EPL Talk » William Gallas

Carlos Tevez and West Ham United Seem Linked Forever, Ronaldo Car Crash and More

Johnathan Starling — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 04:13:38 +0000

If there is one story that I want to just be over and never have to hear about again, the Carlos Tevez saga with West Ham United and Sheffield United would be that story. When I first read that the FA and the Premier League were going to reopen the case against West Ham and Carlos Tevez, it felt like I was hearing fingernails on an old chalkboard. What more needs to be said about this case, but that has been nothing but one giant farce. As far as I’m concerned, this case has been nothing but hell on earth.

West Ham is correct in saying they have nothing to hide, that’s only because this whole situation has been vetted out in the numerous hearings this matter has had before. To me the questions I want answered are simple ones. What were the FA and Premier League’s intentions back when they made their initial punishment? Why did the two bodies wait until now, knowing what the latest panel ruled, to decide in relaunching this investigation? Does West Ham have any legal options should the FA and Premier League decide to punish the club two times over the same matter? And finally, what can the FA and or the Premier League do to prevent further embarrassment with regards to this matter?

The sooner this matter is over with, the happier I will be. This whole situation right now makes any world renowned circus seem like a man on a standard trampoline. The only hope for all of us is that every organization/federation involved has learned the lesson of this scandal and save those lessons for future use.

Other Stories
The day after Obafemi Martins gets away with driving 106 miles per hour without losing his license, Cristiano Ronaldo totals a Ferrari on his way to training for Manchester United. As the witness interviewed for the story said ‘It’s a shame about the car’. Thankfully Ronaldo was not injured in the crash…that’ll be his pocketbook when he goes to purchase another.

Speaking of Cristiano Ronaldo, when will this nonsense about Real Madrid also stop? Here’s another one of those ‘a verbal deal has been made‘ announcements that I’m sure will be changed in the next few days.

Add William Gallas to the Arsenal injured list. The hamstring got him this time. Funny that on the same day this news is made public, Gary Megson made his feelings know about Wenger’s complaining about Bolton’s physical style.

With the UK FA Cup Fourth Round ties having been announced, Kettering Town is not happy their home tie with Fulham was not picked up. Hey look on the bright side, this has to be one of the international games picked up…right? (Editor Note: Setanta has offered this game up on delay in the UK. Once the FA gives the green light or not, we’ll let you know).

In a move that I can only think is a move to get him to leave the club, Chelsea are going to ask Michael Ballack to take a pay cut and earn his salary with an incentive based contract. Have a funny feeling the answer will be a loud ‘NO!’

Here’s a strange transfer for everyone. Manchester United must see this is a short term project to sign Ritchie De Laet from Stoke City. I wonder if their partnership with Royal Antwerp had anything to do with it?

Middlesbrough are holding firm to their promise that no one will leave the Riverside. Today it’s Gary O’Neil they are having to reject a bid for…this one from Portsmouth.

Here’s a move I would advise Tottenham not make…a move for Tal Ben Haim. I simply call him ‘the human turnstile’.

The next person to complain about this transfer window, Phil Brown.

And a column to go home by. Matt Hughes discussing Luiz Felipe Scolari and how he needs to prove himself (code word for win) in these big games.

Age No Barrier For Fabregas

Paul Bestall — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 20:47:15 +0000

So the dust has finally settled on William Gallas’ ill judged outburst with Arsene Wengers decision to strip him of the captaincy and replace him with Cesc Fabregas immediately. Wenger had to make a big decision in the circumstances and whilst some people may think his choice of the midfielder as his new captain as a strange one, for me it seems the natural choice. Fabregas is clearly Arsenals best player, a wonderful footballer with a quick brain, a fantastic range of passing and desire to do his best for the Gunners, inspiring those around him and in the stands. When Fabregas plays well, so do Arsenal and giving him this responsibility may make his performances more consistent for the team as a whole. He now knows that he is the leader, the man who has to make the team tick, a chance to emulate his hero, Pepe Guardiola.

His age has nothing to do with it at all. So what if he’s 21, he’s played over 200 games for Arsenal since getting his chance in the 2004-2005 season and in my opinion if you’re good enough, you’re old enough. I’ve seen numerous opinions saying he won’t demand the same respect as some of his older teammates but that argument doesn’t hold water at all. Fabregas demands respect because of his ability and experience for the Gunners over the last 5 seasons and with a European Championship winners medal in his locker for Spain, it shows that he can step up to the job of stabilising Arsenal and help settle things down on and off the pitch for Wenger. By giving Fabregas the armband, Wenger is showing complete faith in the player and the man. He won’t care a jot what anyone says about his age and he has history on his side too.

George Graham famously raised eyebrows back in 1988 when he gave the 18 year old Tony Adams the captaincy because Graham recognised that that Adams would run through walls for the team, his colleagues and the fans, showing over the next 14 years what an inspired decision it was at the time. Did Arsenal struggle with Adams as captain? Of course they didn’t, 2 league titles in the next 3 years showed exactly what Graham believed Adams could bring to the side and how many Arsenal fans would not name Adams as the captain of their greatest ever side? Did Dixon, Winterburn, Bould, Keown or Smith throw their teddies out of the cot and show Adams disrespect? It never happened, they knew that making Adams captain was the best decision Graham could have made and he proved it time after time for the Gunners. They wanted to win trophies and having a captain of Adams’ passion drove them on.

Fabregas can galvanise the current side in the same way. There’s no doubt that Wenger will have been well aware of the precedent of installing a younger captain, perhaps looking back through history made his mind up, I find it hard to believe he wouldn’t have been aware of Adams’ age when he took over the armband and thought if it was good enough then, why not now. Saturdays game at Eastlands was always going to be a no win situation, Wengers post match interview saw him downbeat, reticent,even demoralised. No matter what he said, it wouldn’t have been good enough and he steered well clear of the situation or pouring more fuel on the fire that Gallas’ comments had set off.

He looked hurt and who wouldn’t, the comments from Gallas would have cut him to the quick more than most, knowing his right hand man believed that the team was so rudderless and lacking spine and ultimately pointing the finger toward the way the club is currently heading under his stewardship. So what if he had a book to publicise, so what if the interview was with the French media, Gallas should have kept his own council or at least spoken to Wenger privately about his concerns and worries. He had no right to undermine his manager in a such a way and pander to the critics. For a rudderless ship, sitting 5th in the Premiership, in to the Quarter Finals of the Carling Cup and one point away from the next round of the Champions League, they seem to be doing better than that. Yes, they’ve lost 5 games this season in the league, but whose to say the won’t finish in the top 4 and win a cup?

The phone-ins and text messaging services are beginning to fill up with people questioning Wengers position, a situation I find beyond ludicrous, the usual critics who wouldn’t know their way to the Emirates if you drew them a map. Several first team players are missing or only just coming back to match fitness and it does effect the sides balance, anyone can see that but once they’re all back and fit, who’s to say they won’t hit a run of 10-12 games winning everything they come across.

Neither Liverpool or Chelsea have had a blip yet, Manchester United haven’t ripped up any trees either so to write them off is crazy, there are 24 games to play, 72 points to fight for and I’ve yet to see a season won in November as any Newcastle United fan will point out to you. Let Fabregas settle in to the role of captain, let Gallas prove that he’s sorry and let the injuries clear up before anyone judges Arsene Wengers future at the Emirates. His record alone demands that doesn’t it? The promotion of Fabregas draws a line under the last week’s turmoil at the Emirates and I certainly wouldn’t bet on him dragging Arsenal up by their bootlaces as the season progresses.

Manchester City 3-0 Arsenal: Pathetic Gunners Crash Again

The Gaffer — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 17:21:16 +0000

When was the last time Arsenal looked so pathetic?

Today, they were defeated 3-0 away against Manchester City in a game where it could have easily been 4-0 or 5-0 to the blue half of Manchester.

I’ve never seen so many poor passes from Arsenal in one game. Their first half performance was dire. Man City’s play in the first half wasn’t that much better either but it took a defensive error between Gael Clichy and Mikael Silvestre to give Stephen Ireland the opportunity to knock the ball into the back of the net.

In the second half, City replied with two more goals. A beautiful chip by Robinho and a late penalty winner by Daniel Sturridge.

Arsenal deserved to get a goal back in the second half when City goalkeeper Joe Hart lifted the ball into the air before kicking it, but Robin van Persie nicked in and slotted the ball into the net. Unfortunately, referee Alan Wiley disallowed the goal.

There were so few highlights for Arsenal in this game. Whenever Arsenal received the ball, Manchester City players quickly pressured the Gunners to prevent them from playing their sleek attractive passing game. Watching this game, it didn’t really look like Arsenal on the pitch. They were that awful.

I was surprised by the performance of Arsenal. I honestly thought that William Gallas being away from the team would galvanize the players and help them focus on the task at hand. This Arsenal side is desperately lacking experience and, without Cesc Fabregas due to suspension, is missing a true leader.

Arsenal have now lost in the league to Manchester City, Aston Villa, Stoke City, Hull City and Fulham. Before the season started, most people who have put money on the Gunners to win all those games. Now Arsenal languish ten points from first place.

It’s time for Wenger to go back to the drawing board. His decision to start Gavin Hoyte for his first Premier League debut seemed mistimed and a poor decision in hindsight. When Aaron Ramsey came on for Hoyte in the 60th minute, the Welshman made an immediate impression which benefitted Arsenal’s midfield play.

Wenger doesn’t have much time to right the ship. Arsenal plays Dynamo Kiev on Tuesday night in the Champions League. And who is their next Premier League opponent? None other than Chelsea at Stamford Bridge next Sunday. Luiz Felipe Scolari will be licking his chops in anticipation.

The Return Of Joey Barton: One Touch And 3 Minutes Of Controversy

The Gaffer — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 22:55:51 +0000

Joey Barton is never far from controversy and such was the case today when the Newcastle midfielder returned to professional football. In his game today for Newcastle, he only touched the ball once during the three minutes he played.

In those three minutes, he commited a controversial tackle, showed little respect, was purposefully tripped by an Arsenal midfielder resulting in a yellow card and banged into Arsenal’s top striker.

Here’s exactly what happened during his return to English football today:

88:41: Joey Barton comes on for Jonas Gutierrez.
88:51: Barton pressures Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas. The Arsenal midfielder passes the ball across the pitch.
89:28: Barton touches the ball for the first time when he goes in for a 50/50 ball against Samri Nasri and knocks the ball into touch. Nasri is knocked to the turf from the challenge. Arsenal fans boo Barton.
89:31: Barton stares down Nasri and makes a sarcastic smile.
89:42: After watching a replay of the tackle in slow motion, TWI commentator Steve Banyard comments on Barton’s tackle by saying “That’s not the way to endear himself back.” “Not at all,” chimed co-commentator Gary O’Reilly. Banyard continued, “And a smile, a sarcastic smile like that, is frankly out of order.” O’Reilly replies, “Oh well.” Banyard adds, “The big campaign of the summer has been respect and Barton showed little of it there.”
90:01: Nasri trips Barton on purpose.
91:01: Gael Clichy nutmegs Barton.
91:14: Barton goes up for a cross in the Newcastle box, misses the ball completely but drives his back into Emmanuel Adebayor, causing the striker to grab his back in pain.
91:21: Nasri receives a yellow card from the earlier trip on Barton.
91:46: After a long kick upfield by Newcastle goalkeeper Shay Given, Barton goes up for a 50/50 ball against Gael Clichy but the Arsenal defender gets his head to the ball first and knocks it to William Gallas.
92:08: Full-time whistle blows.
Barton walks down the tunnel, but afterwards Kevin Keegan gets into a heated argument with Gallas and Nasri as the Newcastle manager points his finger at Gallas. Newcastle’s assistant manager Terry McDermott steps in to break things up.

The challenge that Barton made to win the ball was within the law of the game, but what I object to is the manner in which he went in for the tackle. By watching the TV replay, it’s obvious that Barton intended to send a message to Nasri by the way that the Newcastle midfielder drove his right arm into Nasri’s thigh when the tackle took place. Barton could have easily won the ball in a cleaner manner by not using his arm.

Keegan’s response regarding to the controversy was this: “Joey came on, got a good tackle in on Nasri. Then the guy sliced him down. That’s what happened and that’s what I saw, which is what I was upset about.”

Yes the tackle was good, but was unnecessarily rough. Nasri didn’t slice Barton down. He tripped him on purpose.

“I know the referee didn’t see it but the linesman did and it should have been a red card,” said Keegan.

Red card? You’re having a laugh.

“It wasn’t a reckless tackle – it was a good tackle.” Except for the right arm that went charging into Nasri, yes.

For once, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger’s reaction to a controversial incident was spot on. “I was not surprised by the reaction of the fans – I have been involved in the game long enough not to be surprised by anything,” said Wenger. “Nasri clipped Barton and there was a little incident between them, but he was booked and rightly so.”

Barton’s return to football was full of controversy. Let’s hope that Barton gets his head together if he’s to play any more matches for Newcastle United.

Who Are The Premier League Players You Love To Hate The Most?

The Gaffer — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 05:00:36 +0000

Admit it. There are some players in the Premier League who get under your skin. The type of players you love to hate. But who are they and why do you hate them so much?

Names of players who often get fans irate include:

Ashley Cole (Chelsea)
John Terry (Chelsea)
Frank Lampard (Chelsea)
El Hadji Diouf (Sunderland)
Lee Bowyer (West Ham United)
Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal)
William Gallas (Arsenal)
Kevin Davies (Bolton), and
Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United).

Players are hated for numerous reasons. Diouf won no fans with his spitting, diving and constant bickering. Players such as Adebayor and Lampard didn’t impress anyone with the rumors of them possibly leaving their clubs. Defenders Terry and Ferdinand have won few fans because of their off the pitch incidents, and so on.

Who are the players you hate? And why? Share your stories by clicking the comments link below.