Isn’t it hilarious! Big Phil Senderos had panic attacks before he had to face Didier Drogba, no wonder he was such a sh*t defender. Absolute state of him!

Er, no. How about we don’t do that?

When Willliam Gallas revealed this bit of information, it’s hard to know what was going through his head. Then again, that’s always been the case with Gallas who so angered Arsene Wenger he stripped the former Chelsea player of the captaincy and gave it to a 21-year-old.

“I knew Philippe Senderos, before a match he would need to speak a lot, you could see that he was sweating, that he did not feel good,” Gallas told Le Vestiaire on RMC.

“Especially against certain players. I saw him against Chelsea, against Didier Drogba, where he would genuinely panic, like he was going through his match before playing it.

“And unfortunately, when you saw him on the pitch, he lost his playing abilities, he didn’t play well. But against his own team-mates, he played better.”

Panic attacks aren’t funny, as anyone who’s had one will attest.

If Gallas had been captain material in any form, he would have tried to assist his teammate instead of just watching as he struggled on the pitch.

William Gallas
William Gallas of Arsenal celebrates scoring the third goal during the Barclays Premier League match between Arsenal and Portsmouth at the Emirates Stadium on August 22, 2009 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

Although he agrees that, with hindsight, Wenger taking the captaincy from him was the ‘best thing to do’ he still refuses to take responsibility for his actions that day in Birmingham when he performed a one-man protest in the centre circle. Nor does he take responsibility for his comments in the media which he claims, ultimately, saw him portrayed as a ‘bad captain’.

Gallas, then, would be perhaps better served addressing his own issues rather than making public issues of mental health that are nothing to do with him.

It would be different if he was trying to raise awareness of mental health issues, and if he was doing that then his message has been discarded by every mainstream media outlet.

Thankfully, the overwhelming response from Arsenal fans to these comments from Gallas seems to be to attack the Frenchman given his record rather than to mock big Phil, easy as society makes that to do.

That warms my heart and helps me forget about the other muppets who haven’t quite evolved enough yet to do the same.