Former Tottenham striker Nico Claesen is impressed by defensive pair Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen.

Like the Belgian duo, Claesen also played for the Red Devils in the World Cup.

He told the Spurs website: The partnership between Alderweireld and Vertonghen is very good, especially with Spurs. In the Belgium national team they sometimes play on the left and right side and they are not so much playing together in the centre but in the latest games, with the injury to Vincent Kompany, they played as the two in the middle.

"Vertonghen sometimes goes to the left side or when we have problems, Alderweireld goes to the right side because he has a very good long ball and can cross it. They are very disciplined players and when they played together at Ajax they also did very well. Alderweireld is a player that is very consistent and Vertonghen, for me, is really a leader.

"At the beginning when he played at Spurs, he spoke his mind with everybody. He can say the things that he thinks you have to do on the pitch. Everybody in Belgium, me as well, was very impressed with this."