Gallas critical of French set-up

Arsenal defender William Gallas has criticised Raymond Domenech for his handling of the French national team in this year's World Cup.

France were eliminated at the group stage, losing two games and scoring just one goal. Domenech was sacked as France manager immediately after the tournament.

Gallas believes Domenech's man-management was poor, and that many of the players in the France team felt they could not communicate with him.

Gallas said: "The real problem was the coach. I was not good, we were not good. But the coach was not good either.

"There really was a communication problem. Domenech was not open. Many players could not speak with him. That was my case.

"Domenech hammered into us time and again: 'Put your egos to one side'. But I believe that he forgot to do that himself."

Gallas added that he had expected to be France captain going into the tournament, but found out late on that Domenech had selected Patrice Evra instead, without ever consulting him.

He added: "The hardest part of it is the manner in which it happened. I realised when I entered the changing room prior to the friendly with Costa Rica that the captain's armband was placed beside Evra's shirt.

"Domenech told me: 'In any case, you would not be a good captain'."

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