Jose Mourinho names former Tottenham player as one of the Premier League’s greatest | OneFootball

Jose Mourinho names former Tottenham player as one of the Premier League’s greatest | OneFootball

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To The Lane And Back

·23 February 2024

Jose Mourinho names former Tottenham player as one of the Premier League’s greatest

Article image:Jose Mourinho names former Tottenham player as one of the Premier League’s greatest

Jose Mourinho has named former Tottenham Hotspur captain Ledley King as one of the Premier League’s greatest defenders.

Since retiring from the game, King has taken up a number of roles at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and is currently working as a club ambassador.


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However, during Mourinho’s time in north London, King did work under him as one of his coaches before returning to the ambassadorial role.

Article image:Jose Mourinho names former Tottenham player as one of the Premier League’s greatest

Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images

Mourinho hails Ledley King

The former Tottenham manager, one again, finds himself unemployed having been relieved of his duties by Serie A side Roma.

He has since spoken to Rio Ferdinand about his time as a manager and has now discussed some of his favourite players.

Speaking to the FiveUK Tik Tok account, Mourinho listed his top four Premier League central defenders which consisted of John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, Sol Campbell and King.

Mourinho came up against King numerous times during his time as the Chelsea manager when King was in his prime.

Article image:Jose Mourinho names former Tottenham player as one of the Premier League’s greatest

Photo by Emma Simpson – Everton FC/Everton FC via Getty Images

How good was Ledley King

Many will provide testament to just how good King was during his time as the Tottenham captain, with knee issues being the only reason he maybe isn’t recognised as the best.

Arsenal striker Thierry Henry admitted King was the toughest defender he came across during his time in England: “He is the only guy who doesn’t hold players. He will get the ball off you without you even noticing. For me, that is a good defender,” Henry said back in 2006.

“He plays without any contact yet is somehow still strong and gets the ball without doing any fouls.”

When a rival player of that stature praises you in that manner, it just goes to show how highly-rated King was by those in the game.

But ultimately, it was injuries which curtailed his career as it was well known that King’s training regime was quite different to his teammates.

It was revealed towards the end of his career, the central defender barely trained with the squad to ensure he was able to play on the weekend.

But this only shows just how impressive King’s career was considering he was able to deal with such significant injury issues and was still able to perform in the manner he did.

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