William Gallas laments Tottenham’s complacency against ‘small teams’ & reveals squad’s unhappiness with season

Premier League : William Gallas (Tottenham) – (Panoramic)

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Tottenham defender William Gallas believes his side have had a disappointing season despite reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League, and suggested that the team had become complacent when playing against weaker opponents in the Premier League.

Spurs will not be in Europe’s elite competition next year after they were defeated by Manchester City on Tuesday night, wrapping up fourth spot for Roberto Mancini’s men.

Gallas insists that this is a season that he will not look back on fondly, despite Spurs’ European exploits, and has rued points dropped to teams at the bottom end of the table.

“Even if people say ‘you had a great season’, I don’t think so,” Gallas told reporters.

“To get to the quarter-finals of the Champions League at the first attempt was amazing for Tottenham but everybody is upset because we got nothing at the end.

“When we play against the small teams, maybe – I say maybe – we thought we had won before we played, so perhaps that’s the mistake we made.

“We dropped too many points against Blackpool, Wolves and West Ham.

“If we play a big team, like Manchester United, Chelsea or Arsenal, we know they will be very hard to beat, so when we arrive in the dressing room we are ready for the fight.

“It will be harder next year. Liverpool are really, really strong and playing good football, so now it will be between maybe five or six teams to qualify for the Champions League.

“I am sure all the players are very upset. You feel so good in the Champions League and you get the chance to compete against the best in Europe. Because next season we will not play in that competition, it will be difficult for us to watch it on TV.

“We made too many mistakes but now we know which mistakes we made, it will not be good if we make the same ones again.

“We need to have a good pre-season, to speak together and be ready when the season starts. Because Tottenham want to be a big club, we have to be back in the Champions League.”