Ledley (from the guardian)

Dublin Spur · 14-03-2009 10:08am #1

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/mar/14/ledley-king-interview-tottenham-hotspur

t breaks your heart a little to talk about football with Tottenham's Ledley King. You are looking in the eye of a gentleman, a strapping athlete, a man who adores the game and is exceptionally talented at it, and you both know there is an elephant in the room – one he could really do without – that will not go away. The dreaded knee.

He knows it is impossible to ignore. He realises his career is judged because of it, with his admirers forced to wonder about how much more he could achieve without it. Understandably that galls him sometimes. "Every time I see my name, I see 'knee' next to it. It hurts," he laments. "Every footballer hates injuries, hates being injured, hates being labelled injury-prone. But at the same time there is nothing I can do about it except keep making the effort to play as much as I can."

His professional existence is extremely unusual in a team game. Like all the other players, he arrives at Spurs Lodge every morning and meets them in the changing room. Then, it is as if there is a metaphorical signpost outside the door: Fit players turn right for the training pitches. Ledley King turns left for knee management. Ninety minutes later, they all meet up again and go off for lunch.

"Nobody really sees what I do so the lads think I do nothing," he chortles. But what he would not swap for liberating mornings spent kicking a football, pain free, out on the grass. Instead he undertakes mammoth swims and specialist muscular exercises in the gym. "The work I do is not as enjoyable as playing," he says. "I normally go mad. It is boring. Some days you don't particularly look forward to doing it, but I have been doing it for a while now so I know what to expect. I work with Nathan Gardener, the fitness coach, and he has a way of knowing when a player is in a bad mood and he eases off that day. He tries to keep it interesting but realises you don't feel like it every day."

Last season was a nadir of sorts. King managed just four Premier League matches all season. As if the long term routine of treatment and strengthening for a chronic condition doesn't take enough of a toll, matchdays bring another challenge – more of a test of mental strength. For 34 league matches he felt like a powerless captain. At home games, he did his best for the team by attending, watching, supporting, trying to handle the sympathy vote, but most top footballers find that as painful as having their teeth pulled.

Is he a good watcher of games? "It's half and half," he explains. "I like to be there and I feel I should be at the games but there have been times when I have been fed up. The routine of going to the stadium, sitting there watching, and everyone asking me about my injury, that's the difficult part. There might be once or twice a season where I think, 'I can't'. I don't want the questions, everyone feeling sorry for me, 'When you going to be back? When you going to be back?...' There are times when it is frustrating. But I want to be there to support the lads, so it's a catch 22 situation."

King is a little relieved that the Tottenham captaincy is now shared – he remains club captain but the team captain's role has been given to Robbie Keane. "In a funny way it probably does help," he admits. "Being the captain you always feel you have to be there and for me, missing loads of games, I couldn't. It probably stressed me more than it would anyone else. It has taken the pressure away from me and I can just concentrate on getting right to play rather than thinking of what I have to do for the team."

Thankfully, this season has been a terrific improvement on what was almost a write-off last term. This weekend should tick off his 16th Premier League game. The more he is involved, the easier it is to live with his knee. Time on the pitch means the world to him.

An improving Tottenham play a faltering Aston Villa at Villa Park tomorrow and although King remains cautious, another positive result would help everyone to breathe a little easier. "Looking at the table it obviously makes better reading than being in the bottom three, but we can't afford to slack off," he says.

In a way, they can't wait to negotiate safely the rest of this campaign so they can start afresh in August. "We are looking forward to next season already," he admits. "If we stay in the league there is a lot we can take into next year. Obviously players like [Luka] Modric and [Roman] Pavlyuchenko will have a season under their belts and know what's expected, others like [Wilson] Palacios will have gelled in the team, the old new faces are back, and you would expect the manager to bring in some more signings. And we'll need no reminding about getting off to a good start. Our start of the season was terrible. You can't start a season like that and want to be going places. There has been a part of us wishing we could start again for a long time.

"The situation we were in – two points from eight games – showed something was wrong there. Whether it was the players underperforming or the manager not getting the best out of them, it was not good enough. The chairman had to make moves for the club to survive and avoid getting relegated. Now we've got a manager who knows the Premier League inside out and it is important to stick by him. Hopefully he can work magic for the club."

The sort of magic King has in mind was brought home during the week, when he watched four English teams progress in the Champions League. He cannot help feeling that is something missing from his CV. "In weeks like this all the lads talk about it around the training ground and look forward to watching the games on TV. Big games, great players on view. As footballers we love watching that. There's a part of us that has a bit of jealousy and wishes that we were in that position.

"We came close to breaking into the top four and it is something we need to look to do again because I feel we now have the players, and the squad, to push towards that elite group."

The other elite group that King has not given up on is England. Even though it is almost two years since his last cap, he still thinks about getting a call-up to play for his country. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't. But it is on the periphery. My main concern is Tottenham, and playing as much as I can. When I am consistently playing well and not having problems, then it is time to think of England."

He has met Fabio Capello twice, when the Italian was an honoured guest at the last two Carling Cup finals which Tottenham contested. "I've not had a conversation with him, but I know he has been in touch with people at the club," King reflects. Does that give a little boost of inspiration on those lonely days lapping the pool or strapping his leg? "It does, but it doesn't change that much. It is not exactly going to inspire my knee to get better."

King has learned to accept his footballing lot. He is not a complainer, and while he can still do his bit on the pitch as often as humanly possible, he will continue spending his weekdays in not so splendid isolation, waiting for the swelling to go down.

Ledley King was appearing at an official coaching and signing session for Barclays, title sponsor of the Barclays Premier League: www.barclayspremierleague.com