Thierry Henry's Pick for Only England Star Who 'Tackled Fairly' Won Just 21 Caps

Thierry Henry believes only one England defender was good enough to tackle him without committing a foul, but he only won 21 caps.

Henry is widely regarded as one of the greatest forwards in Premier League history alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, following his ultra-prolific spell at Arsenal.

The Frenchman scored a remarkable 175 Premier League goals during his legendary career, which saw him have two spells at the Gunners.

Henry faced up against some of the best defenders in Premier League history during his time in England, including Manchester United's Rio Ferdinand and Chelsea legend John Terry.

But the Arsenal icon failed to mention either Ferdinand or Terry when naming the only defender who could get the better of him without fouling.

Despite the duo playing 32 times together for England, it was actually another former Three Lions star that got the nod from Henry.

In an interview back in 2006, Henry explained: "I don't like defenders who hold the shirts of other players. The only defender here who doesn't do that and sometimes still gets the ball off my feet easily is Ledley King.

"He is the only guy who doesn't hold players. He will get the ball off you without you even noticing. For me, that is a good defender.

Thierry Henry and Ledley King facing off for France and England (credit: getty)

"He plays without any contact yet is somehow still strong and gets the ball without doing any fouls," he added.

King spent his entire career at White Hart Lane, and made just 323 club appearances throughout his career due to significant injury issues.

Berbatov, who played with King at Spurs, echoed Henry's sentiment: "For me he was up there with [Nemanja] Vidic and Rio [Ferdinand].

"He was so intelligent and read the game so well. He was always intercepting balls purely because he knew where the striker would be."

Knee issues made Ledley King 'write off' England career

Given King's reputation with fellow pros, it is difficult to understand why the defender played so little for his country.

Speaking on the Seaman Says podcast last year, King opened up on his chronic knee issues that forced him to give up on his international career.

“I still feel like there should have been more [England caps], really," he explained.

“During that time, I kind of went through a period where I was really struggling with my knee, so for about three years, I kind of wrote off playing for England."

King added: “They would often ask me to meet up in the camp, but I didn't feel confident enough in my body to go and do that until the 2010 World Cup, where I kind of come out retirement.

"Although I never really retired from England. This was four years into not training."