William Gallas
From TheChels.info - The Chelsea Football Club Wiki
| William Gallas | |
| |
| Full Name | William Éric Gallas |
| Date of Birth | 17 August 1977 |
| Place of Birth | Asnières-sur-Seine, France |
| Position | Defender |
| Chelsea career | 2001-2006 |
| Debut | 19 August 2001 |
| Games (goals) | 225 (14) |
| Other clubs | Caen Marseille Arsenal Tottenham Hotspur Perth Glory |
William Gallas (born 17 August 1977) is a defender who played for Chelsea between 2001 and 2006.
Gallas joined Chelsea from Marseille for £6.2 million in May 2001. A quick, intelligent and versatile defender, he was capable of playing anywhere across the back four and made his Chelsea debut in a 1-1 opening day draw with Newcastle United. Gallas was a part of the Chelsea team which reached the FA Cup Final that season, losing out to Arsenal at the Millennium Stadium. In 2004-05 he formed a formidable central defensive partnership with John Terry; at one point, the pairing went 16 matches without conceding a goal as Chelsea romped to the Premier League title.
In the following season Gallas was often deployed as a full-back due to José Mourinho's preference for the pairing of Terry and Ricardo Carvalho, a situation Gallas grew increasingly frustrated with. He nonetheless helped Chelsea to their second consecutive league title, which included goals against Liverpool and Fulham, and a vital last minute winner against Tottenham. He also opened the scoring in Chelsea's title-clinching 3-0 victory over Manchester United.
As the season drew to a close it was apparent that contract negotiations between Gallas and Chelsea had broken down. In pre-season new signing Michael Ballack was assigned Gallas' number 13 shirt and on the final day of the transfer window Gallas was sold to Arsenal in a £5 million part-exchange deal which saw Ashley Cole move in the opposite direction.
Statistics
| Season | Prem | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |
| 2001–02 | 30 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 2 |
| 2002–03 | 38 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 4 |
| 2003–04 | 29 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 1 |
| 2004–05 | 28 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 2 |
| 2005–06 | 34 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 45 | 5 |
| Total | 159 | 12 | 17 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 35 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 225 | 14 |
Goals
| # | Season | Date | Year | Competition | Opponent | Score | Result | Venue |
| 1 | 2001-02 | 10 March | 2002 | FA Cup | Tottenham Hotspur | 1-0 | 4-0 | White Hart Lane |
| 2 | 2001-02 | 16 March | 2002 | Premier League | Sunderland | 1-0 | 4-0 | Stamford Bridge |
| 3 | 2002-03 | 23 August | 2002 | Premier League | Manchester United | 1-0 | 2-2 | Stamford Bridge |
| 4 | 2002-03 | 30 November | 2002 | Premier League | Sunderland | 1-0 | 3-0 | Stamford Bridge |
| 5 | 2002-03 | 11 January | 2003 | Premier League | Charlton Athletic | 2-0 | 4-1 | Stamford Bridge |
| 6 | 2002-03 | 22 March | 2003 | Premier League | Manchester City | 5-0 | 5-0 | Stamford Bridge |
| 7 | 2003-04 | 16 September | 2003 | UEFA Champions League | Sparta Prague | 5-0 | 1-0 | Generali Arena |
| 8 | 2004-05 | 30 October | 2004 | Premier League | West Brom | 1-0 | 4-1 | Hawthorns |
| 9 | 2004-05 | 13 November | 2004 | Premier League | Fulham | 3-1 | 4-1 | Craven Cottage |
| 10 | 2005-06 | 26 December | 2005 | Premier League | Fulham | 1-0 | 3-2 | Stamford Bridge |
| 11 | 2005-06 | 5 February | 2006 | Premier League | Liverpool | 1-0 | 2-0 | Stamford Bridge |
| 12 | 2005-06 | 11 March | 2006 | Premier League | Tottenham Hotspur | 2-1 | 2-1 | Stamford Bridge |
| 13 | 2005-06 | 9 April | 2006 | Premier League | West Ham United | 4-1 | 4-1 | Stamford Bridge |
| 14 | 2005-06 | 29 April | 2006 | Premier League | Manchester United | 1-0 | 3-0 | Stamford Bridge |
