Ledley King could have played for Real Madrid he was that good

[Chedozie]

He was too good for Real Madrid, players of such class belong at Spurs.

 

[hunterr]

Ronaldo could possibly have played for Spurs...if selected

 

[Cinemattis]

King was way too good to play for Real Madrid

Ledley King was born in 1980. Played for Spurs between 1999-2012, and represented England between 2002-10. Obviously he would´ve had a longer career both for club and country had it not been for the injury woes.

But in his active years, Real Madrid were NOT the best team in Europe. They were even far from being the best in Spain during King´s active years. Barcelona won the CL 3 times, AC Milan and Manchester United even played 3 finals. Real Madrid played how many finals between 2001-2012? None. So to say King was so good he could´ve played for RM is in some way an insult.

TBH: Ledley King could´ve played for any team in the world - and made them look better. But he chose to play for a mid-table club in North London, and will always be remebered as King of the Lane, true legend.

 

[C0YS]

I think the tackle against Henry was even better.

I think his best tackle was against Darren Huckerby. It's hard to find the clip but was inhuman.

 

[C0YS]

Ledley King was born in 1980. Played for Spurs between 1999-2012, and represented England between 2002-10. Obviously he would´ve had a longer career both for club and country had it not been for the injury woes.

But in his active years, Real Madrid were NOT the best team in Europe. They were even far from being the best in Spain during King´s active years. Barcelona won the CL 3 times, AC Milan and Manchester United even played 3 finals. Real Madrid played how many finals between 2001-2012? None. So to say King was so good he could´ve played for RM is in some way an insult.

TBH: Ledley King could´ve played for any team in the world - and made them look better. But he chose to play for a mid-table club in North London, and will always be remebered as King of the Lane, true legend.

I agree and disagree. They weren't the best team but they were the best set of players, quite possibly, ever put together. This was the era of the galacticos. It was an experiment that ended in failure because it doesn't matter who you sign if there is no strategy behind it. Defensively though there were better defensive teams. Juve (with Cannavaro and Thuram) and Milan (with Nesta and Madini) are good examples and harder questions to answer.

The fact he could have played with Real Madrid, or any top team really, is sort of well duhh to anyone who watched him regularly, and there is a reason Capello, a manager who knows defenders, was so keen to get him in the England squad and team, despite having other great centre backs at his disposal and his injury problems. He was truly a phenomenal footballer, forget the whole 'what if' questions, he was in spite of his bad knees.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

I dont really like the '....could have played for real Madrid' as if that is the highest level every player should be aiming for.

Especially considering they never had the best defence of best CB pairing in Europe / the World during King's era (or any era?).

King + Cannavaro would have been an impressive pairing at Real though!

You'll have to excuse a few blasphemies but, based purely on ability / lack of goals conceded (not whether they're a ****), here's a list of some of the many CB pairings from King's era that were a level (or three) above Real's (and Barca's) defence:

Nesta & Maldini
Nesta & Silva
Nesta & Stam
Bonucci & Chiellini
Ferdinand & Vidic
Kompany & Lescott
Terry & Carvalho
Terry & Gallas
Campbell & Toure
Campbell & Adams
Adams & Bould
Woodgate & Gallas - when all three were fit, King was the first on the team-sheet, but any combination of the three was a real force.

Real and Barca had some fantastic teams during King's career, but defence was always the weakest part of both teams.