Wenger joy at Gallas gamble

Gunners boss delighted with defender's form

Last updated: 24th January 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Wenger joy at Gallas gamble

Gallas: Wenger praise

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Arsene Wenger admits he is delighted that his gamble with William Gallas has paid dividends.

The Gunners defender was stripped of the captaincy at Emirates Stadium last season as Wenger tried to restore harmony in what was becoming a fractured dressing room.

Gallas had fallen out with then central defensive partner Kolo Toure, now at Manchester City, as well as a number of other team-mates.

Wenger concedes he did not know how the 32-year-old Frenchman would react to the demotion, but he has performed excellently so far this term alongside summer signing Thomas Vermaelen at the back.

"The incident that happened with Gallas was in November of last season when he was stripped of the captaincy," Wenger said.

"Toward the end of last season, he was very good. I expected at some point that he would want to leave because of what happened but he has found a new balance, a new mood and he has weight in this team.

"It was a hard decision. You never know what kind of consequences that type of decision will have on the team or on the individual.

"Any decision like that can have psychological consequences that are hard to measure.

Mentality

"He has developed, he is completely focused and since the beginning of the season he has been outstanding. I believe he enjoys winning with this team.

"He is not the only person responsible for the difficulties he had as a captain.

"His experience is important to us. He is shrewd and don't forget that he and Vermaelen are very capable of scoring important goals for us.

"The statistics show that those two players are the most likely to get the second ball from a corner, for example.

"He is a winner. He played centre-forward when he was young and you can still see a lot of that in him."

Gallas is out of contract in the summer and while Wenger admits the ball is in the player's court, he is hoping he will commit to Arsenal.

The Gunners boss may break his policy of not offering players over 30 with more than a one-year deal, such is his admiration for the defender.

"I don't want to lose him now," he added.

"I am positive about him staying but you never know; someone may come in and he is free to talk to clubs now."

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