Sagna has addressed that Gallas tantrum against Birmingham City.
Former Arsenal star Bacary Sagna has defended William Gallas over that infamous strop at the end of our 2-2 draw with Birmingham City in the 2007/08 season.
Sagna was part of that side that topped the Premier League table for much of the season, only to throw that lead away in the closing stages of the campaign as our confidence and form totally collapsed.
That game at Birmingham was a crucial turning point, with Eduardo suffering that horrific injury early on, and with the team conceding a penalty at the death having previously come back from 1-0 down to take a 2-1 lead in the second half.
This result clearly took its toll on the players, and Gallas received plenty of criticism for his infamous response at the end of the game as he sat sulking on the pitch.
The Frenchman later lost the Arsenal captaincy, but Sagna believes many people were overly harsh on the former skipper as he struggled to recover his reputation.
“I think it’s easy to say that he had the wrong attitude, but he was our captain and that time he tried his best,” Sagna told Goal.
“Of course, showing in front of everyone that he wasn’t happy was not the best action, but for us, it was more that no-one could really understand why [he did it], instead of being upset with him.
“It’s the kind of thing that happened that shouldn’t be happening. But he was not the reason why we went down and I think everyone was a bit harsh on him.
“The press was really hard on him, even the club. I think he lost the captaincy soon after.
“Of course he made a mistake, but we were still on the path to achieving a great season and we all could have done better. On the pitch as players and as a club.”
