Even though Jake Cooper had racked up more assists than Neymar by mid-November and is Millwall’s second-highest scorer this season with six goals, Neil Harris will be relieved to hear his centre-back is not considering becoming a striker.
“I don’t think that would go down too well with the manager,” Cooper laughs. “He wouldn’t take a risk like that. Everyone likes to attack and if someone wanted to play me there I would be more than happy to. But I’m a central defender at heart and that’s where my main job is.”
Cooper stands nearly two metres tall in his socks (6ft 4in) and it is easy to see why the 23-year-old graduate from Reading’s academy has enjoyed such success in front of goal when you meet him in person. Despite failing to add to the six assists since the comparison to the world’s most expensive player was made, Cooper is a towering presence who is unsurprisingly relishing the opportunity to face an Everton side that have conceded 10 goals from set pieces this season – the second-most in the Premier League – when they visit the Den in the FA Cup fourth round on Saturday.
“We do use them a lot in our game,” he says. “We have a few players who are big threats coming forward for corners and free-kicks. I think we can target anyone with set plays with the players we’ve got. We have to make sure we use that against Everton.”
Having been persuaded to become a defender by his father – “Everyone else wanted to be a striker so he just told me I had to play there” – Cooper joined Reading at 14 and played for England at several youth levels, including the under-20s in 2016. While admitting those days feel a long time ago in the midst of a relegation battle with Millwall, he believes that experience has helped him to become one of the club’s most consistent performers, thanks to the guidance of the club’s manager, Harris.
“It was great experience – I was playing with Marcus Rashford and Harry Winks in those sides so you could say it helped with my career,” says Cooper.
“I learned a lot about playing with top players because it is very technical at that level. But it’s very different to the Championship or League One, which is a lot more physical with teams fighting for points. I would love to play for England again but I’ve got a lot more things that I need to improve in my game to get anywhere near that level. The aim is to push with Millwall and be the best I can be. The loyalty that the club has shown to me since I came and the help they have given me here has been magnificent.”
Cooper, a perfect example of Millwall’s smart recruitment under Harris, arrived initially on loan in January 2017 before moving permanently that summer. Despite having made more than 50 appearances for his boyhood club, he was playing for Reading’s reserve side when Harris watched him in an under-23s match against Everton.
“The manager came to the game and he liked me. I knew Reading wanted to get me out on loan and I had a couple of choices but Millwall was always the one that stood out for me. I couldn’t tell you how he found me, though. You’d have to ask him!”
Millwall achieved promotion to League One via the play-offs in 2017 and Cooper was pictured riding home from Wembley wearing his medal on a Boris bike with teammate Byron Webster, who later revealed it was an attempt to beat London’s notoriously bad traffic. A 17-match unbeaten run in the Championship culminated in the club falling just three points short of reaching the play-offs again last season and, having moved away from the bottom three in recent weeks, they appear to be finding form at just the right time. In-form Hull were dispatched in the previous round.
“We went on a great run last year when we were fresh to the league when I don’t think teams were used to coming to the Den and feeling the pressure we put on them,” says Cooper. “But they’ve worked us out a bit now and come up with ways of stopping us so we have had to think of a different plan sometimes.
“I wouldn’t say it was a hangover from last season – if you overachieve then it’s always difficult to repeat that. Burnley have had the same problem this year in the Premier League. Teams clock on to what you are doing and realise that you’re actually a top team rather than taking it a bit easier against us because we were new to the division. We have to show our character and combat teams when they are set up better to defend against us.”
After this week’s news that Millwall are close to reaching an agreement with Lewisham council to secure their long-term future at the Den after fears they could be forced out by a compulsory purchase scheme, the timing of Everton’s visit could not be better for the home supporters to celebrate. Cooper is relishing the prospect of playing in front of a packed house on Saturday and knows exactly how some of Marco Silva’s players will feel when they run out of the tunnel.
“I’ve been on the bench as an away player and heard some of the abuse that you get,” he says. “I can understand why it’s so intimidating for other players and especially when the top teams come here. A sold-out Den is special for us as Millwall players and certainly makes it difficult for the other team. Playing against a top Premier League side at home is a great chance for us to show ourselves and see what we can do.”