'I was in London having lunch, and decided to ring The FA, I asked "Is Sven Goran-Eriksson there? Can I come and see him?"' Joe Cole on the random afternoon when he confronted the England manager in his office and asked for more international game time

"It's a phrase that has both positive and negative connotations. You may like "Sometimes being a luxury player is good everyone wants to be a Matt Le Tissier rather than a hod carrier. A lot of the time, though, people would talk about the things that I wasn't good at. "I fought against that a lot during my career, trying to show people that wasn't the case, even with Sven-Goran Eriksson and England."

"So I went to see him, because I felt like I was the best equipped to play on the left side of midfield for England, but he'd gone through Kieron Dyer, Alan Thompson and big Emile Heskey, who had played out there at times. "I said, 'Every time I come on for England, I feel like I'm performing, why am I not getting the shirt from the start?'"

Joe Cole enjoyed a successful club career, with memorable spells at West Ham United and Chelsea where he scored important Premier League goals. His most enduring moment for many fans is his spectacular goal against Sweden at the 2006 World Cup. He acknowledged being labelled a 'luxury player' and used that phrase as the title of his book, noting the label carries both positive and negative connotations. He resisted that perception by working to improve perceived weaknesses. He proactively sought clarification about his England role by visiting manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, discussed how to improve, and six months later secured a starting shirt.

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