Crewe Alex: Callum Cooke

Callum Cooke joined Crewe Alexandra on loan from Premier League side Middlesbrough, on what seemed to be a fairly busy transfer deadline day – the first as manager for Dave Artell. Since his arrival at Gresty Road, he has become a fans favourite.

The 20 year old from Peterlee celebrates his birthday today, knowing he has made a big impact and help to turn a struggling side around into a team unbeaten in 3 – 2 of which were victories, the other an excellent comeback from 2-0 down to gain a point away from home. He scored his first goal for the club in the first of the two victories, a 5-0 thrashing of Grimsby Town, slotting home the last of many goals in that match. He also put in an eye catching performance in that game and the one previous to that, a 4-0 defeat to Exeter – truly humbling. The youngster put in another quality performance in the 5-0 victory, as well as claiming the goal, Cooke also got an assist setting up stand out player George Cooper.

Speaking to the Crewe Chronicle, source for the quotes, he said: “It was great to make my home debut, I was looking forward to playing in front of the fans, and the place erupted.’ Cooke also praised his teammates, saying, “The lads have made me feel really welcome, the staff and everybody around the club have been absolutely great. The players as well have been first class and that`s helped me.’

Though he has only made 4 appearances in Crewe Alexandra colours, he has made a big impact.
He is quick, skilful, precise and has a good shot – sounding on paper similar to my favourite Alex player Alex Kiwomya, however the two players have different styles and qualities, so it’s unfair to compare the both. They are two different types of player.

Another positive trait beaconing from Callum is his consistency. I know one swallow doesn’t make a summer, but if his initial performances are anything to go by… Artell has made a top quality addition to the side in Callum Cooke. Hopefully to help us keep pushing away from the position he joined us in, he can keep up his consistent and high quality performances.

We have gone unbeaten in 3 and I believe we can extend that to 4, when we play Stevenage FC at home on Saturday (25/02/17). We outplayed them at their place on the very first game of the season, we were on top all game. The debut and impact appearance of a certain Alex Kiwomya secured the win, he came on and assisted Ryan Lowe also scoring a breathtaking solo goal. Stevenage however have picked up their form since then, purely going off the fact they are sitting pretty in 8th – just 1 point off the playoffs. My match day prediction will be similar to that of the first game of the season. If we allow them to bully us off the ball and play a physical game, we will struggle, but if we control the game play ‘proper’ passing football and keep it on the ground, our actual quality will be greater than their physicality.