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- May 18, 2009
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On yer bike, Ledley! Cycling is the only way to keep Tottenham crock King going
By Ivan Speck
Last updated at 12:11 AM on 29th August 2009
Throw out the training manuals, sack the fitness gurus and shun football habits of a lifetime. Tottenham sit proudly atop the Barclays Premier League while their inspirational leader spends most of his week riding a bike.
In fact, the only time Ledley King is seen on a training pitch is for 20 minutes the day before a game - and even then he needs ice packed around his left knee as soon as he returns to the physio's room at Spurs Lodge he knows so well.
Thirsty work, all that cycling: Spurs stalwart Ledley King takes a well-earned drink
Such is the chronic damage that bone grinding on bone does to the 28-year-old defender's knee, in which all cartilage has long since dried up, that he cannot play in midweek if he has played over the weekend.
If Fabio Capello calls him up for England's World Cup qualifier against Croatia at Wembley on Wednesday week, King will be unavailable for Tottenham's game against Manchester United the following Saturday.
The patriot in Spurs manager Harry Redknapp wants to see King in South Africa next summer as part of the World Cup squad. The pragmatist trying to guide the club to a Champions League place doesn't want his man anywhere near an international until then.
'That's the problem,' said Redknapp. 'I want him to go to the World Cup more than anything. He deserves that. He knows I want him to play for England, but his knee won't stand being out on the training pitch and he can't play two games a week.
Captain Courageous: King takes control during the win over West Ham last week
'He's in every day, working with the physios. He gets frustrated that he can't be out on the training pitch and we only see him out there the day before the game. He feels he needs to have a 20-minute blow-out to make sure it's all right. Please God, he gives you the thumbs-up afterwards.
'Today was the first he had trained since last Sunday at West Ham. He had 20 minutes. If he had run around for an hour today, he wouldn't be able to play tomorrow because his knee would swell up. He will face Birmingham (at White Hart Lane today), then his knee will come up again like a balloon. Then he'll spend a week, or two weeks this time, getting the swelling down again. It's been aching a little bit as well, a bit more than normal.'
King, who is in his tenth season as a first-team player, has managed 220 league appearances. Over the past three seasons, he has played 69 games in all competitions, frequently pulling out of the England squad and unable to add to his 19 caps.
Redknapp added: 'It's scary how good he could be. He hadn't even been out on the training ground all pre-season before we played Liverpool and he just came out and didn't give Fernando Torres a kick. It just shows how good he is.
'He makes a massive difference to our team, he's that good. He's got a presence about him. Like Rio, like Bobby Moore had, that gives everyone around him confidence. He certainly gives me confidence. You know he knows what he's doing.
'He has a programme and sticks to that. He can't run. He just goes on a bike. I don't know how he keeps that residual fitness. It's unreal. It goes against everything we're supposed to do. We may as well all come in next Saturday and not train during the week. That's not a bad idea, in fact.'
Redknapp was not as fulsome with his praise regarding David Bentley who was yesterday banned from driving for a year and fined £600 by St Albans magistrates. He crashed his Porsche into a lamp-post after drinking four pints and two spirit measures.
Redknapp said: 'He's very lucky to get away with only a year's ban. The fine is peanuts, really, in terms of what players earn. What he's got to do now is learn his lesson and make sure he never does it again because he's been let off very lightly. The club will fine him the maximum we can.'
By Ivan Speck
Last updated at 12:11 AM on 29th August 2009
Throw out the training manuals, sack the fitness gurus and shun football habits of a lifetime. Tottenham sit proudly atop the Barclays Premier League while their inspirational leader spends most of his week riding a bike.
In fact, the only time Ledley King is seen on a training pitch is for 20 minutes the day before a game - and even then he needs ice packed around his left knee as soon as he returns to the physio's room at Spurs Lodge he knows so well.
Such is the chronic damage that bone grinding on bone does to the 28-year-old defender's knee, in which all cartilage has long since dried up, that he cannot play in midweek if he has played over the weekend.
If Fabio Capello calls him up for England's World Cup qualifier against Croatia at Wembley on Wednesday week, King will be unavailable for Tottenham's game against Manchester United the following Saturday.
The patriot in Spurs manager Harry Redknapp wants to see King in South Africa next summer as part of the World Cup squad. The pragmatist trying to guide the club to a Champions League place doesn't want his man anywhere near an international until then.
'That's the problem,' said Redknapp. 'I want him to go to the World Cup more than anything. He deserves that. He knows I want him to play for England, but his knee won't stand being out on the training pitch and he can't play two games a week.
'He's in every day, working with the physios. He gets frustrated that he can't be out on the training pitch and we only see him out there the day before the game. He feels he needs to have a 20-minute blow-out to make sure it's all right. Please God, he gives you the thumbs-up afterwards.
'Today was the first he had trained since last Sunday at West Ham. He had 20 minutes. If he had run around for an hour today, he wouldn't be able to play tomorrow because his knee would swell up. He will face Birmingham (at White Hart Lane today), then his knee will come up again like a balloon. Then he'll spend a week, or two weeks this time, getting the swelling down again. It's been aching a little bit as well, a bit more than normal.'
King, who is in his tenth season as a first-team player, has managed 220 league appearances. Over the past three seasons, he has played 69 games in all competitions, frequently pulling out of the England squad and unable to add to his 19 caps.
Redknapp added: 'It's scary how good he could be. He hadn't even been out on the training ground all pre-season before we played Liverpool and he just came out and didn't give Fernando Torres a kick. It just shows how good he is.
'He makes a massive difference to our team, he's that good. He's got a presence about him. Like Rio, like Bobby Moore had, that gives everyone around him confidence. He certainly gives me confidence. You know he knows what he's doing.
'He has a programme and sticks to that. He can't run. He just goes on a bike. I don't know how he keeps that residual fitness. It's unreal. It goes against everything we're supposed to do. We may as well all come in next Saturday and not train during the week. That's not a bad idea, in fact.'
Redknapp was not as fulsome with his praise regarding David Bentley who was yesterday banned from driving for a year and fined £600 by St Albans magistrates. He crashed his Porsche into a lamp-post after drinking four pints and two spirit measures.
Redknapp said: 'He's very lucky to get away with only a year's ban. The fine is peanuts, really, in terms of what players earn. What he's got to do now is learn his lesson and make sure he never does it again because he's been let off very lightly. The club will fine him the maximum we can.'
