Disconosebleed
Well-Known Member
- Dec 22, 2005
- 2,553
- 2,569
As mentioned in my earlier column, I've had an article published on Football365, following on from a post I made on here.
Time for the king to abdicate his crown?
With Tottenham as deep in crisis as is possible after six Premier League matches, everyone has their own theory as to what's going wrong at White Hart Lane - from Ramos' tactical blunders to Daniel Levy's 'business first, football second' transfer policy via the underperformance of players and backroom staff alike.
One issue, however, has remained untouched in the opening weeks of the season. With much made of Ramos' chopping and changing of the midfield - David Bentley has already taken time off from designing his latest haircut to complain about being played on the left, while Didier Zokora has added right back to his checklist of positions in which he can perform inadequately - the defence has been altered just as regularly, for one major reason - Ledley King. And yet the situation of club captain and stalwart King has rolled on with little mention.
There is no doubt that King is an excellent player. His no-nonsense defending coupled with technical qualities and a lead-by-example style of captaincy have already guaranteed him a place in Tottenham's history. A succession of England managers have cast him as a squad regular whenever fit, yet he has amassed only 19 caps since debuting against Italy 2002. And therein lies the problem - the man simply cannot stay fit.
King's injury problems over the past few years are well-documented, but have always been treated by fans and staff alike with a positive outlook - however long he was out for, eventually he would return to full fitness. Recent weeks, however, have suggested that this is simply not the case - King's knee trouble deigns that he is unable to play two games in any given week, let alone two or three a week consistently over a full season, as confirmed by assistant manager Gus Poyet.
Aston Villa's roaring start to the season has shown the impact a settled starting eleven can have, the Midlands club looking the most capable of challenging the so-called 'big four' with a consistent line-up, yet Spurs have yet to field the same back line in successive matches this season. This constant state of change leaves Spurs in permanent limbo - should Levy sanction the purchase of a multi-million pound centre back and hope he accepts being out of the side when King is fit, or stick with what he has and hope that King's regular absences aren't felt too strongly - with amiable but mediocre stand-in Michael Dawson liable to err at some point in every game.
As harsh as it may seem, the way forward may be to eliminate Ledley King from the equation - not to sell him (though Newcastle would presumably pay upwards of the going rate for a 20-game-a-season centre back), but demote him to squad player rather than first-choice. Currently, King's injury status prevents Tottenham from ever having a settled back four, crucial to any team's chances. Would it not be preferable to have him on the bench, a high-class replacement to stand in whenever Woodgate or Corluka (or a January signing) need a rest, playing 90 minutes and then dropping out of the team again?
Few teams could afford such a luxury but, if the situation was managed correctly, Tottenham might just find that such a bold move might be the beginning of an upturn in fortune. All they'd need then is someone to teach Bentley how to cross, Zokora how to tackle and Jenas how to exist on a pitch in anything other than the literal, physical sense, and they might have a team capable of achieving something.
http://football365.com/story/0,17033,13320_4236052,00.html
That's the article on Football365 with some editing. If anyone enjoys the article PLEASE give positive feedback at the bottom, as they've told me that if it's well-received they will look to give me more work in the future - wouldn't it be nice to have some pro-Spurs articles on commercial websites!
Cheers,
Simon.
Time for the king to abdicate his crown?
With Tottenham as deep in crisis as is possible after six Premier League matches, everyone has their own theory as to what's going wrong at White Hart Lane - from Ramos' tactical blunders to Daniel Levy's 'business first, football second' transfer policy via the underperformance of players and backroom staff alike.
One issue, however, has remained untouched in the opening weeks of the season. With much made of Ramos' chopping and changing of the midfield - David Bentley has already taken time off from designing his latest haircut to complain about being played on the left, while Didier Zokora has added right back to his checklist of positions in which he can perform inadequately - the defence has been altered just as regularly, for one major reason - Ledley King. And yet the situation of club captain and stalwart King has rolled on with little mention.
There is no doubt that King is an excellent player. His no-nonsense defending coupled with technical qualities and a lead-by-example style of captaincy have already guaranteed him a place in Tottenham's history. A succession of England managers have cast him as a squad regular whenever fit, yet he has amassed only 19 caps since debuting against Italy 2002. And therein lies the problem - the man simply cannot stay fit.
King's injury problems over the past few years are well-documented, but have always been treated by fans and staff alike with a positive outlook - however long he was out for, eventually he would return to full fitness. Recent weeks, however, have suggested that this is simply not the case - King's knee trouble deigns that he is unable to play two games in any given week, let alone two or three a week consistently over a full season, as confirmed by assistant manager Gus Poyet.
Aston Villa's roaring start to the season has shown the impact a settled starting eleven can have, the Midlands club looking the most capable of challenging the so-called 'big four' with a consistent line-up, yet Spurs have yet to field the same back line in successive matches this season. This constant state of change leaves Spurs in permanent limbo - should Levy sanction the purchase of a multi-million pound centre back and hope he accepts being out of the side when King is fit, or stick with what he has and hope that King's regular absences aren't felt too strongly - with amiable but mediocre stand-in Michael Dawson liable to err at some point in every game.
As harsh as it may seem, the way forward may be to eliminate Ledley King from the equation - not to sell him (though Newcastle would presumably pay upwards of the going rate for a 20-game-a-season centre back), but demote him to squad player rather than first-choice. Currently, King's injury status prevents Tottenham from ever having a settled back four, crucial to any team's chances. Would it not be preferable to have him on the bench, a high-class replacement to stand in whenever Woodgate or Corluka (or a January signing) need a rest, playing 90 minutes and then dropping out of the team again?
Few teams could afford such a luxury but, if the situation was managed correctly, Tottenham might just find that such a bold move might be the beginning of an upturn in fortune. All they'd need then is someone to teach Bentley how to cross, Zokora how to tackle and Jenas how to exist on a pitch in anything other than the literal, physical sense, and they might have a team capable of achieving something.
http://football365.com/story/0,17033,13320_4236052,00.html
That's the article on Football365 with some editing. If anyone enjoys the article PLEASE give positive feedback at the bottom, as they've told me that if it's well-received they will look to give me more work in the future - wouldn't it be nice to have some pro-Spurs articles on commercial websites!
Cheers,
Simon.
