Ashley Cole & William Gallas: Is The Criticism Unfair?

 

With Ashley Cole the subject of much debate this week, it’s had me thinking about how valid the reasons for it are. Of course he’s probably football’s least likeable bloke for a variety of reasons, from wage demands and cheating on his missus, to showing contempt towards officials. However, to my knowledge, none of his actions have affected Chelsea’s ability to see a game out.

But what about the player we ‘swapped’ him for? Could the same be said of him?

Well, only recently William Gallas has responded to a bit of stick over his Arsenal captaincy by firstly whingeing that it’s harsh and secondly by suggesting it’s hardly his fault Arsenal don’t have Chelsea’s winning mentality.

I know, I know, the mere suggestion of Gallas whingeing is shocking, but bear with me.  

On the question of his captaincy, Gallas says “The controversy about my captaincy? People had to find a scapegoat as we didn’t win any trophies last season. So, they talked and talked again about the Birmingham match.”

But why wouldn’t people talk about that game when they’re judging his competencies as Arsenal captain? In a game where Arsenal were looking to extend their lead at the top of the table to eight points – a game which saw Eduardo subjected to a wild lunge leaving him with a fractured leg – Gallas decides to demonstrate his displeasure at a Birmingham penalty by sulking on the halfway line.

Of this course of action Gallas says “Of course, some of my Arsenal team-mates could not have appreciated my behaviour against Birmingham. Indeed I made a mistake. I must admit I flipped my lid. I believed I had a message to give to my team-mates and I could not find the right words.” Personally, I thought his actions spoke volumes about his ability to lead a team.

However, Gallas suggests he was criticised unfairly and in defence of his failure to lead Arsenal any higher than third place by the end of last season, Gallas reminisces about his time at Chelsea, stating “Before Arsenal, I spent six years at Chelsea. That team was capable of getting ugly wins. If we had an opportunity to win a cup, we would never miss it. There I became imbued with the winning culture, which doesn’t exist yet at Arsenal. Our game made people dream, but we had empty hands.”

Again, comparing your current side unfavourably against your previous club might not be every captain’s idea of ‘finding the right words’ but let’s not criticise him unfairly eh?!