-
William Gallas reveals key weakness of new Chelsea defender Benoit Badiashile.
William Gallas has disclosed Benoit Badiashile’s biggest weakness after Chelsea signed him from Monaco in the January transfer window.
The Ligue 1 club transferred Badiashile to Stamford Bridge in a £35 million move, and the Blues spent more than £300 million on eight new players.
The 21-year-old centre back from France, who was signed for £75 million in the summer, will probably challenge fellow defender Wesley Fofana.
However, he has cautioned Blues supporters about a critical flaw in Badiashile’s style. Gallas has supported Badiashile to “create a strong partnership” with Thiago Silva.
‘Technically, he is really good,’ Gallas told Genting Casino. ‘He has a presence and is very calm with the ball at his feet.
‘He has a good left foot and is very composed. All the ingredients are there [but] I want to see how he responds to a physical challenge.
‘When he has to go one against one with a good opponent. At Monaco, his weakness was his physicality – he struggled against bigger opponents in France.We know in England that the Premier League is a lot more physical than Ligue 1, so we will have to see how he responds to this challenge.’
Quizzed about Chelsea’s spending spree since the summer, with the west London club having now splurged around £600m in the Todd Boehly era, Gallas added: ‘Chelsea are very behind the other teams in the league at the moment.
‘I look at the club and I don’t know what they’re doing, just buy, buy, buy players, handing out seven-year contracts like in American sports.
‘I’ve never heard of a seven-year contract in England – that is the style of the American owners.
‘I think slowly, slowly, Todd Boelhy will understand that football is totally different to American football or American sports generally.
💰 Sterling
💰 Koulibaly
💰 Slonina
💰 Chukwuemeka
💰 Cucurella
💰 Hutchinson
💰 Casadei
💰 Fofana
💰 Aubameyang
💰 Zakaria
💰 Datro Fofana
💰 Badiashile
💰 Gusto
💰 Andrey Santos
💰 Felix
💰 Mudryk
💰 Madueke
💰 Enzo Fernandez18 new signings under Todd Boehly 😱 pic.twitter.com/YplHpjht4K
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) February 1, 2023
‘At the moment, he has bought players but where are the results? They fired Tuchel and brought in Graham Potter, but they don’t have the results.
‘They fired all the medical staff but on face value it’d be a concern if they are delivering better results.
‘You have so many players that are injured at the club. Fofana is injured. Reece James was injured, came back and got injured again. ‘It’s a big mess at Chelsea at the moment. What are they going to do with all these players they have signed? They have bought so many players.
‘What will they do with the players they don’t want at the end of the season? They will try to sell them, but some players will not want to go. What will they do then?
‘If you want to compare Chelsea under Abramovich and under Boehly, you have to remember that Abramovich bought the club and the objective was to qualify for the Champions League.
‘He was an owner who took his time. He learned the mentality of the club and also got to understand how football works in the UK – that is what you have to do.
‘Boehly came into the club and changed everything. Buying players, firing a coach, bringing in Potter, firing the medical staff. It is the responsibility of the owner and we’ll see what happens.’
🗣️ "It isn't sustainable to have so many players… What happens if they don't perform?"
Mark Ogden discusses Chelsea's big squad and the issues that it could cause in the future… 🤔📰pic.twitter.com/fmIHDTItSB
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) February 1, 2023