Would King get in?

[DJS]

He'd get in above THEM ALL!!

 

[jonnyp]

Think he's better than all of our CBs obviously. Can't even believe this is a thread to be honest, nor some saying he'd be 3rd choice at best...

 

[StartingPrice]

Whisper it quietly but I'd still have Ledley partnered by Rsol if we were playing a back 4

At there best that partnership would have been absolutely ridiculous

Which is part of what made it's betrayal so despicable.

He claimed to have been a supporter on the terraces. He came through the youth set-up. It is impossible for him not to have known just how much sh*t the club had been through after the Scholar self-destruct, just how fat it had fallen from being one of the top clubs in the country. And yet, not only did he elect to leave, but he ensured that his repeatedly deceptive and dishonest comments would cheat the club out of a transfer fee - which, in lieu of losing one of the best defenders in the country <sicks in mouth> would have been some compensation. And he did it to the benefit, financial and otherwise, of our arch-rivals - who had stolen a massive march on us due to the post-Scholar melt-down. And he may have acted illegally to ensure that he cost them nothing. He knew he was doing this.

If it is possible to make this worse, he could have formed a home grown centre-half pairing with Ledders than would have been close to, if not, World Class, without costing the cash-strapped club a penny.

Personally, I don't spend hours of day fuming with rage at him, so I don't need a lecture on it all being in the past. And I don't really wish extreme illness or accidents on him - forgetting to wash his hands before going for a piss after working with chilies, or something, strictly temporary, though, that would be funny

 

[Flashspur]

Would King get in...LOL. He'd be first pick. Toby may read the game better but Ledley was overall just a Rolls Royce defender and athletically outstanding even with a dodgy knee.

 

[Coyboy]

Only if Ricardo Rocha was injured and Gary Doherty was on strike after having his head turned by a dazzling bid from Real Madrid.

 

[LukaMotion]

Honestly the question should be 'Who gets cut if King is playing?'

Maybe I phrased it wrong given that pretty much no-one has said who they'd drop to fit King in, which was my main aim in posing this question.

The question is "would King get in?" and not "would the Lord Mayor of London (Conservative, Prospective) get in?". Need to brush up on the Political Science.

And the answer is, yes. But it is a hard question. Ledders was brilliant, but it stood out more because the teams he played in, for the most part, were not that good. Now, on the other hand, we have had the best defence two seasons running. The actual visible improvement on the ground may be less evident than we'd imagine. And adding him to a back three would be at Sanchez's expense...and who knows how good this kid could be. Adding Ledders is as much an emotional as a rational decision, IMHO.

This is the reality of the situation and while it's always going to be near on impossible for any spurs fan to leave Ledders out of the team, the real question I was asking was would having Ledley in our defence win us more points than the player he's replacing in the first XI? If you drop Son to fit him in, does our improved defence earn more points than the 14 goals Son scored in the premier league last season? If you drop Dembele to play him in midfield would it mean less supply to our forwards and therefore less goals and less points?

I remember exactly how good Ledley was. He was a phenomenal player and there's no doubt that if he hadn't had his knee problems he likely would have ended up playing for one of the european giants. Like you say however, we are currently blessed with the best defence in English football, and possibly one of the best defences in the world. It's very possible he could improve that defence further and damn if that wouldn't be absolutely sexual to watch, but Wanyama was a big part of that defensive record last season too, as was Dier and Dembele. Like you say, it's a hard question, it's only easy if you ignore the part where you have to drop someone.

 

[Dharmabum]

People seem so assure about King walking straight into the starting XI. Yes, injury free he was the best defender in the EPL. And, as so may have stated before me, had he not been so unlucky with injuries he would have been a world class CB season in, season out - but also likely he'd ended up in ManU or Chelski, both clubs ready to break the bank.
He was a freak of an athlete, who could play so well without hardly training.
But fact is that he was very injury prone - playing in a weaker Spurs defense/team than today's team (yes I am aware that he played with v.d. Vaart, Modric, Bale, Berba) and under managers who demands less fitness wise than Pochettino, who is one of the most demanding in the EPL. Stability in defense at times is preferred over individual ability. I am not so sure he'd be walking straight into the present team, as he used to in the past, considering his injury record and Pochettino's emphasize on uber fitness.
Unfortunately, 2 other defensive stalwarts at the time of Kind, Kaboul and Sandro, were very injury prone, too.
IF - yes, I know it won't bring back any glory think of "ifs" - those 3 (King, Kaboul and Sandro) had remained injury free and Spurs had kept Carrick, Modric, Berba, Bale....who knows...

 

[Everlasting Seconds]

Lunatics to suggest that King would be ahead of Vertonghen. Absolutely not in a million year. However the question is redundant, as King would be injured anyway.

 

[double0]

Lunatics to suggest that King would be ahead of Vertonghen. Absolutely not in a million year. However the question is redundant, as King would be injured anyway.

So are you saying Vertonghen is better than Ledley King?













Wow

 

[Everlasting Seconds]

So are you saying Vertonghen is better than Ledley King?













Wow

The finer nuances do escape you don't they? What I'm saying is that if the squad consisted of Foyth, Sanchez, Alderweireld, King and Vertonghen, the latter is not the one who wouldn't play.

 

[spursfan77]

Yes easily. He'd be the first name on the team sheet. He's better than both our current centre backs and they aren't exactly bad.

 

[Led's Zeppelin]

At this stage of Sanchez's career a mature Ledley would certainly be ahead of him, and would be just brilliant between Toby and Jan.

But there are some very encouraging similarities between Ledley at a similarly early stage of his career and Sanchez. Plenty to be optimistic about.

 

[Shadydan]

Maybe I phrased it wrong given that pretty much no-one has said who they'd drop to fit King in, which was my main aim in posing this question.



This is the reality of the situation and while it's always going to be near on impossible for any spurs fan to leave Ledders out of the team, the real question I was asking was would having Ledley in our defence win us more points than the player he's replacing in the first XI? If you drop Son to fit him in, does our improved defence earn more points than the 14 goals Son scored in the premier league last season? If you drop Dembele to play him in midfield would it mean less supply to our forwards and therefore less goals and less points?

I remember exactly how good Ledley was. He was a phenomenal player and there's no doubt that if he hadn't had his knee problems he likely would have ended up playing for one of the european giants. Like you say however, we are currently blessed with the best defence in English football, and possibly one of the best defences in the world. It's very possible he could improve that defence further and damn if that wouldn't be absolutely sexual to watch, but Wanyama was a big part of that defensive record last season too, as was Dier and Dembele. Like you say, it's a hard question, it's only easy if you ignore the part where you have to drop someone.

Yeah but look, this is all hypothetical right? so you have to expect hypothetical answers so you can't expect people not to pick him just because we have a world class defensive unit now, nothing is perfect in football and there's nothing wrong with improving an area which is already brilliant, all you're doing is improving and solidifyng which is what the best teams do anyway.

I can counter your examples by saying if King is in, would we have dropped as many points which made us miss out on the title last season, would we have lost against the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool, Man Utd, would they have breached our defence?, would teams be able to get behind us as much knowing that King would cover the ground unlike Toby or Jan? Would our collective mentality not improve even more? Do players like Alli and Dier not improve even further because they have someone like Ledley to learn off both on and off the pitch?

The point is that we could be here all day using hypothetical scenarios but the point is that King was world class in his pomp and he would get walk into any Spurs best 11 team regardless.

 

[spids]

Would be captain and almost first name on the team sheet (after Kane).

Lloris
Aldereiweld King Vertonghen
Aurier------------Wanyama-----------------Rose
Eriksen---Dembele---Alli
Kane​

 

[yido_number1]

A fit ledley with no knee condition would definitely be in our team. Whether that is at third CB or in place of Jan (who is incredibly good). Easy to forget but for me Ledley and his reading of the game was a once in a generation player that didn't reach his prime because of an early career injury.

Only have to look at Henry's comments about King to realise how good he was. Add to that I can't remember him ever having the quality we have now around him in defence to really highlight how good he was.

 

[nidge]

A fit Ledley would get in any side.

As a reminder Ledley was able to do this against Robben when he was at his best.

 

[EighteenEightyTwo]

He'd get in ahead of Sanchez, but he was even better than Toby and Jan.


I love Toby and Jan, but put them next to Anthony Gardner and they wouldn't have found it as easy as Ledley did.

 

[hellava_tough]

I'd drop Dembele, stick King in the middle of the back 3 and put Eriksen in the CM with Victor

Similar (although not toally the same) to when we smashed City

https://www.premierleague.com/match/14107

 

[Ionman34]

Maybe I phrased it wrong given that pretty much no-one has said who they'd drop to fit King in, which was my main aim in posing this question.



This is the reality of the situation and while it's always going to be near on impossible for any spurs fan to leave Ledders out of the team, the real question I was asking was would having Ledley in our defence win us more points than the player he's replacing in the first XI? If you drop Son to fit him in, does our improved defence earn more points than the 14 goals Son scored in the premier league last season? If you drop Dembele to play him in midfield would it mean less supply to our forwards and therefore less goals and less points?

I remember exactly how good Ledley was. He was a phenomenal player and there's no doubt that if he hadn't had his knee problems he likely would have ended up playing for one of the european giants. Like you say however, we are currently blessed with the best defence in English football, and possibly one of the best defences in the world. It's very possible he could improve that defence further and damn if that wouldn't be absolutely sexual to watch, but Wanyama was a big part of that defensive record last season too, as was Dier and Dembele. Like you say, it's a hard question, it's only easy if you ignore the part where you have to drop someone.

Drop Dier, sorted.

 

[Dharmabum]

He'd get in ahead of Sanchez, but he was even better than Toby and Jan.


I love Toby and Jan, but put them next to Anthony Gardner and they wouldn't have found it as easy as Ledley did.

Sometimes it's easier to look good next to average players I am not saying King looked good due that but just saying...