Por Joe Rusling 
June 11th, 2017. 2712 days ago, Lewis Cook became the first Englishman since Bobby Moore to lift a World Cup trophy, captaining the Young Lions to a 1-0 victory over Venezuela in the final of the FIFA U20 World Cup in South Korea. Now, aged 27, he is in the form of his life and an integral figure for a Bournemouth side that has impressed many this season. With eight members of Lee Carsley’s last England squad dropping out for the upcoming Nations League fixtures, including centre-midfielder, Declan Rice, the Cherries’ man continues to be overlooked despite being one of the best midfielders in the Premier League this season. With the imminent arrival of German Thomas Tuchel, could Cook be the man to provide the balance and unlock England’s outstanding talent going forward?
Cook has been excellent this season, but this shouldn’t be dismissed as solely a start of season purple patch. Last season, only Rodri made more ball recoveries than Cook and the once-capped England man seemed reinvented under manager, Andoni Iraola. He formed a reliable midfield partnership with Scotsman Ryan Christie, guiding Bournemouth to their highest point total in their Premier League history and keeping star signing Alex Scott out of the side, who was signed from Bristol City for £25m last summer. Cook was rewarded with a new four-year deal in the summer of 2024, with the Cherries, who have owners with ambitions of European football one day, seeing him as a vital first-team player for years to come.
His all-action, hard-working playstyle has made him a fan favourite at Dean Court. Physically, he is able to compete with anyone in the league, and seems adamant to cover every blade of grass on the pitch, always looking out for his teammates. Whilst Antoine Semenyo, who has also been fantastic this season, will be getting the more notable plaudits outside the club, it is Cook who has been the team’s player of the season so far for many fans.
As well as his defensive strengths, he has also helped with the attacking effort, with 1 goal and 3 assists so far this season, his exquisite through ball to set up Kliuvert after a well-worked move against Brentford last weekend demonstrated his creative potential. He has also made 5.23 progressive passes per 90 minutes. Not numbers that are out of this world, but prove he isn’t the type of player who just simply plays backwards and sideways, and looks to be positive where he can.
Statistically, Cook has been one of the best midfielders off the ball in the division. He has made more tackles and interceptions than any other English midfielder and by quite some distance. Cook has made 50 in total, for context, the next best Englishman is Kobbie Mainoo with just 30, while Declan Rice sits even lower with 23. Of course, there are reasons for this. One could argue Bournemouth are a side that doesn’t prioritise possession, unlike the likes of Arsenal, leading to more defensive actions. However, it cannot be disputed that these numbers are incredibly impressive, and makes the England snub somewhat dubious, especially with the absence of Declan Rice. He has a unique quality as an Englishman and has a profile that the country seemed to lack at Euro 2024.
Something else he could offer to the young England squad is leadership. Lewis Cook is a born leader and has had a career already filled with so many ups and downs. He has captained the Cherries on numerous occasions this season as well as being captain of England at multiple youth levels. Of course, as mentioned, he also led his team to the FIFA U20 World Cup in 2017.
Before this moment, Lewis Cook had already made eighty Championship appearances for Leeds United, sealed a £6m move to AFC Bournemouth, and made his Premier League debut against Manchester United. He was raved about across the football spectrum, from pundits to Football Manager lovers to players alike, with Jermaine Defoe comparing him to his former teammate and Ballon D’or winner, Luka Modric.
He made his debut for the England senior team in March 2018, coming off the bench to face Italy in a pre-2018 FIFA World Cup friendly. It looked like the world was at his feet, but little did 21-year-old Cook know the challenges and setbacks his career would provide him with at such a young age.
In December 2018, as he was establishing himself as a regular starter for Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth side, Cook ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), in a Premier League contest with Huddersfield Town. A devastating blow for the highly-rated youngster. The former Leeds man left no stone unturned on his road to recovery, visiting experts around the world, determined to return and reach the levels of which many believed he was destined.
He returned to the starting lineup in September 2019, after a lengthy 9 months on the sideline but just 18 months later, Cook’s luck took another disastrous turn. It happened again. Same knee, same injury. Aged 24, Cook decided to document his road to recovery, with a club documentary called “Relentless”. What particularly shines through is Cook’s mentality and capability to take every possible positive step in his stride, despite at a time of such personal vulnerability.
It’s this mentality and resilience that has driven Cook to the level he has reached now. He now has over 200 league appearances for Bournemouth and has clearly improved with consistent game time, something that he lacked due to his unlucky injury record in his early twenties.
Lewis Cook does not hide his ambition to play for England once again, revealing in many interviews that he is hopeful to force his way into the reckoning. The fresh eyes of Thomas Tuchel in January, when he takes over the reins as the England boss, will give Cook motivation to impress. When looking at Tuchel’s tactical system at previous clubs Bayern Munich and Chelsea, there certainly seems to be a role that Cook could be perfect for.
One thing consistent about Tuchel’s tactical approach is his use of a centre-midfield partnership, whether it be a back 3 or back 4, a midfield system that Cook has shined in for the past two seasons with Bournemouth. At Bayern, this partnership was with Pavlovic and Goretzka. Pavlovic in this system was more reserved, breaking up the play and keeping it ticking in midfield while Goretzka drove forward, looking to attack the box and find passes, but also looked to recover the ball in transition.
During the Euros, it was Declan Rice who played as the deepest midfielder of England’s midfield three. This however, is not the role Mikel Arteta deploys him in at Arsenal, where he drives forward with the ball, in a more box-to-box context. It was said by many during the Euros, including pundit Gary Neville that the role of which Southgate disposed of Rice, was not getting the best out of him and the team could’ve benefited from him playing a role alike the one he plays domestically. If Tuchel sees Rice in this way, in a Goretzka-esque role of his Bayern system, the position of his midfield partner is certainly one up for grabs.
Jude Bellingham would be many people’s choice of the partner for Declan Rice, but England must learn that shoehorning every talented player in the team does not work. Furthermore, Bellingham in Tuchel’s system in a more advanced role will thrive. It just takes a look at how his youth team compatriot Jamal Musiala performed last season in the Tuchel system further up the pitch. Also, taking it back a few years, under Tuchel at Chelsea, Mason Mount played his best football in Tuchel’s system. Mount right now is clearly showing no form deserving of being recalled anytime soon; who knows, under new boss Ruben Amorim this may change, but Bellingham has great potential to fulfil this role in a similar dynamic manner.
England are blessed with young midfield talent, with Southgate opting for Adam Wharton and Kobbie Mainoo during the summer. Lee Carsley has also made Angel Gomes, an everpresent member of his squads after being a key player for his under-21 side. However, Cook offers a maturity and discipline that others cannot. With football getting younger, people may ludicrously see Lewis Cook at age 27 as “too old” to be the answer for England at this stage. However, the appointment of Thomas Tuchel on just an 18-month contract shows that the FA have a short-term vision, and want to win the England (mens) team’s first major trophy since 1966, with a clear ambition to win the World Cup in 2026. England are beyond the stage of embedding in youth for them to be ready for the next tournament, now they must win something with the crop of talent they have.
It must also be noted that Dominic Solanke, a teammate of Cook’s at Bournemouth and in that World Cup-winning squad of 2017, is the same age as Cook and recently received a recall. This opens up another debate about whether it is the team a player plays for that overrides merit when it comes to being in the England squad. Solanke, made his England debut in 2017, whilst at Liverpool, despite not even having scored a Premier League goal at the time. After a 2019 move to Bournemouth, and spending five years at the club, including his 19-goal campaign last season, no call-up came until his £65m move to Tottenham Hotspur this summer. Therefore, does Cook need a move like Solanke to carry out his ambition of playing for England once again?
It seems like there is some unconscious bias when it comes to these decisions for England managers. Take Curtis Jones for example. The Liverpool man has been excellent this season and is more than deserving of his England call-up. However, had Jones been performing at this level at a mid-table side like Brentford for example, who would be to say he would’ve even entered the managers’ thoughts? This is the same for pundits. Gary Neville, for example, said England needed a player like Harry Winks, citing that England “lack a player that gets them playing”. While Neville may raise a valid argument, if Winks hadn’t been a Tottenham academy product and mainstay for many years, who is to say his name would be anywhere near Neville’s suggestions for the squad, compared to the likes of Lewis Cook for example, who barely gets a mention from experts around these conversations.
However, it was refreshing to see in the summer that the biggest representation for the England squad in the summer came from Crystal Palace, with four players in the squad for the Euros. Palace’s form towards the backend of the season was impossible to ignore for Southgate. This can serve as encouragement for the likes of Cook that it is possible. He may have to work twice as hard, but he just has to continue what he is doing and people will eventually catch on.
Unfortunately for Cook, the harsh reality is that as a 27-year-old playing for Bournemouth, an England call-up is very difficult, but his character and mentality through all the challenges of his career can encourage him that it is by no means impossible. On his current trajectory, he will already go down as an AFC Bournemouth legend and can be immensely proud of his career to date; but Cook knows he has so much more to offer, whether that be for his club or country.
Joe Rusling – joerusling@hotmail.co.uk