Should Arsenal fans care about Gallas?
There is no doubt that William Gallas happens to be one of the finest defenders in the world today. He brings versatility to Arsenal and a presence that seems unmovable at times (although in his language versatility means he only wants to play in one position and things must be done on his terms!).
But my question is this: with all the added problems that comes with that talent, do we really care about what happens to Gallas come summer?
15 million from Real would be very tempting for Arsenal if you ask me and pave the way for Wenger to possibly bring in a genuine center-back to Arsenal with the presence of mind to do his talking on the pitch, and perhaps do some defending at set pieces.
Gallas is pushing 30. He added nothing special to the Gunners and apart from one or two good performances I can’t remember a fantastic game where I sat back and said thank God for William Gallas. Yes he was injured for lengthy periods and never had a chance to settle and I would like to hear other views on this. Gallas no doubt comes with a huge salary, coupled with the aggravation of an over inflated ego. We would be better off without him.
15 million to Real? Yes please!!!
Topics: Arsenal, Features, Real Madrid
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Im not sure I agree with you on that one. Although hes a moany Bastard he does his share of work on the pitch, and its very hard to find defenders as good as him. I reckon the coaching has as much to do with our dodgy defending as anything and I reckon nxt year will see an improved performance and partnership, hes barely played with Kolo Toure up to now, plus hes got another two or thre good seasons in him.
April 26th, 2007 @ 21:04It’s a fair question – do you keep a problem player at the club even if he’s a great defender or do you let him go?
The Gallas to Madrid links are bogus though, created by the Mirror and now the Guardian has fallen in the same mud.
It sounds logical, which is why everyone’s so excited about it.
Real Madrid would love Gallas, but they will not tolerate a loudmouth.
There’s also the case that if Arsenal were closer to Chelsea in the table than they are to Everton, Gallas may not have bitched so much.
April 26th, 2007 @ 21:28Ahmed is right. These rmours are bogus. Whenever the press is having a slow news day then its always the same “Real Madrid interrested in X player”.
Fabregas, kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo rumour are all resurfacing again. The press wil not let it die out.
April 26th, 2007 @ 22:10I wonder what will happen when the press runs out of star player to link Real Madrid with? Will they start harassing the fringe and back-up players
April 26th, 2007 @ 22:59Gallas is a strange character and I wouldn’t be surprised if he attempted to take advantage of press speculation and move to Spain. He’s perfectly capable of kicking up a stink without much regard for others.
Would we miss him? Probably. And more to the point how do we find a defender as good as him for £15m? Wenger would probably promote Senderos or Djourou and we’d be truly f*cked. So for that reason alone I hope Gallas stays.
April 27th, 2007 @ 00:37Has Arsenal defending improve from last year since Gallas joined us?
April 27th, 2007 @ 00:55No! I think AW should concentrate on playing Djourou/Kolo or Senderos/Kolo and get the cash from Gallas sale. He is his own man; he doesn’t want to be moved around. He lacks any urgency in his play like a player who can’t be bother. He probably mad up his mind and he doesn’t want to risk any injury. He is only playing for the money at the moment.
Whether Gallas stays or not, I don’t think Arsenal courant problem is a defensive one; I would rather want to see a signing of a striker rather than a defender.
I’m sorry James, but absolutely not. We wouldn’t miss Gallas at the moment.
It’s not a coincidence that our best defensive record in recent times came in last season’s CL when Toure and Senderos had an extended period playing together (of course that also coincided with a period Senderos was actually capable of a few good games!).
The Gallas+Toure pairing just doesn’t do it for me coz they’re both very similar in nature. Gallas played well at Chelski because Terry handled most of the nitty-gritty (and especially long ball) stuff while he mopped up. Senderos, I feel, is more Terry like (since I’m using him in this example) and would make a better pairing for Gallas but not Toure.
Toure is very Gallas-esque by which I mean he deals with grounders similarly well because of his pace and strength. And so does Djourou. So, my point finally, if we have so many similar players, what’s the point of keeping Gallas? 15mil sounds bloody good to me.
The replacement we don’t have is for Senderos (and generally, Tony Adams, Martin Keown and Sol Campbell – traditional centrebacks) and that’s where we need to strengthen at the back.
Ok, I’ve said my piece. You can flame me now…
April 27th, 2007 @ 01:07Completely agree with you, Ravind. Toure has not benefitted from playing alongside another similarly mobile c/b. You need some hard grit to go alongside that agility. Senderos has lost confidence but hopefully that will return although we need another player in the same mould just in case. Personally I also think Gallas has coasted through some of our games this season and some of his back passes lately have had ‘hospital’ written all over them. He does however show good composure and coolness when on the ball and he covers well when last man, but £15m (if he is as unhappy with our youth policy as is claimed and won’t play out of position) given his age would probably be best all round.
April 27th, 2007 @ 02:08Finally – and laugh all you want – I believe that this squad would also do well to have a Grimandi-like utility player as back up. The ONLY other thing I would change is to add someone more direct than Hleb (think Parlour’s running combined with Pires’ goals) but maybe Wenger thinks Theo will be ready next season, which I think could be a bit too soon.
Jade – well, Gravesen went to Real
Maybe if someone really wants to hurt Real Madrid they could send someone similar to Real?
Redondo – who’s the worst, absolutely most pathetic player that you can think of in the premiership who Real could go for?
If they need a defender, I’m thinking Titus Bramble. No offense to big tit though…
April 27th, 2007 @ 04:11And why is there so much antagonism towards Gallas? Most of it, I think, including Norman’s, stems from the fact that Gallas has been distinctly unprofessional in talking to the press about Arsenal and has criticised the team.
How that translates into a negative view of his performances, I don’t know.
Arsenal’s system is very different from Chelsea’s, it takes some time to adapt. Ashley Cole adapted better, but then again he’s a different type of player. Injuries hamper a team, and Arsenal’s form as a whole has been down, you can’t pinpoint one player.
At 30, Gallas gives you 2 to 3 years of top-level defensive cover and immense experience.
Problem is, his lip requires a special way of treating him – praising him in public, giving him the recognition he needs in the dressing room, etc. Egos, brother, egos.
And that is perhaps his only failing. Barring that, he’s a fine player.
And we already know how Arsene deals with egos
April 27th, 2007 @ 04:17Simple answer…NO!!
April 27th, 2007 @ 06:40sell him get 15mil in the bank
buy someone that can head the ball!!
oh by the way…buy eto’o(apparently he knows the secret of scoring a goal), get rid of adebayor(he believes his own hype and wants a better contract becos he had one good month of performances) oh by the way if man-u want him(as he claims) they can have him.
Get rid of Lens and senderos (their are both error prone players)
One thing Arsene must think before throwing out players is that he better have a world class replacement in mind. Fool around with upcoming talents all the time and 4th place is all he’ll get. Just.
April 27th, 2007 @ 08:12Gallas was only ever going to stay for one season. He has constantly said to the press that he wants to play in Spain or Italy and he is approaching 30 now so time for him is running out. Chelsea were not prepared to let him go to Champions league rivals or premiership rivals but wanted Ashley Cole so badly that the only way they could get him was to swap plus cash at the last minute. Arsenal believed they could compete with Chelsea at the beginning of the season and would have been foolish to let cashley go and let Chelsea have all of the best defenders in the world. It was the best situation for both Gallas, Chelsea and Arsenal. Gallas may have considered staying if the mighty gunners had been more succesful this season but my firm belief is that his intention was to stay for one season only, I said it as soon as the transfer went through and I still say it now. Gallas will be gone in the summer and Arsenal will get approx £15 million plus the money they got from the swap deal and they have the cash they wanted from A.Hole…sorry…A.Cole deal. They also didnt let Casley or Chelsea get their own way, which in itself was a great victory.
April 27th, 2007 @ 15:16Arsenal are short of experienced players to make a push on the Premiership right now – so it would be a loss if Gallas left – unless they then bring in a couple of experienced players to better guide the youngsters during games.
April 27th, 2007 @ 15:40Hope he stays..
And I rly hope Arsene sell the big slow baby!!! (Sendros)
We need to get a wider squad, tearing the teams performance trough a season. So lets buy some (star players) for a change!
dickerson out
April 14th, 2008 @ 19:33