea team I played for, we had a knack of winning a cup even if we fell short in the league (Cole also won the Premier League three times at Chelsea). That wasn’t by accident. There was an understanding of how to win games of football. When the standards dropped in terms of the league, we were always able to fall back on something like the FA Cup.

“You can win trophies that you do not look like winning. You don’t have to be straining to win a trophy and play at your best all the time. There is something in the blood and culture of the club to do it. Chelsea used to have that knack, but at the moment, they are trying to get back to that.”

Chelsea have a great opportunity to reach the semi-final. They face Port Vale, who are bottom of League One, at Stamford Bridge on Saturday in the last eight of the competition.

But confidence is low right now. Chelsea lost four straight games heading into the international break — only the second time they have experienced such a bad run since the 1990s. Liam Rosenior’s side have also won just one of their last six league games. This has caused them to drop to sixth in the Premier League, and their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League next season via a top-five finish are at risk.

The club’s fanbase are turning on the hierarchy. A protest is taking place ahead of the Manchester United fixture later this month. It is the second to be held this year. Faith in Rosenior, who succeeded Enzo Maresca as head coach in January, is also diminishing.

Rosenior revealed on Friday that Chelsea vice-captain Enzo Fernandez has been dropped for the games against Port Vale and Manchester City after making comments that were considered to have cast doubt on his future at the club. Fernandez’s agent, Javier Pastore, told The Athletic the decision was “completely unfair”. Earlier in the week Marc Cucurella had ‘paid the price’ for a lack of experience and he would not have let Maresca go when the club did.

Cole is accustomed to speaking his mind. The 44-year-old is a regular pundit at games and co-hosts a podcast alongside former Chelsea team-mate Ashley Cole called Could It Be Magic?, which is supported by Carling. Cole, speaking before the news about Fernandez, is sympathetic to how Chelsea fans are feeling.

“There is massive unrest, and there are multiple reasons for that,” he says. “Under the previous regime, everyone knew what was going on. There was mayhem at times, but there was always the same thing in mind: to win trophies. Managers would get sacked, players would be sold, but it was always with the premise to improve the team, win trophies and grow the club. There seems to be a different way of doing it now. I think the business has been put above the football.

“With a football club, there is a spirit and a community to it. You have to be transparent at all times. It is very difficult when your ambitions don’t match what the supporters are used to. That’s where the friction comes. It’s not just about the owners. All fans want more than what a club can offer you. Which fans are happy with what they have got? But these owners have taken over a club that is used to shooting for the stars, and they are not doing the same. They are not really bringing in the type of players to help the ones that are already there to help go on to the next level.

“In saying that, if Chelsea win the FA Cup this year and qualify for the Champions League, that has to be regarded as a fantastic season. That takes them to the summer, and the people at the top should look at the plan, the key performance indicators and go, ‘Are we winning these trophies because we are on the right path or for other reasons? Do we pivot or carry on with what we are doing?’

“If they don’t win the FA Cup and miss out on the Champions League, then the owners have to do a real appraisal of where they are. Chelsea will be four years into their project and at a critical point. This is how crucial the FA Cup is; it is massively important for the club. It can help settle things down.”

Chelsea have a maximum of 10 fixtures remaining for the 2025-26 campaign, and Cole believes this will be a help rather than a hindrance to Rosenior turning things around.

“I think Liam is a very, very good coach,” he says. “I know how obsessive he is. The international break has come at a good time for him to have a breather and assess it. In order for the team to reboot and reevaluate, I’d look at everything around the culture at the club and go back to basics. Don’t be worried about player values. He should think, ‘Which players are with me? Which can I trust to go on the pitch?’

“He doesn’t have time to develop this guy and worry about giving someone game time. No. It is all about, ‘How can we win?’ It will upset some people, but you only have to look at them for another seven to eight weeks. They will go away on holiday, to the World Cup, and then you can reset.

“This is an easier stage to man-manage almost because there are so few games left. Anyone who wants out the door or a new contract… we are in April. There are just two months left. You just have to get on with things, be professional, win games, look after each other. It is different to being worried about keeping someone happy when there are seven months still to go.”

As a skilled playmaker himself, it is no surprise Cole is a big admirer of Cole Palmer. The England international has not found consistent form all season, having been managed carefully since suffering a groin injury in September.

Cole is confident he will make the difference regardless. He concludes: “Cole at 80 per cent can still win you games so you just have to stick with him. He is the best player at the club and a leader as well. I think he will have a really good end to the season and go into the World Cup with England, where people will think, ‘He is our guy’.”

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