Premiership Player Profile – William Gallas

It’s back to another week of Premier League player profiles; this is mine and fellow blogger 5stars, 29th player profile. Today I will be featuring Arsenal and France international William Gallas. Please comment below as feedback will help both of us in the distant future…

William Gallas is currently a defender who is plying his trade with 3rd placed Arsenal, also Gallas is a product of the France national side. Gallas who is known for his tough tackling and his desire to win games, started his senior football career with French side Caen, the Arsenal defender only lasted two years at the club, he then decided to join top French club Marseille in the year of 1997, Gallas appeared 84 times for the former Champions League winners, however the defender caught the attentions of Chelsea boss Claudio Ranieri. Gallas decided to sign for the English club for a fee worth £6.2 million, the 32 year old spent five years at Stamford Bridge, where he was able to build an illustrious defensive partnership with John Terry, however the centre back decided to leave Stamford Bridge in the year 2006, in a swap deal which saw Ashley Cole being transferred to Chelsea. Gallas has had his ups and downs at Arsenal, however this season he has performed brilliantly.

This season William Gallas has created one of the best defensive partnership’s throughout the whole of the Premier League. Gallas has been joined by summer signing Thomas Vermaelen at the heart of Arsenal’s defence, a partnership which has been praised by Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger. Between them Gallas and Vermaelen has featured 55 times in the Premier League for Arsenal this season, the partnership has also helped Arsenal to claim eight clean sheets.

From defence Gallas has been able to notch up a total of three goals in this season’s Premier League, however Vermaelen has managed eight goals a total which has surprised many football pundits. Anyway, William Gallas was able to net his first goal on the opening day of the 09/10 campaign, where he scored one of six goals in a 6-1 thrashing of Everton. Gallas scored in Arsenal’s next Premier League fixture as he scored in a 4-1 win over Portsmouth way back in August, the ‘Gunners’ number 10 had to wait until October to score his third goal, however it came in the all London clash against West Ham United.

Gallas has spent four years at Arsenal, and he has seen many centre backs come and go from the London club. The likes of Pascal Cygan, Kolo Toure and recently Phillipe Senderos all left the club, defenders who William Gallas created defensive partnerships with. However even with the impressive pairing of Gallas and Vermaelen, Arsenal are still shedding goals against the so called top four, this season Gallas and his fellow defenders has struggled to keep the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea at bay, unlike around the 2002 era where Arsenal defenders used to have a field day against the top European clubs. This stat needs to be addressed sometime soon, as even William Gallas a player who has been at Arsenal for four years doesn’t even seem to be settled when coming up against the likes of Chelsea.

Lastly the centre back has been a regular in his international side since the year 2002. Gallas has featured 78 times for France scoring four goals in the process. William has played in the World’s best tournaments the World Cup and the European Championships. He has appeared at the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2008, where he was able to sustain a decent centre back partnership with French legend Lilian Thuram. A couple of months ago, Gallas scored his fourth goal in a France shirt, however the goal proved to be controversial as former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry handled the ball not once but twice, as he played the ball across to Gallas to nod home from close range. Overall Gallas is love or hate kind of footballer, as his desire to win has seen him get incredibly frustrated in the past, especially a couple of seasons back against Birmingham, however you can’t take it away from him that he is one of the best defenders in the Premier League.

Wednesday Premier League Player Profile – Kevin Davies(5stars)