William’s a Euro sceptic
SPURS TO STRUGGLE AGAIN
WILLIAM GALLAS fears that his old club Spurs will continue to struggle in the Champions League next season.
The ex-French international, who also played for Chelsea and Arsenal during more than a decade in the English top flight, believes Spurs’ current crop are still too raw and i nexperienced to thrive among Europe’s elite. Mauricio Pochettino’s troops f i nished runners- up i n the Premier League last season, winning rave reviews for being entertaining and consistent in their pursuit of champions Chelsea. But when it came to their bid to conquer the cream of the continent, it proved the total reverse. Harry Kane and Co crashed out in the Champions League group stages after two paltry victories in six games – both against Russian no-hopers CSKA Moscow.
The North Londoners, who played their home ties at Wembley, then fared no better in the Europa League as they were eliminated in embarrassing fashion by Belgium minnows Gent.
Gallas, a member of the Spurs side that reached the Champions League quarter-finals in 2010-11, is far from optimistic there will be a significant improvement next time round.
The ex-White Hart Lane centre-half, 39, said: “It was a big shame what happened to them last season but this Tottenham squad is a little too young for the Champions League.
“Against Monaco and Bayer Leverkusen in the group games it showed that they needed more experience.
“The Champions League is different to the Premier League. You need experience, you need to be more clever and stay focused.”
Wise heads were not something Tottenham lacked under Harry Redknapp when stunning some of the biggest clubs in Europe en route to the quarter-finals six years ago.
In addition to blossoming Welsh winger Gareth Bale, they had Croat ace Luka Modric, Dutch star Rafael van der Vaart, ex-Liverpool strikers Peter Crouch and Robbie Keane as well as Gallas (below) at the back.
In stark contrast to that era, current boss Pochettino has gone for younger talent in the transfer market.
Throw in the issues of playing at Wembley, which will be Spurs’ home in all competitions next season, and it is easy to be pessimistic about their chances.
“If you compare our squad back then with now, we had many older and more experienced players,” explained Gallas.
As for ending the national stadium jinx – Spurs won once in five attempts at Wembley last season – he is more positive, adding: “Hopefully, they will have learned from last season’s experience – and be better for it.”
Spurs won 13 of their final 14 games last season and for the first time in 22 years finished above Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal.
Gallas, a two-time title winner with Chelsea, added: “Maybe they learned from their mistakes this time.”
WILLIAM GALLAS will be in action at Star Sixes, a six-a-side world cup for legends at The O2, London, July 13-16. Tickets, starting at £30 adults & £10 under-16s, from starsixes.com.