Ledley King...

[Rozay]

His injuries are well documented, but how good was he? I know he was a top player, but just how good?

He basically did no football training all week, just pool and spin so that he could play on a Saturday. His body couldn’t handle training, yet he was Spurs captain, went to two World Cups and not sold despite sporadic appearances.

There’s a school of thought that of all England’s top centre halves they produced during his generation, he was actually the best.

 

[VorZakone]

What exactly was wrong with his knees anyway?

 

[Schmeichel's Cartwheel]

He was good. Wouldn't have started over Rio or Terry though, even without any injury problems.

 

[P-Nut]

His injuries are well documented, but how good was he? I know he was a top player, but just how good?

He basically did no football training all week, just pool and spin so that he could play on a Saturday. His body couldn’t handle training, yet he was Spurs captain, went to two World Cups and not sold despite sporadic appearances.

There’s a school of thought that of all England’s top centre halves they produced during his generation, he was actually the best.

He'd definitely be right up there if it wasn't for injuries. An absolute beast of a defender when fit.

 

[Stadjer]

He wasnt the best because Rio was better and so was John Terry.

Maybe he could have been the best out of all of them without all the injuries and fitness issues but that just wasnt the case. Ledley King was very good but Rio/Terry had such a high level that even without injuries would have been very hard to reach.

 

[Rozay]

He was good. Wouldn't have started over Rio or Terry though, even without any injury problems.

Currently reading Peter Crouch’s biography and he was really gushing over him in that. Of course, they were teammates, although Crouch was also international teammates with Rio, Terry, Campbell and co, but Crouch reckons he was as good as Rio.

He mentioned them going to play for England for an U18 tournament in Spain and both Real and Barca made offers to sign King on the spot, but he turned them down.

 

[COYS23]

For me Ledley would have been better than Rio and Terry if not for his injuries, his footballing brain was that's for sure as he always seemed to be in the right place at the right time which I suppose is why he was still able to carry on even with his knee problems.
As a Spurs fan I maybe biased but the greatest tackle I have ever seen came from Ledley against Robben, I would post the video but as a newbie I don't think I can, how he caught him with his knees was a miracle in itself.

 

[P-Nut]

He wasnt the best because Rio was better and so was John Terry.

Maybe he could have been the best out of all of them without all the injuries and fitness issues but that just wasnt the case. Ledley King was very good but Rio/Terry had such a high level that even without injuries would have been very hard to reach.

I think he was capable of being a mixture of the 2 injuries permitting. He was neither as warrior like as Terry or as good positioning wise or playing out from the back as Ferdinand. But he was likely stronger in the weak areas of each of their games.

 

[Bojan11]

Considering his limited time training and his performances he was pretty good.

But I always felt with him especially pre 2004 he always had a mistake in him. But he seemed to look more solid not surprisingly after his England call up. He seemed to raise his game after that especially when Sven chose him over Carragher.

It’s tough judging him against Rio and Terry. Even though I think the latter two were better. But they did have the advantages of not having the injuries King had and more importantly world class partners at club level.

 

[Scroto Baggins]

He'd definitely be right up there if it wasn't for injuries. An absolute beast of a defender when fit.

He had it all, pace and power combined with a footballing brain. Just missing knees, they are kind of important though.

I think it was Henry who was quoted as saying you would look down and the ball was gone when playing against King.

Queue that Robben tackle lol.

 

[hellohello]

edit:

Queue that Robben tackle lol.

It's a must for any King thread.

 

[CallyRed]

He was quality.

 

[Bobski]

At the point he had matured beyond the naive mistakes his knees were gone so we only really had glimpses of how good he really was.

A 3 of Terry, Rio and fit King, that's not fair. Still had Campbell around who was still a damm good player up to 2006 or so. England really did have exceptional talent in that era, what a waste, especially when you watch this current team with much less talent play with so little nervous tension in comparison.

Woodgate was a real talent ruined by injuries as well in that period, could add Wes Brown with his knees wrecked early on.

 

[Thunderhead]

Similar with injuries but I think Woodgate was better than him and would have been top class if not for being made of biscuit

 

[Rozay]

Similar with injuries but I think Woodgate was better than him and would have been top class if not for being made of biscuit

Well he was atrocious in Spain to be fair.

 

[Bubz27]

Henry said he was best defender he played against.

Personally I thought Rio was better because he had more of the intangibles and basically didn't have a weak area to his game.

If Ledley had stayed fit, I'd have had him above John Terry, but that's a preference on style of CB.

In short, he was fantastic.

 

[Deleted member 101472]

all things pertaining to Ledley Baresi were discussed before.

https://www.redcafe.net/threads/how-good-was-ledley-king.424541/

 

[RochaRoja]

One of those players whose reputation became massively inflated because he was injured so much. He was in his mid twenties before the knee issues started before his knee issues became chronic and was way behind Ferdinand, Terry, Campbell and even Carragher for England selection then.

He was a really good Premier League centre back and would’ve probably been even better if not for injuries but not the world class talent Spurs fans make him out to be.

If anything, I’d say a large reason why he was so beloved and hyped at Tottenham is because they so badly wanted him to be better than Campbell (for obvious reasons).

 

[Big Ben Foster]

What exactly was wrong with his knees anyway?

Pretty sure he had no cartilage in his knees. So any movement was bone on bone.

 

[Grinner]

Hard to know since he never played for a big team.

 

[Wan]

edit:

It's a must for any King thread.

Good recovery. But, meh. Robben took a very long time to think about what to do there.

 

[Sean_RedDevil]

At the point he had matured beyond the naive mistakes his knees were gone so we only really had glimpses of how good he really was.

A 3 of Terry, Rio and fit King, that's not fair. Still had Campbell around who was still a damm good player up to 2006 or so. England really did have exceptional talent in that era, what a waste, especially when you watch this current team with much less talent play with so little nervous tension in comparison.

Woodgate was a real talent ruined by injuries as well in that period, could add Wes Brown with his knees wrecked early on.

+ Carragher

 

[lambnchips]

He was good. Wouldn't have started over Rio or Terry though, even without any injury problems.

Wasnt he touted as a potential Defensive Midfielder for England?

 

[Primativ]

One of those players whose reputation became massively inflated because he was injured so much. He was in his mid twenties before the knee issues started before his knee issues became chronic and was way behind Ferdinand, Terry, Campbell and even Carragher for England selection then.

He was a really good Premier League centre back and would’ve probably been even better if not for injuries but not the world class talent Spurs fans make him out to be.

If anything, I’d say a large reason why he was so beloved and hyped at Tottenham is because they so badly wanted him to be better than Campbell (for obvious reasons).

Absolute nonsense. King was easily world class and just as good as Terry and Ferdinand. Those two played in far better teams than King did and thus won far more but if King didn’t have dodgy knees he would have left Spurs at his peak and won many trophies. The guy didn’t even train but came in and gave MoM performances week in week out. He was so good on the ball he sometimes played in midfield, was strong and quick and read the game brilliantly. Didn’t have any weaknesses apart from a weakness in his knees. Crying shame really. Easily a hall of famer CB in the league and Carragher wasn’t fit to lace Kings boots.

 

[Thiagoal]

I was convinced Tyler Blacket would turn out to be the next Ledley King after watching him in the FA Youth Cup WTFDIK

 

[Alabaster Codify7]

Ledley King was an absolutely fantastic footballer, one of the best CB's I've ever seen that didn't reach world class levels due to his fitness problems.

A real monster. As a former GK, I'd have LOVED playing behind that bloke.

 

[Skills]

Better than Carragher.

Comfortably behind Ferdinand, Terry and Campbell though.

 

[Sandikan]

edit:

It's a must for any King thread.

A good recovery of course but robbenl not only has to wait for it to come down but it's on his wrong foot. That helps too!

 

[SquishyMcSquish]

100% would have been the best English CB if injuries hadn't been a factor.

Yep, better than Rio and Terry. The man was a monster, even though he was mostly broken which is a colossal shame.

 

[Pexbo]

edit:

It's a must for any King thread.

A bit off topic but that’s the perfect example of the absolute nonsense that commentators come out with.

“King was ten yards adrift of one of the quickest players in the league in Robben...”.

It doesn’t matter if that was Arjen Robben or a 37 year old Laurent Blanc, the ball was looping in the air and Robben had to wait for it to come down. He had no real opportunity to exploit his pace.

Doesn’t take anything away from King’s defending though.

 

[charlenefan]

Better than Carragher.

Comfortably behind Ferdinand, Terry and Campbell though.

I'm glad someone mentioned Campbell because yes King wasn't even as good as him let alone Rio Ferdinand

 

[paulscholes18]

A peak Lesley King would be the best CB in the premiership today

 

[SalfordRed18]

Yo have to put it on even playing ground though. Rio, Terry and Campbell were all better than king, certainly.

But if they all played with 0 training week to week, would they be as good? Or even as good as king?

And what level would king have been had he been able to train like a normal player? To play like a normal player?

Think if you have them all similar playing time and training time, if have Rio, then king, then Terry and Campbell.

 

[Nadger]

As I understand it, Ledley’s original knee injury was sustained on his premier league debut. So it is impossible to say how good he would have been.

But, given that, it’s incredible that he performed as well as he did for as long as he did, and I’m proud that my club stood behind him all that time and kept him in the game as long as they did.

Absolutely a club legend.

The supporters trust asked if the 26 shirt should be retired, but the club said that they would keep it open in case his son was signed professionally.

 

[MadDogg]

100% would have been the best English CB if injuries hadn't been a factor.

Yep, better than Rio and Terry. The man was a monster, even though he was mostly broken which is a colossal shame.

Considering Rio was the best centreback in the world for a couple of years at his peak, it's difficult to say King could have been better.

 

[Nadger]

Considering Rio was the best centreback in the world for a couple of years at his peak, it's difficult to say King could have been better.

It's not difficult at all to say it, it's just difficult to justify it. Because it's based on what-ifs and what-might-have-beens. But thats the point of this thread isn't it?

 

[BrianMcClair'sBarnet]

Even if he got through his injury issues could you really say he had the mentality of a Rio or a Terry ?
There I have my doubts.

 

[JoaquinJoaquin]

Brilliant cb. Would love a player like him in our back 4 right now.

 

[Sir Scott McToMinay]

Tremendous defender, but no way he was as good as Ferdinand, who is probably the greatest CB England produced.

 

[Robert]

One of those players who’s rating and value seemed to rise more in his absence. But then I wouldn’t really deem him overrated either.

Felt he had great reading of the game, decent ball skills and good athletic ability. I personally really liked him, top player on his day.