NASHVILLE, Tennessee -- Tottenham great Ledley King has backed Scott Parker to adjust to coaching more quickly than he did, and hailed his former teammate's return to the club.
Parker, who spent two seasons at Tottenham from 2011, was named as the club's under-18s coach in June following his retirement as a player.
King and Parker, both 36, came through Tottenham's coaching programme -- run by head of coaching and player development John McDermott -- along with Brad Friedel and Michael Dawson, and King was appointed as a part-time youth coach in July 2014.
The former England defender stopped coaching soon after, telling ESPN FC in 2015 that he "wasn't ready," but he says Parker is better equipped to make the adjustment than he was.
"Coming from the professional mentality where every point matters, every mistake is magnified, to then work with young kids where you have to allow them to make mistakes to develop themselves is different," King said.
"As a defender, the last thing you want to do is make mistakes and cost goals. But you need to allow young players to try do things to evolve their game -- you can't restrict them. That was the switch of mentality needed.
"Scott has been doing his badges for a while and I think he understands that more than I did. He's further down the line with his badges -- he'll have no problem. It wasn't stressful but it was different. I've been a young player before so I remember what it was like.
"The game has changed and that's another adjustment. The way the game is played now is different to how I was coached, and how kids in my era were coached. But people who are doing their badges -- people like Scott -- will have learnt these things along the way.
"Sometimes it's not the ones you think that go into coaching. But Scott has always been a great character, a great team member -- I always knew he would have the potential [to be a coach].
"The club will identify the kind of characters it wants to have around the place. John [McDermott] is great. He has a great eye for talent -- not just players but coaches as well. He's seen a lot of coaches and he'll know who he thinks can be a success at the club and he will bring in the right people.
"Scotty is that kind of guy. Someone like Michael Dawson is another -- he was doing his badges at the club before he left. You want to surround the club with as many of the right characters to help the young players.
"Scott has been preparing for the retirement by doing his badges and he's worked with a lot of the young players at Tottenham where he has been doing his badges. He's a great guy to have at the club, a great guy for the young kids to learn from. He's the kind of character that we want, and I've got no doubt he'll be a great success.
"He's been a young player who has dealt with a lot of attention and come through a youth system to go on and represent his country, play for some big teams in the Premier League. He's a great person to learn from. But it's about his mentality."
King, who was speaking on the final day of Tottenham's preseason tour of the United States in his role as club ambassador, says he would like to return to coaching.
"There is a chance. It's difficult for me to me to keep talking and talking about it, but eventually I believe that I will try again, because I still love the game and it intrigues me," he said.
Meanwhile, former centre-back King -- who played in midfield for Tottenham and England in his youth -- says Eric Dier's ability to play in both defence and midfield is one of Tottenham's best assets.
"It's a great strength that this team has," he said. "It's able to play three centre-halves or two, so you can change. You've seen the team change mid-game. You've seen Eric either step out or step back and make subtle adjustments. It's a great strength for any team to have, without having to change your personnel. It makes it a lot easier."