When you’re growing up there is nothing that your dad can’t do. He’ll fix anything, he’ll protect you from anyone, and he knows everything. He’ll tell you something that still 20 years on you believe with all your heart, despite countless people telling you otherwise, then one day you have to explain the ‘reply all’ function on an email to him and the image crumbles.

You realise at that moment, that despite helping you through life, building the person you are today, he isn’t quite the pillar of common sense and knowledge. He is a bit like you, fallible, prone to the odd error, he is just human, but with the ability to borrow your digital camera and take 40 one second film clips, instead of 40 pictures.

At White Hart Lane on Sunday I saw something that made me question everything I thought I knew. It made me ponder my long standing beliefs of Tottenham Hotspur and our defence. Suddenly I questioned a legend.

The ball was hoofed clear by a Bournemouth defender, it was a no messing ‘get rid’ clearance, it hurtled skywards and dropped back towards earth with added menace. During its descent, like any good pressing team, the Bournemouth players sought to cause panic and force the Tottenham defence to commit the cardinal sin of defending and ‘let it bounce.’

Regardless of what happened, how many false dawns and frozen managers floated past us, we clung on to King and he kept us alive

However, before the ball hit the green stuff it was intercepted, it landed on the chest of one our players, was instantly controlled and flicked inside for Kevin Wimmer. No drama, no bounce, no hoof clear and no panic. It wasn’t a Bobby Moore tackle on Pele, or robust and powerful Fabio Cannavaro interception, it was Toby Alderweireld making something very difficult look like bringing light to a darkened room by flicking a switch.

Greatness is the ability to make something very difficult look extremely easily. Roger Federer, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Phil Taylor, Leo Messi all have it, and in certain moments Alderweireld has it too.

It made me think back to our last great defender, Ledley King, then immediately it made me shiver.

Is Toby better than King?

Is our £11.5m signing from Atletico Madrid a better player than our original ‘one of our?’

It’s an unsettling thought, especially when you consider that King was the piece of wood we clung to while we were swept away by the arctic waters of Woolwich’s Judas-led dominance. Regardless of what happened, how many false dawns and frozen managers floated past us, we clung on to King and he kept us alive. He kept us relevant. We had Ledley at the back, and that for a while that was all we had.

King was never blessed with a team as good as the one that surrounds Toby. Even the Redknapp XI which become the yardstick to measure Spurs 2015/16 hardly featured King, and when it did, he was clearly past his best. His crumbling performance at home to Norwich when up against the rotund Grant Holt was his Muhammad Ali vs Trevor Berbick moment. The King needed to abdicate. It was a sad way for him to go out.

The best centre-backs, although capable of making the glorious last ditch tackle, very rarely need to

For King in his prime we have to look back to the teams of the early 2000s, when he swept gracefully into the Judas void, but those were days devoid of planning, philosophies or even structure. We stumbled from one theory to another, David Pleat, Frank Arnesen, Damien Commoli, Jacques Santini and Glenn Hoddle to mention just a few, each with their own foibles and issues. Each one implementing tactics that left King exposed and overworked.

It wasn’t until King was partnered with another centre-back close to his level did we see something magical happen. Alongside Jonathan Woodgate we saw the real King. Not a player constantly having to make last-ditch covering tackles, but one able to lead with quiet composure. The kind of calm authority we now see from Alderweireld. The best centre-backs, although capable of making the glorious last ditch tackle, very rarely need to.

With Gomes in good form, for the most part, and Woodgate alongside him, Tottenham, despite their dreadful start to the season managed to ship only 10 goals at home at White Hart Lane, breaking in the process our club record. For the first time, with a team proper team around him, we saw what King was capable of, unfortunately, for the rest of his career it was his body, not his teammates who let him down.

The next three season saw our captain feature 47 times in the league, a disappointing amount when you consider both Michael Dawson and Younes Kaboul, despite suffering long term injures managed 60+. The season Spurs broke their Champions League hymen, King only represented Spurs 6 times, for our greatest Premier League season, it was a paltry amount of games for our captain.

What it signalled was King had now entered his twilight years, where he trained alone, couldn’t play successive matches and on occasion was at fault for a goal, like when he hauled down Mario Balotelli at the Etihad. Errors and positional faults crept into his game.

King was a glorious defender when fit, but today when I see Alderweireld, there is an assured confidence about his play, greater than when I used to watch Ledley. The signing of Toby has been pivotal in forcing Spurs to shed the soft underbelly it became famous for. Of course he has been ably assisted by having a defensive shield like Eric Dier and Mousa Dembele, but you can’t use that as a mark against him.

The signing of Toby has been pivotal in forcing Spurs to shed the soft underbelly it became famous for

Alderweireld is not at fault for having a better team around him, it is not something we should judge him on. Having a better team adds its own pressures. Our team now enter the field with an expectation level greater than anything I can remember. We have to perform at a high level week in week out now, and with Toby there, I feel confident that we can. He is a calming and reassuring presence, even more so than King was, this is why right now I think he is a better than King.

Toby may never mean as much to me as King, but on a footballing level and with the position our team is in, the Belgian edges it. Both can play in a variety of roles, both can play ‘football’ and both are quiet leaders, exceptional qualities in exceptional footballers. They have both had a positive impact on their centre-back partner, but there is just something about Toby that makes me think that pound for pound, he is better. It is a thought that makes me question myself, but it is a wonderful situation to be in.

Our current centre-back is possibly on his way to be being a great.

If only they could have played alongside each other.