William Gallas. Biography
William Gallas is a French centre back of a Guadeloupe descent. He is an ex-player of the France national team. William was born in Asnières-sur-Seine, France.
Gallas was a trainee of the Clairefontaine youth academy. The first team the back played for was modest second division club SM Caen. In 1996 Caen managed to get promoted to Ligue 1 and William drew the attention of top French teams. In 1997 he transferred to Marseille, spent four seasons there and relatively advanced in popularity with his countrymen.
In 2001 Gallas was bought by London side Chelsea for about £6 million. The footballer chose the number 13 shirt, which is currently his number in Tottenham. Under the guidance of the head coach Claudio Ranieri, Gallas worked together with Marcel Desailly and later with John Terry. The main achievement of his partnership with Terry was a series of 16 games during one season, without conceding a single goal.
After José Mourinho succeeded Ranieri, Gallas still remained one of the pivots of the team. Playing for Chelsea, the back lifted the Community Shield, the Football League Cup and twice became the Premier League Champion. William and his team also made their way through to the 2004/2005 UEFA Champions League semi-final, but ‘The Blues’ were stopped by Liverpool. Besides, in 2004/2005 season the French back gained a lot of experience playing on the left flank of defense. That happened after Wayne Bridge got a serious trauma in one of the matches that season. Later William rather often came on the field as a full back.
In the summer of 2005 Chelsea bought left back Asier del Horno from Athletic Bilbao. Then it seemed Gallas should have returned at his centre back position, but he continued to share the left flank of defense with a rookie. William was very disappointed with the situation. That was the reason of a conflict with the management of ‘Blues’. The clash was the beginning of the end for the player’s Chelsea career.
After the 2006 World Cup, the French footballer decided not to go on the USA summer tour with Chelsea, explaining his refusal by amassed tiredness. Soon ‘The Blues’ bought Michael Ballack and gave him the number 13 shirt, which had belonged to William. It became clear that Gallas would not stay in the club for another season. On 1 September 2006, the French back became a part of a deal that brought Ashley Cole from Arsenal to Chelsea. That is how the player got to the Emirates.
William signed a four-year contract with the London side club and took the number 10 shirt, vacated by Arsenal legend Dennis Bergkamp. Gallas made his debut for the new team on 9 September 2006 in the match against Middlesbrough, which ended in a 1-1 draw. By the way, he played at the position of a left back. On 23 September 2006, the footballer scored his first goal for ‘The Gunners’ in the match against Sheffield United.
After Thierry Henry had gone to Barcelona in 2007, William captained the team. He made his first appearance as a team leader in the match against Fulham F.C. on 12 August 2007. On 16 December 2007, the French footballer netted the spectacular winner in a 1-0 victory over his former club Chelsea. In August 2008 Arsenal management confirmed William stayed in the club as a captain for the 2008/2009 season.
In November 2008 the back gave interview to Associated Press, where he criticized his club. He doubted the moral spirit of Arsenal and said the young players did not correspond to the club’s status. After that, Gallas was excluded from the initial squad for the match against Manchester City, deprived of his captaincy and fined two weekly wages. Despite a lot of rumours about his leaving, William stayed in London for 2009/2010 and found the rivals' net three times in first three matches. On 17 February 2010, the French back had his 100th match for ‘The Gunners’ and came on the pitch against Chelsea. After 2009/2010 Gallas’s contract expired and the parties failed to come to an agreement. That is why in August 2010 the French footballer signed a one-year contract with Spurs on a free transfer.
On 22 August 2010, the player officially moved to White Hart Lane. There was sort of additional sharpness in that transfer as Tottenham is the arch-rival of Arsenal. On 11 September 2010, Gallas made his debut for his new team in the match against West Bromwich, which ended in a 1-1 draw. The French back soon became one of Spurs’ pivots, playing in centre defense with Dawson, King or Kaboul. On 28 March 2011, William extended his contract with Tottenham till the summer 2013.
The beginning of 2011/2012 was darkened by a serious injury of the player and he managed to return on the pitch only by the end of October. That season he made 15 Premier League appearances for Spurs.
At the end of 2012/2013 season the 36-year old Gallas was released form Tottenham. Later on William was offered another contract with an Australian side Perth Glory.
William made his debut for the main France team in 2002. From 2002 till 2011, the footballer took part in 84 senior international matches. Gallas participated in the UEFA Euro 2004 and 2008 and the 2006 and 2010 World Cup for ‘Les Tricolores’. In 2004 he and his team made their way through to the semi-final, where the French footballers were stopped by the Greece national team. In 2006 Gallas played in the World Cup Final, but the Italy national squad ran out victorious that day. The last two championships were not successful for the national squad and the back did not manage to show his skills.
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