Ashley Cole reveals how his coaching journey has made him a 'better person' as he lifts the lid on working under 'disciplined' Jose Mourinho & Carlo Ancelotti at Chelsea

Cole began his coaching career at Derby County in 2019 following his retirement from playing, soon following former team-mate Frank Lampard to both Chelsea and Everton as his assistant. Cole first took up the role as Lee Carsley’s England U21 assistant on a part-time basis in 2021, briefly spending a period as assistant coach for the senior team during Carsley’s interim period in the top job, before Cole joined the FA on a full-time basis in September 2024.

A marauding left-back in his playing days, Cole is viewed by many as arguably the greatest player in his position in Premier League history, shining at Arsenal before winning near enough all there is to win at Chelsea. The 44-year-old has since taken the plunge into coaching and while he has not yet become a manager or head coach, he has revealed how his time in coaching has helped him develop not only his skills on the training pitch, but also his interpersonal skills and off-field qualities needed to become a top modern-day coach.

Cole was speaking as part of the Chase football coaching programme, an initiative where a group of aspiring football coaches were given the unique opportunity to learn from England U21 assistant Cole and Lionesses legend Fara Williams during a coaching masterclass at Wembley Stadium.

Cole said on his time as a coach so far: "I had a long, good career and it was, you know a few things. Giving back to football, that gave me a lot. Trying to help and develop people and create the new Ashley Cole, Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira.

"What Chase has done here with this football programme is brilliant. I think we're enhancing people's ability to communicate. We're enhancing people's ability to connect. And grow. And learn. And develop.

"You start to learn people. You know, is he mad? Is he angry? Is he sad? Is he super happy? Through coaching, that's given me that ability to read people a bit. Which I think in the long run is going to make people better. So, I definitely learnt how to be a better person through my coaching journey."

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There is no doubt that Cole learnt a lot from the top managers and coaches he worked under during his playing career. 

The three-time Premier League winner said on two of his iconic former bosses: "Jose Mourinho was very disciplined, strong, expectations high. Standards in training. Which has helped me grow as a coach because I really like that. 

“Then Carlo Ancelotti who was more, know the person than the player. Get to know the person within this player, that has to give everything for the badge. So the communication skills of his were top. The understanding of people and as I alluded to before, really understanding the signs of people. 

“Are they in distress, are they not playing well, how are they feeling? He was very, very good at that so, I definitely learnt from that and tried to develop my people skills a little bit more from that.”

During his early coaching career thus far, Cole has demonstrated his ability to coach and develop young players, playing a key role in England U21 winning back-to-back European titles under the stewardship of Carsley and Cole alongside him.

Where the 44-year-old decides to go with his coaching career next remains to be seen. Compared with contemporaries such as Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney, Cole’s coaching career thus far has gone somewhat more under the radar. The former Chelsea man will no doubt continue to build up his skills as an assistant with the U21s and will aim to take his coaching career to new heights in the future.