Gallas ready to fill Desailly boots

14 April 2012

William Gallas is set to replace the man who helped him settle into the Premiership when France clash with England in Lisbon on Sunday.

The Chelsea defender has acknowledged on many occasions the debt he owes to club and national team-mate Marcel Desailly - and the 26-year-old is ready to show what he has learned from his mentor in the opening match of Group B at the Stadium of Light.

Desailly is the designated captain of France and manager Jacques Santini would relish the prospect of his availability against England. But Desailly has been suffering from knee problems for a month and has played only one full game - and that was a work out against a French police team in a closed doors practice game on Monday.

It would therefore represent a huge risk to ask Desailly to combat the strength of Wayne Rooney and the pace of Michael Owen on Sunday - and Gallas is favourite to take his place in a right-back role. That will allow Lilian Thuram to move to his favoured spot in central defence to partner Mikael Silvestre.

The competition to Gallas comes from Bayern Munich's transfer-seeking defender Willy Sagnol but the fact that Santini started the last preparation match against Ukraine on Sunday with the Chelsea man suggests he is in pole position to play.

Gallas is in no doubt about the part Desailly has played in his adapting to the challenges presented by English football.

He said: "It is a championship where you are constantly in danger. A defender can never catch his breath. Duels are happening all the time and the combat is intense.

"There is a freedom in the game that you don't find anywhere else, a commitment that referees do not punish with the first shoulder charge. Marcel and Manu Petit have both helped me so much. When I played for the first time, in a pre-season game against a Third Division team, I didn't stop asking him questions.

"He was very calm and just told me not to worry. Ten, twenty, thirty times the ball came back. For 45 minutes the opposition kept up this rhythm. I left the field exhausted. The games just got quicker and quicker. But Marcel took time to help and to advise me and I have adapted to my new life."

And while he has great respect for former manager Claudio Ranieri, Gallas gave an insight into the kind of inconsistent thinking that earned the Italian the nickname of 'The Tinkerman'.

Gallas recalled how, in the two weeks leading up to the FA Cup Final against Arsenal three seasons ago, he worked and prepared to play at left-back. He said: "Then on the day of the game, I was told I was playing on the right! Imagine that!"

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David Jones (Footballer)

Gallas ready to fill Desailly boots

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