Chelsea must accept the blame for Gallas
Chelsea have been involved in several controversial issues this summer.
You could argue that this is the price of success - but that is an over-simplification, not to mention an avoidance of the truth behind these events.
Obi Mikel, Ken Bates, Ashley Cole - the list only skims the surface of the different clubs and people whose feathers Chelsea have ruffled, but all of these are run-of-the-mill where rich and successful football clubs are concerned (sad, but true).
But there is one problem that will seriously hurt Chelsea if they don’t handle it well - and by recent evidence, they are doing a pretty shoddy job of dealing with it.
The rift beween William Gallas and Jose Mourinho has no easy answers for Chelsea.
Gallas believes that he deserves a guaranteed first-team spot at Chelsea - and considering that he is Terry’s equal as a centre-half (although some fans might disagree with that assessment), I believe he should be first choice along with Terry.
Thing is, it’s not NOW that matters - from what Gallas has been saying all of last season and this summer, the rift between him and Chelsea (or between him and Mourinho) is long-standing has to do with what Gallas calls a “lack of respect” shown to him by the club.
Contrary to what has been portrayed in the media, this has little to do with Gallas being forced to play at left-back - if anything it is an acknowledgement by the manager and club that he is the best player to play in that position (over Glen Johnson and Wayne Bridge). It was Mourinho’s desire to bring in a specialist in that position that brough Del Horno to Chelsea, but even then Gallas was deemed superior.
The ‘lack of respect’ is not due to being played out of position - the problem with Gallas is that he feels slighted at not being an automatic first-choice centre-back for Chelsea for the last five years (a position that he has arguably only made his own in the last season), despite his efforts for the club. Furthermore, considering that he was signed in 2001 and was a star defender for Chelsea even before Terry’s rise to fame, the extra attention awarded to both Terry and Lampard must eat at him. In fact it has been reported that Gallas expected Mourinho to treat him with at least as much consideration as he does Terry and Lampard, and the fact that this did not happen could have driven a wedge between coach and player.
Chelsea offered an improved contract plus plenty of assurances before the World Cup, but for Gallas ‘the damage had already been done’.
Shunting Gallas into the reserves would be extremely stupid.
The defender is a highly respected member of the Chelsea squad, and I doubt that it would be good for team morale to punish Gallas by forcing him to turn out for the reserves.
It’s an unfortunate situation and both sides have made mistakes. It could also have been Mourinho’s desire to have two players for every position and Carvalho’s arrival in 2004 that caused a rift between Gallas and Mourinho, with the former being forced to sit on the bench or play out left. Gallas is the type of player to hold a grudge (as is apparent by his refusal to sign a contract on terms he had demanded earlier), and at the end it doesn’t matter how much Chelsea try to cajole him, the player’s gone.
Question is, will Milan finally make the bid, or will Arsenal, who have said that they have bid for Gallas, take away the French defender?
Wenger bids for Gallas
Arsene Wenger’s bid for Gallas could well be accepted, especially if Gallas refuses to toe the club’s line and play according to Mourinho’s wishes. Arsenal’s success in this deal would see them more than cover the loss of Ashley Cole, and along with Toure allow Arsenal a formidable central defensive pairing.
However, it is also possible that Gallas ends up filling the left-back role for Arsenal.
It has been suggested in some quarters that as the two bids (for Gallas and Cole) are separate, there might be a situation where both players end up at Chelsea or Arsenal, depending on how the final negotiations turn out. I don’t think Chelsea will allow both Cole and Gallas to slip from their grasp, so it’s either a swap, or Chelsea ending up with a trouble-making Cole and a very, very angry Frenchman.
All the latest football headlines.
It should also be noted that Thierry Henry and William Gallas graduated the same year from Clairefontaine and are very good friends.
Perhaps not relevant, but interesting to see what kind of effect the French Factor will have in this situation.
You talk as if you have some knowledge of the relationship between Gallas and Mourinho/the Chelsea board and the detailed contract talks between Chelsea and Arsenal - but in fact it’s all conjecture and repeats attitudes expounded by the media. In truth, William is an unsatisfiable character, bedevilled by feelings of misery and moroseness bordering on manic depression at times. He is the sort of person who will never be happy whichever club he ends up at. He is constantly gnawed at by feelings of unfulfilled restlessness. He is the one to blame for this not Chelsea. He is mad to consider leaving a club the stature of Chelsea, where he is loved and respected, for a dubious future elsewhere - downwards.
Manboth, could you make that observation more ‘wordy’ if you tried?
Why say Ahmed can’t judge Gallas and Mourinho’ relationship, then go into a wandering tirade yourself?
If you’d just said “Gallas is a whiner” you’d have had the same effect.
Don’t be such an arrogant wanker, and relinquish the dictionary from your death grip you fanny.
Good point Manboth, although I feel there is some truth in what Ahmed was getting at. The entire situation with WG is unsatisfactory - both for him and the Club. As for Cole, well, it seems both Arsenal and Chelsea are experts in the art of brinkmanship. Expect this one to go all the way to the wire!
Soupdragon2 - it’s ok to use long words, you know. Try reading a book or two and you’ll soon pick up a few of your own. Better that than revelling in your own stupidity.
http://www.blogfc.com/theblog/?p=597
and soup….be nice
manboth - you are absolutely right - i have no inside knowledge of what has gone on between Gallas and Chelsea, and my source of information, for the most part, is the media.
However, it would take a chimp with an IQ of 30 to realise that the Gallas-Chelsea issues is not about money - it\’s about Gallas being made to feel that he is wanted and respected as a top centre-half.
This IS conjecture - I never stated that is was absolutely true. I\’m giving my opinion on the matter, based on what I\’ve understood about the situation after watching Gallas and Chelsea grow apart for the last two years.
The source of the problem is not Gallas and Mourinho, but Gallas and Kenyon. Since the World Cup it’s become a problem for Mourinho, but the roots are elsewhere.
He’s also the best defender at the club in any position. Better than Terry as a defender, though obviously not as a leader. For Chelsea to have got themselves in this mess is the only relief therest of us have with the players in their squad to be honest.
Buy Cole and sell Gallas to a non-english club.
http://bluechampions.wordpress.com/2006/08/23/billy-your-career-is-over-not-the-contract/
Why is everyone forgetting that Gallas first voiced his discontent when under Ranieri, he was forced to play second fiddle to Marcel Desailly in situations where he really should have been, and expected to be, first choice.
Manboth, I doubt you were Gallas’ therapist, so consider your own position before offering us insight on a personality you’ve never met. And then you criticize the article before that. Funny man.
The problem is every year since we bought Gallas, evey summer he has moaned about something.
He was totally disrespectful to the club in not turning up for pre-season on time - his excuse he was still fatigued doesn’t was with me.
Other players who were involved in the last weekend of the wrotld cup - Carvalho, Ferreira, Ballack and Huth all turned up on time.
No player is bigger than the club and sorry William, I for one have had too much of your moaning.
Oh and 1 last thing I forgot to add.
If William Gallas is so desperate to leave, under new rulings he can buy his way out of his contract and Chelsea. One would have to ask why he has not done this yet
Harry, only people with the relevant clause can do that (apparently).
Soup - not sure mate, the UEFA rulings do state that he can buy out his remaining contract. Assuming that he is on a 35K / week, that makes the value of his remaining contract to be 1.82 mil (35000 X 52).
It is a good question to ask - if he can, why doesn’t he pay that amount (and recoup it partially with a signing-on bonus wherever he goes) and get out of Stamford Bridge?