We thought we had seen everything, heard everything on the set of French football, but William Gallas crossed a CAP which risks fueling many debates. Former French international, ex-partner of Zinédine Zidane in the French team, Gallas knows the stature and the aura of Maestro Tricolore well. However, at the time of commenting on the performances of the new Talents of the Premier League, he has slipped a statement that will not fail to surprise, even to offend the purists and lovers of the French number 10.
In an interview for Prime Casino, relayed by the English press, Gallas allowed himself to bring Cole Palmer closer, a young Chelsea game leader, from Marseille genius. “Cole Palmer in Chelsea reminds me of Zidane with France, if we consider its importance in the team”he put forward, also comparing English to Gareth Bale for his style and his confidence ball on the foot. A parallel for the least daring, so palmer, despite his great statistics (25 goals, 15 assists during his first season at Stamford Bridge, then 15 goals and 12 assists the following exercise), has not yet proven anything on the international scene, nor raised the slightest major trophy in selection.
When the comparison becomes transgression
This rapprochement between Palmer and Zidane questions, even shock. How could such a young player, as talented as it are, already walk in the footsteps of the 1998 Ballon d'Or, world and European champion, leader of men and master of the big meetings? If the temptation to see successors in Zidane has existed for a long time, the legend of number 10 remains, to date, untouchable. This type of comparison, even out of a mouth as experienced as that of Gallas, almost sounds like a lack of respect for myth, especially the day when Zidane celebrates her 53 years.
Gallas, however, does not fail to justify his opinion. He praises the importance taken by Palmer in Chelsea's workforce, his creativity and his ability to make the difference, while stressing that the team must spare him to aim far in the Premier League as at the Club World Cup. But if the London technician Enzo Maresca managed to make the most of Palmer, the latter also showed his limits during vacuum passages last season. The greats of this sport, Zidane the first, have never failed in key moments: the nuance is of importance.
Gallas shocks the football planet: Palmer at the height of Zidane?
A legend like Zidane does not compare
We can admit that Gallas, by desire to enhance the new generation, wanted to make an impression. But to want to place palmer too much on a pedestal, he risks fueling a sterile debate. Zidane is a football monument, an aura that was built over the decades of class and titles. Gallas' interventions in the media, since the end of his career, have never been unanimous, and this outing on Palmer will not change the trend: comparing Zidane to a player in full emergence is to ignore the unique dimension of the French legend.
At a time when the planet football celebrates Zizou's birthday, it is good to remember that all talents are not intended to enter the legend, and that the Zidane myth remains unrivaled. Palmer is promised to a good career, but he still has everything to prove. Let it grow at its own pace, without loading it with an inheritance too heavy to wear.
