The Lead
If you’ve already read through the news today yourself like an independent person who doesn’t need guidance in the form of links, then you’ve likely already stumbled across the array of anguished logorrhoea from pundits, bloggers and Twitfaces alike on the retirement of Spurs’ inverted commas legend, Ledley King, he of the cartilage-less knees.
The entire wall of noise can be summed up thusly:
“He was a good defender, but not amazing. People will remember him for playing hard on injured knees.”
Which is actually about right, it seems to me. And I will leave it at that myself. Ledley King was literally one of a kind (like most footballers in fact), but will be remembered primarily for his perseverance in pain and determined athleticism despite some considerable medical obstacles. No need to ascribe to him powers he plainly did not have, or to chide others for the perception he did.
Moreover, we shouldn’t pivot from Ledley’s unique situation to use him as some bygone model for manliness in the face of injury. King chose to play on injured knees, and it should be good enough for posterity to note that his managers believed in his importance enough to let him, to the point where he was excused from midweek training to keep him ready for the weekend.
That doesn’t make him the best defender of his generation, but it does imply something of his value to elite football. That, and his loyalty to his boyhood club, should be good enough to take a pause. Bye Ledley; enjoy your new role.
Canada
Toronto FC come from a goal behind to beat the Colorado Rapids. Three games in a row, cue playoff talk!
Meanwhile Vancouver coughs up two late goals to the LA Galaxy. Ben Massey’s take.
And a 2-1 home victory for Montreal over the New England Revolution.
England
Brendan Rodgers admits he likes Clint Dempsey.
Chelsea’s new signings Hazard and Marin impress in a friendly against the Seattle Sounders.
Man United interested in picking up Robin van Persie, which would make United’s trip to the Emirates interesting indeed.
Andre Villas-Boas remains firm on Real Madrid’s asking price for Luka Modric.
Italy
Edin Dzeko denies yesterday’s AC Milan transfer rumours.
Ibra’s sale to PSG from Milan was apparently sown up six months ago.
Bits and bobs
Mohammed Bin Hammam has his lifetime FIFA ban annulled in court.
Jonathan Wilson’s take on the John Terry trial.
And that, give or take, is the story so far…
Why is everybody praising Ledley King for deciding to sacrifice the usefulness of his knees, thus subjecting himself to a lifetime of pain, so he could make a few million more dollars playing for a mediocre team who would’ve been better off spending that money on somebody who could actually stay healthy?
it’s that good ol’ english fightin’ spirit ain’t it?
Ledley was a phenomenal talent. The bottom line is that no matter who Spurs brought in, nobody supplanted him while he was healthy. They were a significantly better team with him on the pitch.
I think that if his knees had been sturdy he would’ve been scooped up by a “bigger” team but I’m grateful that King Ledley was a Spur. I don’t think I’ve seen a defender read a game better then he does. It’s how he was so effective without being able to run very well at all.
Ledley King was amazing, but quietly so… under Redknapp, for example, Spurs won over 75% of their games when King started, but only 40% when he did not start!