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ARSENAL: Euro 2008 Week: 'Gallas is Mr Reliable for France'

/noticias.info/ Arsenal.com is turning its attention to Euro 2008. Seven of Arsène Wenger’s squad are in Austria and Switzerland and we asked a reporter from each country to assess the fortunes of each representative.

Here’s Philippe Auclair, a writer for France Football, on Arsenal defender William Gallas.

What is the perception of Gallas in France?
"People would see him as one of the most reliable defenders France has had for a very long time and he is an automatic choice for the French team. I think he generally functions better when he plays alongside a 'leader' like Lilian Thuram. He is very decisive in his interventions, he is very quick to react, he is a big-match player, someone who turns up on the big occasions and has a winning mentality. He is technically sound and he is one of the Mr Reliables of the national team. William is a multi-functional player and some people think that impaired his progress in the beginning because he played on the left sometimes, but his best place is in the centre of defence."

What are Raymond Domenech's other options in defence?
"In terms of centre backs, Liliam Thuram is there definitely. Philippe Mexes is not in the squad, which surprises me. Eric Abidal, who plays at left-back, can also cover in the middle of the park. Jean-Alain Boumsong is in Les Bleus' squad as well. But Gallas is an automatic choice. If he is fit he will play all the games in Euro 2008."

Who do you think Luis Aragones will pick?
"I think he has to have Senna and Xabi Alonso or Senna and Fabregas and I think that is the big question. He has to play a player who can help recover the ball alongside Fabregas or Alonso because that has worked very well in my opinion. It works for other teams with Javier Mascherano at Liverpool and Mathieu Flamini or Gilberto at Arsenal. What I will say in favour of Fabregas is that he can be useful on the right or the left too. He has more pace than Alonso. I don't know what I would choose, it is a difficult one because you have to get the balance right, but it is a happy dilemma for the manager."

How important was Gallas in the qualifying campaign?
"What I would say is that France won its qualification not on its goalscoring but on its defensive record. The defence took France to Euro 2008. I was listening to Thierry Henry speaking about that for a football programme. He said that the recent success of the French team, not just in qualifying for this tournament, was based on France's defensive capacity. The role of Gallas is enormous in that. He and Thuram, plus the central midfield pair, two from Vieira, Makelele, Toulalon and Diarra - that block in the middle - is very difficult to disrupt. It is a foundation block for the French team and William is central to that in more ways than one."

How well do you expect Gallas and France to fare at Euro 2008?
"I was concerned a few weeks and months ago because, if you bear in mind what happened in Scotland, with two 1-0 defeats in qualifying, what was worrying was that France couldn't score despite creating chances. But in the warm-up friendlies there have been some interesting combinations, particularly the triangle of Henry, Ribery and Benzema, with Nasri coming forward as well. They played some beautiful, incisive play in the last friendly against Paraguay. It was 0-0 but France played some beautiful football. The other thing is the arrival of Bafetimbi Gomis, a Senegalese-born striker. He scored two astonishing goals against Ecuador, reminiscent of Drogba at his absolute best. So there are goals in this team. Henry finished the season well with Barcelona, he will be very fresh because he has been injured and in and out of the side. Ribery has been astonishing in terms of stamina, he has played so much at Bayern Munich and won them the title really, but he is physically at the top. Nasri is fresh as well, so France do have the arguments to go forward. It's very encouraging because my prognosis two months ago was that it would be very difficult to get out of this group. Before it was 40:60 and now I say it's 65:35. And once they get out of the group they will be very hard to stop."

They tend to improve as tournaments unfold don't they?
"France are a big-time team. The problems they have generally come in qualifying and in the group stage of major tournaments. I remember Euro 2000, they really struggled in the group stage and they relied on Henry having the best tournament of his career - which people tend to forget. He carried a lot of the team that year. France also struggled at the 2006 World Cup, I remember the Switzerland game especially, but when it mattered against Spain and Brazil, France played some magnificent football." notas_de_prensa_archivo