Gallas and Terry - Passionate Captains or Pathetic Prima Donna’s?
Say the word captain and you picture a player with leadership, someone who plays with passion and who is capable of inspiring their team mates even when the odds look against you. So what was Arsenal captain William Gallas playing at when Birmingham were taking their injury time penalty kick?
Watching it from well beyond the halfway line, Gallas was clearly frustrated with the late, and albeit wrong, decision and naturally distressed by the earlier incident surrounding his team mate Eduardo. But say that McFadden had missed the penalty, if it had rebounded off the post or been parried by Almunia back into open play, you want every player there to scramble the ball away and secure your victory. Gallas just threw his toys out of the pram, went off to sulk and left his colleagues, players he’s meant to be leading, to deal with things on their own!
John Terry equally had a good old sulk after Chelsea’s Carling Cup defeat to Tottenham. Now I’m happy Terry was upset, not because I have an urging desire to see him and every other Chelsea player suffer, but because it shows an obvious passion to win every match and every thing he possibly can with his club.
But snatching his runners up medal and refusing to give the ball back to referee Mark Halsey after Chelsea were denied a penalty is not the attitude of a captain nor of a worthy role model. Yes, chances are that particular Woodgate/Drogba scuffle should have been a penalty but with Drogba diving from the word go, Terry as a captain should have told him to get him to get his act together. Even the Chelsea consortium were getting fed up with the theatricals!
Time to think about what that armband means.
Tags: Arsenal, Chelsea, John Terry, William Gallas
