William Gallas used to be a good player. But at 32, he is not the player he once was. He lost my respect with his performance against Birmingham City after Eduardo broke his leg. That was not the performance of a leader.
Gallas’s contract is up and he has been negotiating with Arsenal over a new deal. If the comments from Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood are any indication those negotiations are not going well from Gallas’s perspective: Hill-Wood told the Daily Starr
“His demands are quite extravagant and I don’t think we are prepared to go along with it. We would very much like him to stay, but I think for one year, and not on the money he wants. He is a good player, but you have got to draw the line somewhere. If he can get the money somewhere else, good luck to him. We still hope he will sign, but if he doesn’t, he doesn’t. It is not that we are being bloody-minded for the hell of it. We have got to look forward and the cost of players isn’t just in transfers, it is in the salaries as well. And we analyse these quite carefully, because we don’t want to go bankrupt.”
Good luck with your new team William. Arsenal need younger, faster defenders. You no longer are good enough for the Gunners.
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I`m with you David I lost all respect for him after the BIrmingham incident but to his credit he bounced back and was forgiven. This latest episode and demand for a substantial salary increase seems to indicate he has forgotten who his benefactors are and who supported him.William, your taxi awaits.
You may get a bit of grief for this article but I believe you’re 100% right.
He’s been a negative influence and I think his absence will be a boost, providing we add sufficient cover. Wenger knows when the right time to let someone go is and Willy G’s number is up. See ya later.
If we knew we are not going to keep Gallas, why did we let Kolo leave?
Toure’s performances have seriously declined and he wanted to go – Wenger did the right thing. I think its a better scenario than him having a season like he’s had and us having to get rid of a long serving player (Gilberto) whom no longer is up to it, but wants to stay.
Toure has not retired internationally and it was all too predictable that he would return from the African cup of nations and not be able to play. Nothing wrong with going but the strain on the body takes a toll and as you get older – as it takes longer to recover. Playing in CL, EPL and FA cup would be too much for him on his return.
Gallas in theory on the other hand had the target of making the world cup and in theory should of been available for longer…..
I said from the start of the season Gallas would put in fantastic performances for us this year, not for Arsenal FC, Le Proff, the team or to really win something – but so he could earn himself a better contract at Arsenal or somewhere else. Who ever buys him and I am going to be a bit contriversal here by saying I hope its Spurs, will see a sharp decline how steep depending on the contract offered.
If the truth be told Toure and Gallas both let Arsenal down by failing to act like men and examples for the younger squad. They should of been able to work together, do the job and provide steady experience at the back. Sol has had to come back and show them up. As far as I am concerned neither showed towards the end enough reverence for wearing an arsenal shirt and because of this I am very happy to see them ply their trade elsewhere.
Toure I still have a lot of respect for, but Gallas no.
i didn’t need to see the birmingham episode at birmingham to know he wasn’t right. the guy is a total mercenary. i accept that things didn’t work out between he and kolo, but i still believe kolo was 100% arsenal. lets get someone in that wants to wear the shirt!
You seem to be confusing being a leader with being a good footballer. That his his performance in Birmingham was unbecoming is undeniable. However, as a footballer, you have got to respect his contribution to the team efffort last season, unless you want all players to be paragons of excellence, whom we can only aim to emulate one day.
As for getting giving him another contract, Hill-Wood seems to sum up my position clearly.
Let him go where he want to go arsenal will buy another player ur taxi is waiting mr gallar or gallas.
Gallas played very well last season and attoned for the woeful season before that. However, when he gets injured he is always out for months. £80,000pw is a lot of money for someone who is not going to play a full season. Bye Bye William
good question okey! Whilst am not saying i like gallas that much. We cannot keep changing defence or players every year! They should have let gallas go a year ago and kept toure instead. this will mean losing 4 defenders in less than 2 years….gallas, silvestre, toure and silvestre. 3 to free transfer. Man u, chelsea and liverpool have kept there key defenders! We probably will buy anoda defender dat will take anoda yr to adapt. Not all players are like vermaelen! Hw cum its only arsenal dat neva meet demands???? Ashley cole and flamin! These extra wages dat should go to d really good players is spread over d young players dat r not going to make it eg randall, gavin hoyte, j. Simpson!
Toure’s performances have seriously declined and he wanted to go – Wenger did the right thing. I think its a better scenario than him having a season like he’s had and us having to get rid of a long serving player (Gilberto) whom no longer is up to it, but wants to stay.
Toure has not retired internationally and it was all too predictable that he would return from the African cup of nations and not be able to play. Nothing wrong with going but the strain on the body takes a toll and as you get older – as it takes longer to recover. Playing in CL, EPL and FA cup would be too much for him on his return.
Gallas in theory on the other hand had the target of making the world cup and in theory should of been available for longer…..
I said from the start of the season Gallas would put in fantastic performances for us this year, not for Arsenal FC, Le Proff, the team or to really win something – but so he could earn himself a better contract at Arsenal or somewhere else. Who ever buys him and I am going to be a bit contriversal here by saying I hope its Spurs, will see a sharp decline how steep depending on the contract offered.
If the truth be told Toure and Gallas both let Arsenal down by failing to act like men and examples for the younger squad. They should of been able to work together, do the job and provide steady experience at the back. Sol has had to come back and show them up. As far as I am concerned neither showed towards the end enough reverence for wearing an arsenal shirt and because of this I am very happy to see them ply their trade elsewhere.
Toure I still have a lot of respect for, but Gallas no.
I think Gallas gets too much stick for what happened at Birmingham. And nobody seems to remember/be aware that when he sat down, he sat in exactly the spot that Eduardo got his leg broken. Maybe it’s just me but I see it as significant and not just a coincidence
Exchanging Ashley Cole with Gallas was not a profit but a loss for Arsenal.Gallas lost his confidence and became unstable in the matches. The penalties had been given by his mistakes.Let search new player for his place but not another old Frenchman like Silvestre.
Bye bye Gallas ,Campbell ,Silvestre and Sagna ,the most adept ball watching defenders to be found in the Premier League,so pair Vermaelen and Song during the pre-season warm up games and see how they do ,it should work out quite well i, reckon ?
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