Liverpool striker crisis good news for Joe Cole?

On transfer deadline day there was one potentially significant piece of business at Anfield, even if it may not feel like it just yet.

Joe Cole did not clinch a move away from the club, permanently or on loan, and the player did not want one. He wants to stay and fight for his place prove the doubters wrong, and that's an attitude even the most ardent Liverpool fans can't complain at, even if they doubt his ability to win them around.

Cole was infamously touted as 'Liverpool's answer to Messi' upon signing in 2010, but Cole just never got it together, and when Kenny Dalglish took over from Roy Hodgson in early 2011 Cole was shunted to the sidelines.

His start at the club was disastrous, his main early contribution was a red card and a missed penalty. He soon found himself featuring for a second string side in the Europa League rather than nailing down a first team starting spot.

He was loaned out to Lille last season, choosing to play for a Champions League club rather than a Premier League struggler, and that broadening of his horizons has to be admired when the easy option would have been to stay in the Premier League.

Now back, he simply wants to show what he can do, and who can blame him?

If he can't make his breakthrough now at Liverpool, its likely he never will, so these next few months will be pivotal as his career moves forward.

Liverpool's lack of striking options is well documented, they got it wrong on deadline day, and will now be looking for options to support Luis Suarez and Fabio Borini in attack.

Now Joe Cole is not a striker, but he can play in a forward role, as he often did for Chelsea, excelling and scoring a crucial goal at Old Trafford in Chelsea's 2-1 win which ultimately won them the title in 2009-10.

Cole can play wide on either flank, at one point the England left wing spot was his, or through the middle as a support striker, and would seem to fit seamlessly into Brendan Rodgers' fluid 4-5-1/4-3-3 formation.

Cole has the touch of creativity Liverpool could thrive off. The problem is that both Borini and Suarez like to drop deep too and the club really need an out and out striker, but Cole can be of service if the tactics are right and he puts in the performances.

As Rodgers looks to spread his thin squad around Premier League, Europa League, and League Cup fixtures, Cole will get his chances if he can stay fit, and it's just up to him to take them.

Aged 30, he still has a lot to offer, and now could be his time to start paying the club back. The tough news for him was just as he seemed to be getting his chance, he suffered an injury in Liverpool's opening Europa League qualifier against Gomel.

That has kept him out since, but it is not serious, and he is expected to return to the squad in time for the club's away trip to Sunderland.

The week after, they host Manchester United. Make an impression in that, and wipe out what has gone one before, he will instantly become a club hero.

Can Cole have an impact this season? Is this his last chance

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