Geez
18-10-2008, 07:26 PM
Source: Telegraph
Ledley King has revealed the full extent of the anguish caused by the knee injury that has blighted his career and prevented him helping the Premiership's bottom club emerge from its worst start for 96 years.
King, who trains and plays according to the pain threshold, is in danger of missing yet another league game at Stoke in Sunday's game in what is becoming a frustrating routine for the former England defender whose international career is now in serious jeopardy.
"I want to be on the pitch every week playing," said King, Tottenham's longest-serving player who turned 28 this month. "At my age I shouldn't be having the problems I'm having. At the moment all I can do make myself available for as many games as I can." You can almost feel the pain in King's eyes as he watches time pass him by trying to get the bottom of an injury which, he admitted, has caused him degrees of pain ever since his first full appearance for Spurs nine years ago.
No-one, so far, has been able to come up with a permanent solution.
"There have been times when it was the lowest point in my career, not going out on the pitch in ideal shape. You're not playing every week, not training every day -- that's the difficult part. I've seen plenty of specialists. You try to take a few things off each of them and see what helps. At the moment we're still searching a bit but we're working with the physios every day.
"I spent a month in the summer in Barcelona doing work on it. I came back and still had a bit of a problem so that was a bit of a scare again. We decided we had to take it slowly, couldn't rush into playing too many games at once.
But I aim to be there throughout the season, when needed." Hardly ideal, as King acknowledges, especially in Tottenham's present predicament.
"It's fair to say that if the team wasn't in the position we are, I don't think the issue would be brought up so much. But the fact we are struggling at the moment means people are going to look to my situation. It's not a problem when I play, it's how I react. Training is more of an issue at the moment, the fact I'm missing it."
Missing so much training is hardly beneficial for his international career either. King fervently believes he will play for his country again but not in the near future.
"I just think at the moment it's not ideal, not ideal for me and certainly wouldn't be for the manager. I want to hold out for as long as I can but if the time ever came - it's frustrating, I haven't played for England for a long while now."
Playing as many games as he can for Spurs is the immediate priority, especially during the current crisis of confidence.
"Obviously we've lost a few players but with those we've brought in I think we're a better squad. At the end of the day it's about clicking and we haven't done that yet. It's not through any lack of effort or problems in the camp. If the team needs me and the manager needs me, even if in my head I'm not in the ideal position, or preparation is not ideal, it's something I will do - just go out there."
Stoke's up-and-at-em physical style, King admits, will test Spurs to the limit but he refutes the suggestion that his team lacks leadership, citing Jonathan Woodgate and Jermain Jenas as players with experience and character.
"It' s the kind of thing that's brought up whenever things aren't going right," says King. "I don't think we're missing a leader - just a connection on the pitch."
Connections with Juande Ramos, he is at pains to point out, are perfectly fine.
"All I can say is that the players are 10 per cent behind the manager. It wasn' t so long ago that we won the Carling Cup beating Arsenal and Chelsea. We're just stuck in a bit of a rut. When you're down there, things go against you and it gets harder and harder each week to get out. I'm not worrying about my career at the moment. I'm worrying about the position we're in. There are no easy points in this league, nobody gives you anything."
"the players are 10 per cent behind the manager" could explain a lot :think:
Ledley King has revealed the full extent of the anguish caused by the knee injury that has blighted his career and prevented him helping the Premiership's bottom club emerge from its worst start for 96 years.
King, who trains and plays according to the pain threshold, is in danger of missing yet another league game at Stoke in Sunday's game in what is becoming a frustrating routine for the former England defender whose international career is now in serious jeopardy.
"I want to be on the pitch every week playing," said King, Tottenham's longest-serving player who turned 28 this month. "At my age I shouldn't be having the problems I'm having. At the moment all I can do make myself available for as many games as I can." You can almost feel the pain in King's eyes as he watches time pass him by trying to get the bottom of an injury which, he admitted, has caused him degrees of pain ever since his first full appearance for Spurs nine years ago.
No-one, so far, has been able to come up with a permanent solution.
"There have been times when it was the lowest point in my career, not going out on the pitch in ideal shape. You're not playing every week, not training every day -- that's the difficult part. I've seen plenty of specialists. You try to take a few things off each of them and see what helps. At the moment we're still searching a bit but we're working with the physios every day.
"I spent a month in the summer in Barcelona doing work on it. I came back and still had a bit of a problem so that was a bit of a scare again. We decided we had to take it slowly, couldn't rush into playing too many games at once.
But I aim to be there throughout the season, when needed." Hardly ideal, as King acknowledges, especially in Tottenham's present predicament.
"It's fair to say that if the team wasn't in the position we are, I don't think the issue would be brought up so much. But the fact we are struggling at the moment means people are going to look to my situation. It's not a problem when I play, it's how I react. Training is more of an issue at the moment, the fact I'm missing it."
Missing so much training is hardly beneficial for his international career either. King fervently believes he will play for his country again but not in the near future.
"I just think at the moment it's not ideal, not ideal for me and certainly wouldn't be for the manager. I want to hold out for as long as I can but if the time ever came - it's frustrating, I haven't played for England for a long while now."
Playing as many games as he can for Spurs is the immediate priority, especially during the current crisis of confidence.
"Obviously we've lost a few players but with those we've brought in I think we're a better squad. At the end of the day it's about clicking and we haven't done that yet. It's not through any lack of effort or problems in the camp. If the team needs me and the manager needs me, even if in my head I'm not in the ideal position, or preparation is not ideal, it's something I will do - just go out there."
Stoke's up-and-at-em physical style, King admits, will test Spurs to the limit but he refutes the suggestion that his team lacks leadership, citing Jonathan Woodgate and Jermain Jenas as players with experience and character.
"It' s the kind of thing that's brought up whenever things aren't going right," says King. "I don't think we're missing a leader - just a connection on the pitch."
Connections with Juande Ramos, he is at pains to point out, are perfectly fine.
"All I can say is that the players are 10 per cent behind the manager. It wasn' t so long ago that we won the Carling Cup beating Arsenal and Chelsea. We're just stuck in a bit of a rut. When you're down there, things go against you and it gets harder and harder each week to get out. I'm not worrying about my career at the moment. I'm worrying about the position we're in. There are no easy points in this league, nobody gives you anything."
"the players are 10 per cent behind the manager" could explain a lot :think: