William Gallas has never been one to shy away from a tackle or the limelight.

In 2007, the french international was named Arsenal captain, but was unceremoniously stripped of the title in 2008 after criticising teammates in a media interview.

Whilst Gallas went on to make more than 50 further appearances, contract discussions broke down publicly, with Gallas reportedly demanding £80,000 a week before signing a one-year contract for north London rivals, Tottenham, as a free agent.

Joining a select list of footballers, including Emmanuel Adebayor, Sol Campbell and Pat Jennings who have crossed Seven Sisters Road and Finsbury Park, Gallas went on to make more than 60 appearances for Spurs.

Gallas is, therefore, more familiar than most when it comes to north London derbies and provides a preview ahead of this weekend's clash as top of the Premier League table, Arsenal welcome third-placed Tottenham to Emirates Stadium in the lunch time Saturday kick-off.

True to form, in this exclusive interview, Gallas continues to say it as he sees it.

Tottenham play ugly football, but North London derby is 50/50

Ahead of this weekend's clash, Gallas suggests it is too close to call, with Arsenal having to break down Spurs' 'Italian-style' of counter-attacking football.

"For me it's a 50/50 at the moment even if Arsenal are top of the league and have started the season very well.

"They failed at Old Trafford, but they are still at the top of the table. Tottenham are in a good position, even if they haven’t been playing the best football, they are still getting good results. They play Italian-style football, it’s not very nice to watch but I think it's very difficult to play against Tottenham. They are very compact, and they like to play on the counter-attack, and with players like Kane, Richarlison and now you have Son, who has opened his account for the season, so I think for that game I will go for a 50/50.

"But Arsenal are playing at home, and normally when you play at home you have to win, especially in a big derby like this. Your fans will be with you, so that's going to boost them a little bit more, so for me Arsenal have to win the game, but Tottenham are good at the moment so it won’t be easy."

Arsenal continue to improve

"If you look at the start of their season, they’ve won almost every game, they play good football and the players are doing what Arteta is asking. But against Manchester United it was their first big test against a big club and unfortunately they failed. So that's why for me, it looks like Arsenal still have the same problems against the big clubs and Tottenham will be another big club to play against. 

"They have improved a lot, they know each other very well and they play fantastic football. Sometimes I think they need to have some more experienced players on the pitch and for them to speak up when they’re in a difficult moment. Those players have to talk to other players to help guide them. For example against Manchester United, I didn't like it when they conceded those goals, especially the last one, 75 minutes, you can't concede that. That's why when you have an experienced players, straight away you can speak to them and explain, ‘guys, you have to calm down, don't panic, we still have time to come back’. So against Tottenham, you never know what can happen, but you really need those players who can speak to the other players."

Arsenal still lack leader who can talk to younger players

William Gallas was a renown leader on the pitch and questions whether Arsenal have the strength of character on the pitch to bring the squad together.

"For me, it's always the same, it can be Arsenal or another team - Tottenham or Chelsea. You always need experienced players in your squad and in the starting 11. I know football has changed, and now you have more young players than experienced players, so that's why I think some clubs make mistakes because for a young player, sometimes it's difficult for them to be ready for the big games. That's why you need experienced players, like Thiago Silva at Chelsea, who can speak to his players and explain to them 'guys, we have to calm down, don't panic, don't be in a rush'. So I think for Arsenal at the back, they are missing that player."

William Saliba can go far, but he doesn’t have the right partner 

Another frenchman with a similar footballing journey is Arsenal's number 12, William Saliba. Having progressed through french football at Saint Etienne, with spells at Marseille and Nice, Saliba has now broken into the Arsenal first team and has grasped his chance with both hands. Gallas speaks extremely highly of his fellow international but warns that his progress may be stunted by a lack of experience in the Arsenal defence.

"William Saliba has the same style as Rio Ferdinand. When you see Saliba and how he plays, and when you compare with Rio when he was young, I think they are similar. But it's always the same problem, who is going to be next to you to learn? He's still young and at this age you need to learn and you need to have the right players next to you. That's why I said it's very important when you play centre-back, you need to have experienced players you can learn from. 

"At the moment Saliba doesn't have anyone. When I talk about experienced players, I'm talking about top-class defenders. That's why I'm a little bit worried for him. If he wants to go to another level he needs to be next to top class defenders. If we speak about John Terry, who was next to him? Marcel Desailly. Rio Ferdinand? He was next to Vidic, or I'm not sure who before that. All the defenders, they learned from someone. Nesta, he was next to Maldini. So for defenders to go to the next level you need that. When he turns 25, 26, it will be his turn to lead the defensive line and he will play with young players who will learn from him. For example Fofana, he has a great opportunity to learn a lot from Thiago Silva."

Baffled by Graham Potter

Whilst Gallas' heart and mind is clearly in north London this weekend, the defender first moved to England with Chelsea in 2001. Understandably, Gallas still has strong feelings for west London and is skeptical about the new manager and his management of Raheem Sterling. 

"That is a problem. When I saw Sterling playing as left wing-back, I didn't understand it. It's difficult for me to understand why he wants to experiment with something like this, especially in a Champions League game. You are playing at home and you put Cucurella as a centre-back, you have Fofana on the bench with Koulibaly, Chalobah on the bench, and you put Sterling as a left-wing back? I don't understand. In the end, they didn't have a good result, they drew 1-1. People will always judge the result, and the question is why did he put those two players in those positions? 

"Graham Potter seems like a nice guy and a good manager, but I'm still waiting to see what he's going to do to get Chelsea back to top form. He looks very calm, and looks like he likes to have conversations with his players from what I see from the outside, but I don't know if he's like this in reality. I'm still waiting. He did a good job at Brighton, but Chelsea is not Brighton, he has gone to another level with more expectations, more pressure, so it will be good to see if he can be the right manager."

Arsenal have better chance of winning Premier League than Tottenham

With time for one more assessment ahead of what is likely to be a feisty affair at the Emirates on Saturday, Gallas – as honest as ever – suggests there is only one contender for the Premier League title in north London this season.

"I think Arsenal have a better opportunity to compete for the title than Tottenham because this season they aren’t playing in the Champions League, and I think they have to be focussed on the title. I don't know what their target is, but whether it's top four or to win the title, I hope Arteta has told his players, ‘this season we have a good opportunity to fight for the title, so let's do it’. I think that would be a great message if he said that because it can boost the players. If they win the title, that means they will qualify for the top four. So I think Arsenal have a better opportunity to fight for the title."

VAVEL Logo
About the author