Well Philippe Senderos has gone and it looks like William Gallas is on his toes too.
Its a shame really because I feel that both should have become Arsenal legends.
The truth is the closest they ever came to becoming icons at the club was wearing the shirt numbers of former idols Tony Adams and Dennis Bergkamp.
Big things were expected of Senderos and Gallas when both signed for Arsenal but neither really hit the heights expected of them.
In Philippe's case he is a confidence player and to be honest that confidence was continually beaten out of him either by being over-looked for first team action when in form or by Didier Drogba.
It wouldn't surprise me if Senderos has nightmares about Drogba. He had plenty against him on the pitch.
It's funny that in this day and age we judge players so early in their careers. Back in the day players like Senderos were given a lot more time and more leeway when making mistakes.
Look at Tony Adams in his early days. He wasn't called a donkey for no reason.
The difference is that Adams had the character and self-belief to overcome the criticism and become one of the biggest figure heads in Arsenal's history. Senderos hasn't got that.
To me, Phillipe Senderos has got great ability and had his mental strength met that natural talent then we could have had a player who became even better than Tony Adams.
Unfortunately Arsenal Football Club is too big for someone like Phillipe. Fulham will be a better level for him and I expect him to do well there.
I'd like to add that people often forget that he took Cesc Fabregas under his wing and helped the Spaniard settle into London. I think he deserves a lot of credit for that.
I wish Senderos well. In his case there will always be that question of 'what could have been'.
William Gallas is a different kettle of fish.
When the Frenchman signed I was ecstatic to be honest and I truthfully believed that we got a better deal than Chelsea did in the Gallas-Cole swap deal. Especially when we received £5m too!
Looking back at his time with us I'd have to say its been a bit of roller coaster ride for him. Despite this people will know that I love Gallas and rate him very highly. Always have and always will.
I'll admit though that I thought the move would have had more success. Especially on the trophy front.
When he was announced as captain I thought at the time it was a good move. He was a winner and he could only lead Arsenal to silverware.
It didn't pan out that way.
The captaincy was taken from him in controversial style. I don't actually think he did a lot wrong. When criticising the squad he only said what a lot of us were thinking wasn't he?
Would there had been so much uproar had Cesc Fabregas said the same?
I think regarding William Gallas he wasn't really given a chance at Arsenal. He was never popular with Gooners but there are times when he didn't really endear himself to many of us.
Especially the Birmingham incident.......And surprise. I defended him then too!
What went wrong with Gallas? He should have become a legend. He is a world-class defender and I'm gutted to see him go.
The man should look back at his time with Arsenal and as in Senderos' case think 'what might have been'.
Maybe if his attitude had been a little better there would be more Gooners out there, like me, who are disappointed with him leaving the club with no silverware and really as a bit of an outcast.
It should have been a whole lot better for both.
Lets hope that the next players who grace the prestigious numbers 6 and 10 fare better than their predecessors.
Keep it Goonerish...............
27 comments:
I don't like Gallas
Oh dear
I dont like Gallas, glad he is gone.
Apparently, we made Silvestre a one year contract offer of 45K a week.
I hope not
I don't think Senderos ever had it, too slow to play in an attacking side, no guts, no character. He played well in Wenger's 4-5-1 Champions League, but he had protection all around him. What's alarming is how long it's taken to get rid of him, 64 appearances in 7 years!! Because Wenger has these naff players on such big money nobody will buy them until they're either on a free or agree to take a rather large pay cut. That's why we're probably stuck with the likes of crap like Denilson and Diaby for a decade.
spot on Wrighty!
Under different Management, or with different players around them these 2 could have been legends.
Gallas was NEVER going to be a legend. The moment he wanted the No.10 shirt was enough for me to know this guy thought he was way above his station.
His best years were at Chelsea, and when you see the way Ashley Cole has played the last 18months you know we were well and truly shafter on that deal.
Good riddance to Gallas, tedious deluded overrated player and Arsenal's WORST EVER captain.
Big Phil could've been the Daddy. Will miss him a miilion times more than Gallastrophe!
I might be wrong but I'm sure that Wenger gave Gallas the 10 shirt because he didn't want a striker to follow Dennis Bergkamp wearing it.
Less pressure a defender wearing it I suppose.
Phil could of been a world class defender n there is still time, but at arsenal he wouldnt take advise about his game as he thought he knew it all and was very disrespectful to coaches
Bit off the mark there pal, though I understand the point you are making. Neither have shown the true potential for legendary status and while Big Tone had some bruising first steps into the game, he was both in terms of physical talent and character, sheer class! Big Phil was no where near either. Gallas on the other hand has been a supreme athlete, but tactically, in terms of postioning, anticipating, reading of the game and general know how, Tony was from another planet. Will and Phil, did not have the potential to reach Keown levels of Arsenal heroism. Tony on the other hand is a one off, if international fates had not conspired, he would stand comfortably next to Bobby Moore on the English pantheon of footballing greatness. Take into account a chequered private life and that would have been no meant feat.
Now that is a legend.
Think your right about Wenger not wanting another striker to follow with the 10 jersey!
I have a serious problem with people thinking gallas hasn't been a good player for us. He has been brilliant bar a dissappointing game against Birmingham. The question people must ask is what if gallas wasn't there. Who would play? I think him and verm were a great partnership, don't forget wenger offered him a new contract. I think gallas gets a tough time from some fans when really he's just what our team need - world class center back with plenty of experience.
very good post wrighty.
we have to bring in two CB of the highest level in order to compete now
Agree with you.. Both could have been great but one with a weak attitude and one with an attitude problem.. Give Ramsey NO 10.. He will be a true legend and follow Adams, Bergkamp and Henry.. get Gourcuff.. should then have the best attacking midfield in the world as long as we keep cesc.. RVP looks like he is on fire and hopefully he should get his legendary status soon.. as long as he stays fit.. Arshavin is the only other one with an attitude problem.. hope thigs get better in time..
I agree with you about gallas, not so sure about senderos though. I really don't know why people hate Gallas he is an exceptional defender. there are few defenders who have the finishing ability and pace that Gallas possess. About the birmingham incident I think he was right to criticize the team because there was a lack of fight back then. His sit down did not show he was weak it showed that he cared. Why else would he do that, the guy's not retarded.
Anyways that's just my opinion. We could have used him for another year.
Wrighty that is the single most stupid post ever. LEGENDS! That is so fu##ing disrespectful to what it means to be an Arsenal legend, I'm outraged you would say that. ARSENAL LEGEND!! How dare you.
Neither Gallas nor Senderos had it at Arsenal.Senderos were far to slow and prone to one or two cock ups in every game.world class defenders just dont make these big mistakes.Gallas is completely overrated,talks a lot about his potential but there havnt been a season where at Arsenal atleast he havnt been found wanting,especially the horrendeous defeat at Fulham a couple off seasons ago where he completely lost his man and didnt seem to be to bothered about it,seriously outclassed when faced with The drog and Rooney,physically weak during the last two seasons.Not gonna miss him for one second.
mertesacker to replace gallas hopefully, just what we need in defence to partner the verminator!!! hope wenger can snap him up!
LOLOLOL....This comment "To me, Phillipe Senderos has got great ability and had his mental strength met that natural talent then we could have had a player who became even better than Tony Adams." goes right up there with your Almunia has finally joined the worlds best keepers.
Are you for real? Please retract it immedaitely as it is an insult to one of our greatest.
As for Gallas, well to me he is easily are best defender when fit and world class. However I absolutely hated the fact he wore the number 10 - joke.
Arsenal need to start playing, bringing through or buying English players.
That is all.
JR
Wrighty...
I ABSOLUTELY agree with you 1000000% Gallas is class, has always been and will be for the foreseeable future! He will be missed!!
never liked gallas,senderos was good at the start but was soon found out,and ended up totally useless,silvestre has to go aswell,he is all over the place and is 3 points waiting to be dropped,i really hope j.cole doesnt sign either,another useless player who is always injured,we have enough of those
Huge pity about Big Phil. He wore his heart on his sleeve and yeah he had awful games, but he was/isG a gooner, but he is young and I genuinely hope it works out for him at Fulham, Gallas? well what can you say? The Birmingham sulk, for me anyway, encapsulated every feeling I had about that dreadful day. You get a thug like Taylor laughing as she shouts to his bench " I done him" on Eduardo, you get a thick referee who cannot or wont accept a perfectly legitimate tackle by Clichy gives a penalty and all of a sudden an eight point lead has vanished. No wonder he sat in the middle of the pitch and thought WTF. As for being legends? Gallas done well Senderos tried to, but they didnt quite get there. Mind you when you have to judge them against O'Leary Keown Bould and Adams, maybe they never stood a chance. EIE jaygooner
The problem with Senderos is the pace of the English game and the way we play. Our defence has such a high line that when the opposition play balls over the top or through the defence, you HAVE to have pace to deal with those situations.
Senderos has always looked world class at international level because it's a completely different game. Teams play much deeper thus defenders with a lack of pace don't tend to struggle as much at that level.
John Terry is a prime example, pre Mourinho nobody raved about him, then all of a sudden Chelsea are playing this tight disciplined game with the defence deep and midfielders giving them as much protection as possible. Then Ancelotti comes in and changes the whole team ethos and plays a much more expansive game. Look at Terry in the past season, made so many errors from balls played over and around him that he couldn't handle a speedy attacker.
I agree Senderos should have been a legend but slow defenders can't fit into the way we play. Gallas is dissapointing because I thought he was awesome and underrated at Chelsea and it's a shame his attitude since joining us hasn't matched his ability.
Gallas might have failed to endear himself to the Arsenal faithfuls but who doesn't have flaws. His primary responsibility was to be a winner and to that end he gave more than 125% IMO.So he sparked a plug when he noticed that the mental and technical abilities of some of the players he was surrounded by were not exactly tuned. He was just a player that wanted exactly what everyone else wanted but chose to still believe that Wenger's way was the best. I must say that there is life after Wenger regardless and even though I and Gallas may have never been real good friends if he wasn't a star, I would not question him with regards to his play on the field of play. I feel the other players still have a lot of catching up to do- which is still evident today & a big disappointment considering that we don't know when the waiting game will end and the players would have fully matured into the 'trophy-able representatives' of the club that we truly want.
With regards to Senderos- I wish him well--he went through a bad patch and it won't surprise me that he turns out good before he finally hangs up his boots. Football has its own psychological strain and demands; such is what is affecting several other Arsenal players but to which Arsene chooses to ignore and rests on 'hope' that they will grow out of it (being a father figure has its price in terms of trophies). Every club has its own 'chess board strategy' for implementing game plans, administration, style of play, etc and even if Arsenal do win some form of trophy next season how consistent would it bee be or would it be a one-off affair? I do hope fans then realize the folly in not being objective when it comes to sharing criticism. Hence, when a coach fails to deliver his best or probably his ideals have failed to deliver 'gold'or even that his 'culture' is no longer for the present and future generations-then we will all know then that we have all indeed been taken for a sour but sweet ride.
I think you'll find Gallas didn't want the number 3 shirt because he didn't want to be seen as a full-back. So instead he took a strikers shirt?!?!
this honestly isn't meant to offend, but no wonder you were so quick to slate nasri for his comments
i think that's a little biased but as a fan of the arsenal, how can you not be
just thought i'd say i think nasri is twice the player gallas is and in the future will be 3 times the player he is ;)
no offense though, haha, still enjoyin' the blog
IMO...Nasri is a mouthy little shit.
English players please Arsenal.
I totally match with anything you have written.
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