We have heard it all before about Ledley King, but I will never tire of tales recalling just how good the legendary Tottenham defender was.
Jake Livermore is the latest of King’s former teammates to rhapsodize about his ability, and his miraculous management of that crippled knee.
Asked to build his perfect player from those he has played with by The Athletic, Livermore identified King as the ultimate tackler, describing his one-time skipper as “the governor…like a Rolls-Royce at the back.”
“Ledley King was the king of tackling,” Livermore said. “Considering he had dodgy knees and didn’t train from week to week, he was amazing.
“I broke my leg early in my career at Tottenham, so we were training together. He wouldn’t train properly from Monday to Friday because of his knees and he would play on a Saturday and be a rock at the back.
“His timing of tackling was always great, but if he didn’t need to tackle, he would just intercept. He was the the governor. He was like a Rolls-Royce at the back.”
Livermore did not make his Spurs debut until 2010 so arguably didn’t even see King at his peak, which I’d argue was under Martin Jol from 2004 to 2007, when he was as good as any other centre-back in the Premier League.
The West Brom midfielder, who played 58 times for Spurs after coming through our academy, chose another former great of ours – Luka Modric – as the right foot in his perfect player, telling The Athletic: “Everything he did was with with his right foot, whether it was the instep, the outside, the back or the sole. His left boot has still got the receipt on because he’s never used it, but his right foot is fantastic.”
A certain Gareth Bale was strangely shunned as the other peg in favour of Liverpool’s Andy Robertson, whom Livermore played alongside at Hull City.
Leaves you with that Bale, Berba, Modric kind of resignation. I only hope he leaves the EPL so I can still follow his career without hating to much.
I am more inclined to think that Kane has to go. We were awful this season with him, so how can next be any better? We’d have to improve massively in defence and Ndombele would have to start jogging, never mind playing! I like the look of Lo Celso, but he has yet to score or assist in the league.
People forget how good King was because he didn’t win countless trophies.
Whether he leaves or not, hopefully the same won’t be said about Kane.
I listened to Adrian Durham talk disparagingly about the myth of Ledley King. “Was he really that good?” the oaf said. Well, Thierry Henry said he was his toughest opponent. That sums King up. A player that led us on more than one occasion a merry dance, knows exactly what makes a good player. Makes me laugh when people talk about who was the best CB out of Terry, Rio or Campbell. People forget how good King was because he didn’t win countless trophies.