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Harry Redknapp says he had a centre-back at Tottenham who was even better than Micky van de Ven

Charles Jones

Wed 19 March 2025 10:45, UK

There’s been a lot of talk in recent days about how this current Tottenham team shapes up against the Spurs teams of the past.

Indeed, Jermain Defoe claimed Niko Kranjcar is better than Ja🅷mes Maddison, while Defoe also said Aaron Lennon was better than Heung-Min Son.

Tottenham were certainly a better team 15 years ago. After all, they currently sit 15^th in the Premier League, while, bac🤡k in 2010, they were qualifying for the Champions League.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
14	TottenhamTottenham	29	10	4	15	55	43	12	34

Harry Redknapp was the man in charge of that side, and speaking to We Are Tottenham TV, Redknapp has been discussin♕g some of his former players compared with Spurs’ curren𝔉t crop.

Harry Redknapp picks Ledley King over Micky van de Ven

Redknapp was asked to build a combined XI of his former players and today’s current cꦍrop𝔉 of Spurs stars.

The manager had 💧some difficult decisions to ꦰmake – particularly at centre-back.

Redknapp was asked to choose between Ledley King and Micky van de Ven at one point.

Van de Ven has received a lot of praise since joining Tottenham, while King is a Premier League great in h♛is own right.

Redknapp didn’t hesitate here🌳, picking King over Van൩ de Ven.

Micky van de Ven’s injury record compared to Ledley King

King and Van de Ven are two abs❀olutely brilliant centre-halves.

✃Both men ha🐻ve a fantastic ability to read the game, and they have physical attributes that allowed them to bully opponents too.

Unfortunately, those aren’t the only similarities between the two playersꦆ.

Indeed, King’s career was cut short by injury, and, sadly, Van de Ven ha🎉s had his fair share of injury problems as of late too.

King’s problems were linked 🌳to his knees, while Van de Ven has had hamstring issues.

Van de Vܫen is back fit for the moment, but Tottenham are still wary of his hamstring problems.

At the age of just 24, Van de Ven should, hopefully, have a long and successful c🀅areer ahead of him.

However, injuries at the top level can be incredibly c🐼ruel, as King knows only too well.

Van de Ven a♔nd King are two of Tottenham’s best defenders of the modern era, but, sadly, both men’s careers have been💝 affected by injuries.