By Chris Hatherall and Dan Freedman. Friday, 14 October 2005.
A huge physical presence and a barrier to any opposition attack, whether in midfield or defence, not to mention a deftness of touch to complement his athletic strength and pace.
That was Marcel Desailly, a World Cup winner, a double Champions League winner and one of the most respected players in recent generations.
But, as he shielded England's defence with assurance, quality and awareness on Wednesday night, Ledley King was reminiscent of the man who he admits was one of his boyhood heroes.
"Desailly is a player I've watched throughout his career when he was at AC Milan and he is someone I looked up to and wanted to be like," Ledley said of the Frenchman who tended be a midfielder for his clubs and a central defender for the national team.
"Over the last year or so, I've not really thought about the midfield position but maybe I'll have to start thinking about it."
Ledley also explained the unselfish role he was trying to fulfill for England in Wednesday's World Cup Qualifier against Poland.
"I was trying to just sit in there and break things up as much as possible and give it to the players who can play," he said.
"I try to sit in there as much as possible and give Frank the freedom to go on and do what he's great at. You've seen that with the way he's taken the goal.
"With me there hopefully he felt he could push on and just leave me to pick up the pieces.
"Overall I felt I did well, but I've always said I've never given up on centre-back. I still feel that I could do a job there. The next few months will be interesting and we will see what happens.
"We'll see what the manager wants from me and go from there."