By Richard Clarke
Kolo Toure believes
William Gallas will be considered one of Arsenal's great
captains alongside the likes of Tony Adams and Patrick Vieira.
On Saturday, the French centre back steered home a near-post header
seven minutes from time to break Wigan's stubborn resistance
and set-up a 2-0 win. In celebration he ran to the crowd pointing
at his captain's armband. It was the second successive home
game in which Gallas had popped up with a crucial late goal.
The 30-year-old may have been a surprise choice to replace Thierry
Henry as captain in August but, according to his central defensive
partner, he is leading by the deed as well as word.
"William gives everything for the Club," said Toure.
"Both on and off the pitch, William is a really good captain.
He is loud in the dressing room and he has a big heart. Everything
he says and does is for the team and the Club. That is the most
important quality in a captain.
"William seems to enjoy the responsibility. He is a really
mature player, he has played in a World Cup Final and he is 30. Age
and experience really helps as a captain. He leads by example.
"When Titi was here, he was outstanding," Toure went on.
"Patrick was strong and Tony as well. I have played under some
fantastic captains and you just follow them.
"I think he deserves to be mentioned among those names as captain because he is such a strong figure. He has great maturity in a really young team so that's so important.
"The young players, when he says something, they really listen to him because they respect him."
Copyright 2013 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source 26 Nov 2007
