Day: October 8, 2008

Gallas’ self-criticism – will he ever be the same?

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal

WIlly Gallas has been talking recently about his inconsistencies this season. He has been under-par this year and his mistakes against teams like Fulham (click to watch highlights) have cost us points in the first 7 games of the season.

Gallas told L’Equipe:

“I can say we have not seen the Gallas from 2006 this term so far. In a few matches, I have not been so good. With the French team in Sweden and Austria, I was not very good at some moments.

“I would close my eyes if I would say I am strong. That would mean I don’t recognise I did have a few bad performances, as recently with my club against Hull City. Maybe I feel a little tired.”

“Do I experience the most difficult period since I joined Arsenal? We could say yes. Above all I miss consistency. One match is good, the other one is not so good. However, I am doing everything to get to my best again because I can’t accept not being in good form. I’m still young and have plenty of things to achieve.

He is a defender with good qualities, but Arsenal fans have been divided over him since he came to the club. He can play the ball fantastically and he has attacking qualities, but maybe he is best paired with a strong centre back.

There are quetions over whether Toure is the right man to partner him, and also over whether he is the right choice for captaincy.

ArsenalAddict suggests moving Djourou to CB and putting Toure as DM, this might work – Djourou is a tall, strong centre back, and Toure has the pace and style to play in midfield, but Wenger has already said he will not use Toure there.

I think Gallas will come good when he finds consistency, but we should be looking to replace him, not Toure, in the future.

I have a feeling Wenger will stick with them, he backed Gallas to be captain this season, but don’t be suprised if Silvestre gets a chance in defence as well as Djourou.

Related post: Vieira Backs Gallas

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How times have changed – Arsenal top of the Fair Play League

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal2 Comments

It’s interesting to see how Wenger has changed the style of the club in the past ten years. During Wenger’s early years we were known as quite an agressive team with some quite volatile players. Now we are top of the fair play league.

Less passion?
Less passion?

The question I want to ask is are we fighting enough? Having seen Arsenal clean up their act over the last few years, we have also seen the trophies dry up.

Is our less agressive style costing us? Did anyone ever win trophies by being nice? I’m not sure, but although we play great football, maybe sometimes we lack a bit of passion for those smaller games which we have lost this season.

I’m not advocating dirty or foul play, I am just asking whether this represents a lessening of passion and desire to win in our team?

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Silvestre talks after Arsenal debut

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal, Transfers

Yesterday on ArseSpeak we mentioned that Silvestre had played his first game – for the Reserves. Silvestre started at centre-back as they beat Stoke City 3 – 2 at home.

Read the match report here at Young Guns.

Silvestre came through his first apperance well
Silvestre came through his first apperance well

After making his first apperance Silvestre told the press:

“I feel good, I got through the 90 minutes without any discomfort or pain and physically I felt at the same level as my team-mates so it felt good.

“The boss asked me if I wanted to play because it was a long time since I last played competitively, back in August or July with United. Before I get back with the first team it was good for me to play and get something other than training.

“It was a perfect run-out before playing with the first team. It is a good level in the Reserve League and getting to know my young team-mates was a good experience.

“It is not a surprise [to see how good the young players are] because most of the first team are 20, 21-year-olds so the quality is always there. I expected the same quality in the Reserves and most of them train with the first team so I knew them already.

“It is the way the Club is set up, everything is done to play good attacking football so the players enjoy it and you just have to make sure you give 100 per cent in the challenge because if you don’t get the ball you can’t play the nice football.”

It’s good to see SIlvestre back in action. He is a quality player – and although he’s getting on a bit – he has class and experience which may be important to the Arsenal team this year.

I believe that our chances of winning the League this year are diminishing – but there’s no way we are out of the race. Players like SIlvestre could make all the difference.

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