Ashley Cole in New York City

Posted Monday, July 04, 2011 by The Sun

ASHLEY COLE has been getting restless in The City That Never Sleeps.

Ashley Cole in New York City

BROADWAY STAR ... Chelsea ace Ashley Cole in front of New York's Flatiron Building

Cole is back to his regular job this week - having been on a four-day business trip to New York - determined that Chelsea will return to the top under new boss Andre Villas-Boas.

And the England defender claims there will be no team better prepared for the challenge of winning the Premier League and Champions League than Chelsea.

Cole knows Villas-Boas from his time as the Blues' opposition scout under Jose Mourinho and never failed to be impressed by his attention to detail.

He says Villas-Boas is so meticulous he will know everything there is to know about every opposing team Chelsea come up against.

"Honestly, it was amazing how thorough he was," said Cole, as he looked out over the Manhattan skyline having invited SunSport across the pond for a rare interview.

"He would brief Jose on all the players we were facing to the point where we knew which foot they favoured, whether they liked to go inside or outside, preferred to cross deep or short, their stamina levels, the lot.

"If we'd wanted to know what they had for breakfast I'm sure he could have found out for us.

"We wouldn't see Andre on the training pitch but he would be there at all our games working away in the background. He was quite quiet but very polite and always said 'hello'.

"People say they are surprised he's Chelsea manager because he's so young but since he left us he's won everything he could at Porto.

"We already know how enthusiastic he is so hopefully it will all come together and we can start winning trophies again."

Cole, chosen by his team-mates as their player of the year last season, is getting used to the managerial merry-go-round at Stamford Bridge.

In his five years at the club he has had six different managers.

He only found out Carlo Ancelotti had been sacked after Chelsea's final game of the season at Everton when one of the players got a text saying the news was on Sky.