Ledley King, Kyle Walker, Jan Vertonghen, Gareth Bale, Luka Modric, and Harry Kane have all been named by Brad Friedel in his best-ever teammate XI.
Freidel spent four years at Spurs after signing for the club on a free transfer in the summer of 2011.
The former USA international was the North London club’s number one during his first season at the club before being displaced by Hugo Lloris less than halfway into his second season.
However, Friedel continued to serve as a backup goalkeeper until 2014 and on leaving, even became a club ambassador and worked on his coaching badges at Hotspur Way.
The 51-year-old, who has since gone on to manager MLS side New England Revolution, was asked to pick the best eleven from the teammates he had over his Premier League career.
Five Spurs players made into Friedel’s eleven, with the former goalkeeper naming Vertonghen at left-back.
He told FourFourTwo about the Belgian: “Jan hated playing left-back with a passion, but he was just too good to be left out!
“Excellent as a centre-back, his true position, and was a very good passer. He was just one of those players who could slide into any top club and not be out of place.”
Freidel also waxed lyrical about King, stating that the former Tottenham captain was the best player he played behind.
He said about King: “He hardly ever trained because of his knee – I never knew how a player could do that and just fit in seamlessly.
“I’ve never known a captain as quiet, but Ledley commanded everyone’s respect. Positionally, he was the best I played behind. Very rarely did I scan the field and tell him where anyone was.”
Finally, the former Blackburn and Aston Villa star named Mauricio Pochettino as the manager of his side, and said about the Argentine: “His attention to detail was second to none.
“He’s a compassionate man, but passionate about the game, too. Poch was very, very smart and he ran the club like no other I’ve been around.”
The full XI was as follows:
David James;
Kyle Walker, Ledley King, Eddie Pope, Jan Vertonghen;
Paul Ince, Tugay;
Gareth Bale, Luka Modric, Gheorghe Hagi;
Harry Kane
Bench: Uli Van Gobbel, Mousa Dembele, Michael Owen
Manager: Mauricio Pochettino
Spurs Web Opinion
I find it interesting that Freidel has left out Scott Parker, who was extremely solid in the two years he had at Spurs. Mousa Dembele is another curious omission (who only made the bench), particularly considering the 51-year-old has named his former Blackburn teammate Tugay Kerimoglu in midfield.
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