No none of us would've had him in our team if we were manager but his performance today was up with those that he had in the Champions League 2 seasons ago. So solid throughout the game, playing through injury for an hour and just to top it all off, hobbled Van Persie with an excellent challenge Please stand and applaud the captain please log in to view this image
Agreed, YV. I take my hat off to AVB for sticking with Gallas, and not playing Dawson. And... We have Parker, Benny, and Adebayor to come back into the side!
A sterling performance from him, although the way the game was played in the second half, did suit him as we were pressed so far back, his lack of pace was never going to be found out. But a brave performance and when you go to OT, you need people to stand up and be counted and he did that today.
Definitely would've helped having Adebayor in the second half, not just for his height and strength but he finds channels really well when we're under pressure.
I think if Parker had been fit, he would have come on instead of THudd. And he might have come on earlier, too. The fact that we were able to withstand the United onslaught, in that second half, is a real testament to all of our players, and to the grit and determination, and belief, that AVB seems to have instilled in the squad.
He has always shown courage,. even signing to play for Spurs was a challenging move for him at the time., No.,, I for one, will not listen to a word said against him.
Yeah, Gallas defended like a warrior today, he always give his all in games, never doubted that, just that he was on the slide as a player and will probably follow it up by having a mare in the next game against crap opposition! Back in the day when Gallas was at Chelsea and Terry was getting all the praise, it was Gallas who was the better defender, he was awesome in his prime so I guess while he is playing there will be days when he plays like the gallas of old, just them days are rare!
Gallas is a quality player, past his best but the experience he brings is immense, especially for Caulker.
Hold my hands up re Gallas, I really thought he was probably past it now but he has proved me wrong with an outstanding performance yesterday. I think one of the other players commented (cant remember who) that Gallas is still as good as ever, and it looks like he was right judging by yesterdays showing.
His experience was invaluable, got Caulker through it, and you can see why Daws is struggling to get a game here, quite simply we'd have lost that game if he'd played imo, and he's slower than Gallas.
The tackle on van persie in the first half was brilliant ,his experience and quality shone through, like others thought he was finished but far from it class act
Apologies if already mentioned, but Willy G's performance in Saturday reminded me of his heroics against the Goons at the Emirates a couple of years ago - also finishing that game virtually on one leg as well. He may have seemed a bit vulnerable/slow in a couple of games this year, but there's no doubting his commitment or ability to raise his game for the big matches. As mentioned above, his experience will be important for the development of Caulker (and Verts) and it's a good sign that they have looked really comfortable playing alongside each other so far. Now - if we can only get Walker to learn how to defend properly - something that should be becoming a serious concern - then our defence, with Benny and Kaboul to return at some point, will be looking damn good!
Apologies PNP - wasn't overlooking Daws, just that he didn't fall into either the 'young' impressionables or the 'still to return' categories!!
I'm surprised Gallas still hasn't scored for us. I remember he used to chip in with quite a few goals for Woolwich and Chelsea, getting on the end of free kicks/corners
I must admit G*llas was class on Saturday, I even had to praise his performance myself. LDL summed it up perfectly for me, had G*llas been a Man U player and Rio a Spurs player, the scoreline would have been different
