Cole tops stats in tour party
A trans-Atlantic trip may be just what Ashley Cole needs to take his mind off his ‘tapping-up’ troubles – and he arrives in the United States for England’s end-of-season tour as the top-ranked Premiership player present.
Chelsea duo Frank Lampard and John Terry are both undergoing minor surgery and are not travelling Stateside, leaving the Arsenal left-back as England’s main man in the Actim Index, the official ratings system of the Barclays Premiership and the Coca-Cola Championship.
Cole has an Index score for the season of 5.91 to place him seventh in the table, with Lampard and Terry second and fourth respectively after spearheading Chelsea’s title-winning campaign.
Sven-Goran Eriksson knows all about Cole’s talents but the main purpose of the trip is to test the international credentials of players less familiar to the Swede.
One such man is Luke Young.
The Charlton defender stepped into the breach following Manchester United right-back Gary Neville's withdrawal, and is in fact higher up the Index (46th) than the Red Devils star.
The 25-year-old scored 4.21 for the season, though he was pipped for the title of Charlton’s best player in the index by Danny Murphy, who has eight England caps to his name but is not in the squad for the tour.
Fulham defender Zat Knight is also in the tour party in place of Birmingham centre-back Matthew Upson.
Knight climbed 21 places in the Actim rankings to 135th with his goalscoring display in the Cottagers’ 6-0 drubbing of Norwich on the final day of the season.
This tour is also an opportunity for Arsenal centre-back Sol Campbell to prove he is worthy of a place in Eriksson’s first-choice line-up.
A season wrecked by injury is reflected in his lowly Actim Index ranking of 232, with a score of 2.02.
Wes Brown, whose entire career has been blighted by injury to date, is 145th after featuring in more than half of Manchester United’s Premiership games, including 18 as a starter.
The man they must all keep a close eye on on May 31 is Colombia striker Juan Pablo Angel.
The 29-year-old is 61st in the table with a score of 4.02, though he is no match for fellow South American club-mate Nolberto Solano.
The Peruvian is Aston Villa’s highest-rated player is 28th (4.58) and also above Angel is England’s very own Gareth Barry.
He is still only 24, can play in defence or midfield, and crucially he is naturally left-footed. Perhaps Sven should have found a place for Barry, 49th in the Index, in this squad too.
