It’s vital AVB persists with Dawson

A huge sigh of relief was breathed around White Hart Lane when the respective Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United squads were announced on Sunday afternoon. Fans were hopeful that William Gallas would be relegated from the starting XI and onto the bench and replaced with club stalwart Michael Dawson for the welcome of the Hammers.

Their prayers were answered around 45 minutes prior to kick-off. The Frenchman had been dropped and Dawson reinstated back into the starting XI and captaining the side. Against a physical West Ham side, it was pivotal that Andre Villas-Boas be re-called to the team.

Gallas may’ve skippered the side since the opening day defeat to Newcastle United, but he has begun to show his frailties in the back with a number of poor performances, especially against the Premiership’s more robust front-men.

Up against Andy Carroll, the former Chelsea and Arsenal centre-back would’ve been absolutely dominated by his English counterpart. However, Dawson came into the fray and performed astutely for the hosts, repelling numerous Hammers attacks as Spurs secured a comfortable 3-1 win.

It’s now up to the no nonsense defender to continue his impressive form in order to continue in the heart of the Spurs backline, especially with reports suggesting that Queen’s Park Rangers are again showing an interest in the England international.

There were those that had doubts over the influence of Dawson following the arrival of Villas-Boas over the summer, but credit to him he hasn’t kicked up a fuss, instead keeping his head down and working hard in training to force his way back into the starting XI.

It appears to have impressed Villas-Boas and hopefully this is the first in a long line of games for the defender, especially with Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Younes Kaboul both still sidelined with injury.

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Comments

[Chris]

Its simple Daw's is an all around better defender than Gallas!! Not only is he a good defender but he can ping 50 / 60 yard passes!! Gallas just goes on a little jaunt out of defence and ends up losing the ball and leaving us in the sh*t!!

[Ramos36]

I think a lot of people have been unfairly harsh with their criticism of William Gallas, making him a scapegoat for virtually every goal we have conceded this season. It seems funny to me that while the form of Walker, and more recently Vertonghen has left a lot to be desired, it appears that the usually dependable Gallas has taken the brunt of the fans frustrations.

I agree that Gallas form has been indifferent as of late, with his performance against Chelsea a virtual comedy of errors, but has his displays really been worst than anyone else's in the back-line of defence? I think not!
Gallas has been the OUTSTANDING defender on a number of occasions for Spurs this season, with his displays against Newcastle, Southampton and Man Utd the obvious highlights. But instead of focus on these, there has been the misconception from a vast number of fans that his showings have somehow been poor throughout the course of the season so far.

Infact, even after the Newcastle game there was a ground swell of opinion that the Frenchman should be dropped in favour of younger legs, which leads me to believe that either so supporters aren't watching the game as intently as they would like to think, or that Gallas' face will never fit because of his previous affiliation with our London rivals.

The reason Gallas HAS been picked up till now has been simple: he has more aggression, leader qualities and experience than Caulker and Vertonghen, and is more mobile than Dawson.
THE SIMPLE FACT IS GALLAS CAN'T DEFEND BY HIMSELF AND ITS ABOUT TIME THAT SOME ONE-EYED FANS REALISE THAT!!!!

And as for Dawson, while he produced a typically commanding display at the back yesterday, I wouldn't be surprised to see him back on the bench come Wednesday night as I don't believe that Gallas was dropped due to his displays.

If i had my choice at the moment i would seriously consider playing a back-line that consists of Naughton, Gallas, Dawson and Vertonghen against Liverpool and Fulham as the team could do with all the experience and leadreship skills it can muster at the moment, or at least until we can string a number of results together.

There is a reason we haven't had more than 1 clean sheet this season and that is because the defensive unit hasn't performed as a whole well enough, so to point the finger at Gallas who has been one of the better players back this season is just ridiculous.