Friday 18 November 2016 18:44, UK
Former Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham defender William Gallas chose his #One2Eleven on The Fantasy Football Club.
The centre-back had a plethora of talent to choose from, having also made 84 appearances for the France national team, and he puts together a strong XI.
Gallas made over 300 Premier League appearances with the three London clubs, netting 26 times in the English top flight.
Gallas has gone with a 3-5-2 formation and told The Fantasy Football Club who makes his XI...
I played with him for almost three years and at the time, he was the best goalkeeper in the Premier League. He's a strong goalkeeper and when you have that type of goalkeeper behind you, it makes a big difference. He would always give us the information that is good when you play at the back.
What can I say about Thuram? He was one of the best defenders in the world. I had a chance to play with him during the World Cup in 2006 and it was a good example for me. We didn't concede a lot of goals during the World Cup and we always had that communication which is important when you play at full-back. He was a very solid player.
I know in the 1998 World Cup he played at right-back and he was unbelievable and then he started to play at centre-back in 2006. He didn't have one bad game.
He was always a good leader. I remember when I arrived at Chelsea, Marcel Desailly said to me "you have to see that young player," and I asked which one and he said "John Terry. He is unbelievable, he can play with his right foot, his left foot, he can do the long pass with his left foot."
So when I started to train with John, he was already the leader and everybody knew he would have a big career.
I think he can be the manager. John is a Chelsea boy and he will always give 100 per cent for the club. I'm sure he will be the manager there, I wish that for him because he is a great guy.
He is a rock. I played with him when I was at Chelsea and he was my mentor. He helped me a lot when I arrived there, I couldn't speak English so I asked him all the time to translate everything for me and on the pitch, the same thing. I learnt a lot from him.
I know it isn't his position but I know he can do a job up and down. He was a beef when he used to play for Chelsea. He ran everywhere, very strong, he scored some goals. With that tactic, I think he was the best player to be there.
Claude was unbelievable when he played for Chelsea. As a centre-back it's very easy to defend because you know you have a player like him in front of you. He will give you all the information you need and he will shout at you. He was one of the best midfielders when he played for Chelsea.
He's a tall guy and it's the same thing. He's up and down, he can help the strikers and the defenders. He's a great player and a very important player for Arsenal. With Makelele, they know each other very well.
At Tottenham, he was unbelievable. I remember a game against Inter Milan where we were 3-0 down with 10 men and he scored a hat-trick.
Gareth is an unbelievable player and Harry Redknapp always said to us if you have the ball, give it to Gareth and he will make the difference. He had that quality so I'm not surprised to see him where he is now.
For me, he was the best player I played with. When I had the opportunity to defend against him in training, I didn't want to touch him to give him an injury because I knew the manager would shout at me. Right foot, left foot, it was just nice to play with him.
It was difficult to play against him. I had the opportunity to play with him and in training, I had some discussions with him and I would say "come on Didier, wake up" and when I played against him, he had that feeling and presence and I was a little bit scared to play against him.
I didn't understand before why other players were afraid to play against him, but the first time I did, I understood.
I think everybody knows Thierry. He was very quick with the ball, he scored so many goals in the Premier League and he is a legend. He can get the ball at his feet or in the space and when you're a defender, you don't know how to defend against him.
