LIKE father, like son. Given few footballers are as knowledgeable about the game as Jamie Carragher, it should be no surprise if such qualities are passed on through generations.

So it cannot be without good reason that the centre-back’s son James sports a Liverpool shirt bearing the number 10 and the name of Joe Cole.

Cole has been given a warm welcome since arriving at Anfield last month on a free transfer following his release from Chelsea.

Hopes of a dream Premier League debut turned to a nightmare with the 28-year-old dismissed on the stroke of half-time on Sunday for a late challenge on Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny.

But Carragher reckons not even the red card could jeopardise the player’s swiftly-acquired reverential status among his new supporters.

“Joe made a major impact in his first game (against FK Rabotnicki) but he was very unlucky against Arsenal,” says the 32-year-old. “He’s lifted the whole city, though. It’s not just on the pitch or in the dressing room, it’s the whole place.

“He’s staying right in the centre of town getting well-wishers all the time, so he’s starting to realise just how big a club this is. He is like a god in the city already and he’s only played a game and a half.

“You see that tackle so many times, trying to block a ball down the line, and if you don’t get the ball, you cant stop yourself in mid air. To me, that type of tackle should be a yellow.”

Of the appearance of Cole’s name on his son, Carragher adds: “Yeah, he’s got it on the back of his shirt. You don’t want a defender’s name on the back of your shirt, so he normally has Stevie. He had Jovanovic to start with but then he got his number taken off him so we had to go back to the shop to change it.”

Cole once again operated in a free role behind striker David Ngog, and Carragher believes Liverpool must do their utmost to give the England international every chance of becoming a success.

“Over the years Liverpool have had that type of player and it is up to the players in midfield to make sure he sees the ball enough to cause trouble,” he says.

“He’s already got the fans onside and he was talking before about how big a game this was for him, and if you think of the games he’s played for England in World Cups and Chelsea, he was really keyed up for this game and I am just disappointed for him that it ended like that.

“Hopefully it will get turned around because he’s going to be a major asset for it.

“Joe is the type of player others love playing with. You saw that in Europe with Stevie and with Torres that’ll come. He’s used to having Stevie putting him in there, so now he’s got Stevie and Joe. He adds things we never had last season.”