Exclusive: Pascal Chimbonda responds to claims he was the worst trainer at Tottenham
Pascal Chimbonda has responded to Jermain Defoe’s claim that he was the worst trainer at Tottenham Hotspur, alongside Dimitar Berbatov, in an exclusive chat with Spurs Web.
Berbatov, Defoe, and Chimbonda not only shared the dressing room with some amazing talents during their time in N17, but also some fantastic trainers. The likes of Robbie Keane, Aaron Lennon, Michael Dawson, and Ledley King, when he could actually train, spring to mind.
While Dimitar Berbatov will go down in history as one of the iconic mercurial talents of the Premier League era, the Bulgarian was not known for putting in the hard yards, on or off the pitch.
However, Jermain Defoe shocked some Spurs fans by lumping Pascal Chimbonda in with the Premier League Golden Boot winner – despite the Frenchman always being in peak physical condition.
Defoe said: “No, him [Berbatov] and Pascal Chimbonda, they were the worst trainers ever, Berba and Chimbonda, those two were the worst trainers, they would just chill, they would just chill.”
Pascal Chimbonda admits defeat in Tottenham training debate
When Spurs Web got in contact with Chimbonda, we expected the former full-back to defend his own honour, but he was far more honest in his response.
Asked whether Defoe was right in calling him one of the two worst trainers at Tottenham, alongside Berbatov, Chimbonda responded: “Yes, I think so. It’s true what he [Defoe] is saying. I was one of the worst ones when we were playing games in training, but for fitness, I was the best.
“For warm-ups in training, me and Berba were always together. Small passing drills, but they were never sharp. Me and Berba were doing it at a slow pace.”
Asked if Martin Jol ever called him out for his lazy training, Chimbonda added: “Yeah, he was saying I was so lazy in training but he loved me when I played the game at the weekend because I gave everything and that’s what mattered.
“He [Jol] joked that Caribbean players must be lazy because we are used to chilling all day long.”
Chimbonda names the most talented Spurs player from the good old days
He may have shared the pitch with Gareth Bale, Luka Modric, and Dimitar Berbatov, but none of them made the cut when the Frenchman was asked to name the hardest player to train against.
Chimbonda revealed Adel Taarabt was the most skilful player in Spurs training. He said: “The hardest in training was Adel Taarabt. He was just so skilful. He didn’t get enough of a chance at Tottenham Hotspur. When he left, you saw how good he was at QPR.”
However, it isn’t the silky dribbling of a Taarabt-style player Spurs need this summer. Chimbonda wants to see Tottenham invest in a strong holding midfielder to take the squad to the next level.
He said: “I would love Spurs to sign a top midfielder this summer because we need someone to protect the back four. I think we are good on the attacking side of things, and I don’t think many strikers are available on the market at the moment anyway.”
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