William Gallas
William Gallas
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Wednesday, 10, May 2006 12:07
Age: 28
Position: Centre-back, not to mention left-back and right-back
Country: France
Caps: 37
Goals: 1
Club: Chelsea
Previous clubs: Marseille, Cannes
Estimated Chelsea-target value - Priceless
In his own words: I know my strengths, my qualities and I know what I am worth.
A product of the fabled Clairefontaine academy that brought French football Thierry Henry, David Trezequet and Nicolas Anelka, William Gallas has succeeded in establishing himself as one of the world's most accomplished, if underrated, defenders.
Despite consistently performing at the highest level for current club Chelsea, the 28-year-old was a relative latecomer to the national team, crowded out by famous French defenders Marcel Desailly, Laurent Blanc, Lilian Thuram and to a lesser extent Frank Leboeuf.
However, given the current dearth of defensive talent in the French ranks (read comedy centre back Jean-Alain Boumsong), Gallas is now an integral part of France's campaign for a second World Cup in eight years.
His key assets are his pace, strength and all round-athleticism, as well as his deadliness in front of goal at two yards out. Gallas is also one of the world's most versatile top levels players, and can slot in anywhere across the back four - and although he prefers playing in the middle he has frequently been asked to fill in at full back by both club and country.
If there is a weakness in the Frenchman's game it is that although when playing for Chelsea his strengths perfectly complement that of skipper John Terry, he lacks the world class game reading skills and aerial ability of the Englishman.
As for the future it appears the ambitious Gallas may understandably have his eyes set on a new challenge after successive league titles with Chelsea, with a move to one of the Italian giants Juventus and AC Milan looking increasingly likely. Given his consistency in recent seasons for Chelsea in a variety of positions and his never say die attitude, he would be dearly missed.
Matt Champion.