A day after Cole penned a four-year Liverpool deal, Gerrard
ended speculation about his future.
The timing was no coincidence, and should new boss Roy Hodgson
revive the Merseysiders that whirlwind 24 hours will be seen as
decisive.
Cole, who'll make his debut in today's friendly with Borussia
Monchengladbach, said: "I hope that I did play a part in making
Stevie stay.
"Stevie knows what I can do. We have played together for England
for 10 years right the way through.
"I am looking forward to playing alongside him and our
relationship is going to be important.
"I will play anywhere though I hope it is central with him -
with one of us going forward and the other pivoting.
"I can't talk about tactics but the manager knows what I can do
on the left and the right. But it will be nice to be close to
him.
"At Liverpool this year is about consolidating and moving on.
There are players here who will get into any team in the world.
"I had conversations with Stevie and 'Carra' and everything
about they said about Liverpool impressed me. We are a part of a
club that can do something special. If you win a trophy here, one
of the big ones, it will be immense."
Cole believes he is heading to Merseyside with the club on the
brink of getting back among the elite.
"I went to Chelsea at the right time when Roman Abramovich had
just come in," he said. "Hopefully, I have come to Liverpool at the
right time too.
"Expectations are low because the previous management, however
successful it had been, had come to an end and had become
stale.
"Roy has come in with fresh ideas and shaken the place up. I
knew Roy was well respected and that if you talk to people in the
game they will tell you what a good coach he is. I am not just
saying that but he is nice, he gets his message across and though I
have only been here a few days, I have seen him coach in three
different languages. That's impressive when you see it. He knows
his football and I can talk football to people for ages."
And Cole believes he'll have more freedom to express himself
after two frustrating years at Chelsea.
He said: "The fans at Chelsea loved me and I can't thank them
enough for that but I need to feel loved when I am on the
pitch.
"The manager has to want me there. I don't so much need an arm
around the shoulder as for managers to remember that in the
positions I play you are going to lose the ball sometimes.
"You only need to do one thing right; one clever pass, one
little bit of skill that can change a game but to do that you need
to feel relaxed and calm."
Cole says that wasn't the case at Stamford Bridge last
season.
"I had a year out through injury and was trying too hard because
I felt that if I didn't do something in the first 20 minutes I
would be off. You can't play in my position with that kind of
pressure."