Hector is 26 years old. Before Ray took over Tottenham, he was almost an unknown existence. He is 180cm tall, weighs 74kg, is very fast, but has poor confrontation and is very bad at heading. So when he first came to Tottenham, he was always a substitute for Lee Yong-pyo. Later, when Bale came, Hector had even less chance to play as a left-back.

Until Ray came to Tottenham in the 2009 season.

Old Ray discovered Hector's ability and made Hector the main candidate for the left back, and the resulting change was that Bale was pushed to the left winger position.

Such drastic changes not only revitalized Hector, but also revitalized Bale.

While other Premier League teams are worrying about the selection of left-backs, Tottenham's two left-backs can play together and cooperate well, often putting on exciting scenes of overlapping sides.

However, due to his lack of physical confrontation, injuries have always been Hector's nightmare and also limited his ceiling.

But overall, Hector is still good. He has delicate feet, is very fast, is active in making forward passes and assists, and has a good cross.

Tottenham's starting right back is player No. 22, Vedran Djordje from Croatia.

Joel Luka is 24 years old, 192cm tall and weighs 88kg. He is from the same Croatian club as Modric.

However, unlike Modric, Joel Luka has never played for Dinamo Zagreb. Instead, relying on his excellent physical condition, he joined the Premier League Manchester City early on, and then transferred from Manchester City to Tottenham.

Joel Luca is an all-around backcourt player. Although he is very tall and heavy, Joel Luca's advantage is definitely not just in defensive confrontation. He has a slender body and is very flexible. He also has good footwork and sense of position. Especially when taking corner kicks, Joel Luca can play to his strong aerial advantage and defend or attack with headers.

Joel Luca can not only play as a full-back, but also as a central defender and defensive midfielder. He also has a good backcourt cross when attacking.

His only shortcoming on the court is that he is too slow, lacks explosive power, and his physical fitness is also slightly poor.

Tottenham's starting two central defenders were No. 20 Michael Dawson and No. 26 captain Ledley King.

Michael Dawson is 27 years old, 192cm tall and weighs 84kg. He is fierce in tackling, highly confrontational, and his heading skills are definitely among the best in the Premier League.

What is most praised about Michael Dawson is his level of commitment in the game. Although Tottenham, coached by Ray, adopts a free tactic, Michael Dawson seldom makes forward runs. He stands firmly in his position in the back line and is a reassuring backstop for Tottenham.

Of course, his speed is slower than Joel Luka's - this is also why he does not participate in the offense, for fear that he will not be able to run back after rushing forward.

As for another defender, Ledley King, he is much more famous than Michael Dawson.

Ledley King is a Lily White legend who has been "loyal to one team all her life".

If you are a Tottenham fan, you may not know who Bale is, you may not know who Kane is, you may not know who Son Heung-min is, but you must know who Ledley King is.

Ledley King joined Tottenham's youth training team at a very young age, and was promoted to the first team with his outstanding performance in the defense. Since then, Ledley King has not joined any other team.

Since playing for Tottenham's first team in 1999, as of the 2011-12 season, Ledley King has played 268 games for Tottenham and scored 10 goals.

By July 2012, Ledley King had played for Tottenham for 17 years and retired from his favorite club due to injury.

In 2020, Ledley King returned to Tottenham Hotspur and became the assistant coach of Tottenham Hotspur.

Ledley King is 189cm tall and weighs 88kg. He is a central defender with strong confrontation, excellent sense of position, first-class defensive ability and a cool head.

Ledley King mainly plays as a centre-back, but can also play as a defensive midfielder.

However, in Ray's free tactical system, there is basically no concept of defensive midfielder. The entire Tottenham team adopts a "cutting melons and vegetables" offensive mode and does not need any defensive midfielder.

In fact, when Ledley King Kong made his debut, he was very fast, even on par with the King of Highbury Henry.

Henry once commented on Ledley King, saying that Ledley King was the only Premier League defender who could intercept the ball from under his feet without committing a foul.

Considering Henry's status in the Premier League, this evaluation is extremely high.

Unfortunately, Ridley King was born at the wrong time.

When Ledley King was not seriously injured and was at the peak of his career, Tottenham's overall strength was not good enough. When Tottenham began to embark on the road of revival, the loyal Ledley King was unable to travel with Bailey due to his age and knee injury.

Ledley King's serious knee injury occurred when he was 19 years old and in his first starting game in his career. The game had just started for 30 seconds when Ledley King collided with the opposing player. Ledley King felt pain in his knee at the time, but Ledley King was too young at that time and he had been sitting on the bench in Tottenham's first team for more than half a year. He finally got his first chance to start. If he asked to be substituted after 30 seconds on the court, not to mention the head coach would frown, he himself would not forgive his cowardice.

As a result, Ledley King gritted his teeth and played the entire game, but the price he paid was that he was in so much pain that he couldn't stand up as soon as the game ended. He was eventually sent to the hospital for surgery, recuperated for 6 weeks, and picked up a regular rotation position.

The biggest impact was not the loss of his rotation position at the time, but the knee injury, which affected his life and prevented him from becoming a world-class central defender.

So, this is fate.

Finally, Tottenham's starting goalkeeper is No. 1, 30-year-old Brazilian Shulireo Gomes.

Gomez is 190cm tall and weighs 87kg. He has quick reactions and is very strong in one-on-one situations. He is a very nervous goalkeeper.

The two highlights of Gomez's career were when he was with PSV Eindhoven in the Eredivisie, saving two consecutive penalties and helping the team advance to the Champions League semi-finals. The other time was when he was with Tottenham in 2010, saving two consecutive penalties from Darren Bent, the former Tottenham striker.

All in all, this Tottenham Hotspur team's lineup is very strong, especially in terms of offense, which is definitely a chopped melon and vegetable-cutting style of attack.

It depends on whether Southampton's double defensive midfielder can withstand Tottenham's tough defense today.

At this time, the referee blew the whistle and the League Cup final officially began!

...(End of this chapter)