Fit King is backed to rule in midfield

Tottenham's thoroughbred defender, Ledley King, is back fit and playing which is good news both for Steve McClaren, who is contemplating employing him against Brazil tomorrow, and his club coach, Martin Jol.

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King, whose career has been blighted by injury, last started a game for England in the so-called 'friendly' international against Argentina in Geneva in November 2005.

Back then Sven Goran Eriksson employed King in a midfield holding role, a position about which the player himself has not been overwhelming in his enthusiasm.

That particular evening in Switzerland against Argentina, you could understand King's apprehension.

England won a pulsating match 3-2 but the 26-year-old Spurs star was pulled all over the place by a languid young man in a blue shirt, named Juan Riquelme.

Up until then Eriksson had great hopes for King as a defensive midfield player but his uncertainty that day up against the talented Argentine raised doubts about that particular role.

Since then injury has decimated King's progress but the softly-spoken young man from Bow is happily fit again and inevitably the debate about how best to use him will return.

King has consistently said that he prefers the central defensive position but will play anywhere for the team, be it Spurs or England.

There are those who say that King is certainly no Claude Makelele as a holding player, that he is not mobile enough and is not able to read the game sufficiently well in that position.

Someone who emphatically disagrees with that opinion is David Pleat who, as then caretaker manager at White Hart Lane, was delighted with the way King performed in midfield, when asked.

"Both George Graham, when he was Spurs manager, and I played Ledley in that role," said Pleat.

"At the time it was needs must because of the personnel available to us but there is no doubt Ledley has all the attributes to play in a defensive midfield role.

"Ledley wasn't too voluble when he first came into the Spurs team but he preferred to play at the back he still has that preference.

"But I believe he is tailor-made for that defensive midfield position, be it behind the centre-backs or in front of them.

"He has all the attributes - power, anticipation, energy. He's also what I call an easy accelerator who can go through the gears seemingly effortlessly.

"He can certainly man-mark when required and he has plenty of discipline in his game, which is essential."

The return of Beckham for tomorrow's Wembley showpiece followed by next week's European Championship qualifier against Estonia is either a pragmatic or desperate decision by McClaren depending on your view while the under-pressure England coach dismisses the continuing doubts about the viability of Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard in the same midfield.

Pleat's belief is that King's deployment in a defensive midfield role would help oil that midfield engine.

"I have absolutely no doubt that he could play in that holding position," he said, "with Gerrard and Lampard playing in front of him. I believe that would work well.

"The only time it didn't work out for Ledley was against Argentina and, if my memory serves me correctly, other players in the team were pulled out of position and Ledley finished up trying to plug gaps and moving between two of the opposition, one of whom was Riquelme."

McClaren himself has confirmed he is keen to look at the King midfield option at some stage.

"There has to be a Plan B," he said. "Sometimes you might have to play three in there. With the threat of the players Brazil have going down the middle, Ronaldinho, Kaka and Robinho, you have to think of other ways of coping."

For King though, it must feel good just to taste international football again, after the long months of injury and rehabilitation.

When pressed, he would still say his best position is at the heart of the team's defence.

Just to be on that Wembley pitch tomorrow though, particularly against those mesmeric Brazilians, would be more than good enough for the time being.