Gaël Clichy

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Gaël Clichy
Personal information
Full name Gaël Clichy
Date of birth July 26, 1985 (1985-07-26) (age 22)
Place of birth    Toulouse, France
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Playing position Left back
Club information
Current club Arsenal
Number 22
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
2001–2003
2003–		 Cannes
Arsenal		 15 (0)
99 (0)   
National team2
2004–2005
2008		 France U21
France B		 10 (0)
02 (0)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 16:05, 11 May 2008 (UTC).
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of 12:00, 26 March 2008 (UTC).
* Appearances (Goals)

Gaël Clichy (born July 26, 1985 in Toulouse) is a French football player, who currently plays for Arsenal of the Premier League. He is Arsenal's first-choice left back and can also play on the left-hand-side of midfield.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Signed by Arsène Wenger in the summer of 2003 from AS Cannes for £250,000, Clichy plays the position of left back for Arsenal, although he had to be content with playing understudy to England international Ashley Cole during his first three seasons at the club.

His 12 appearances in the Premiership in Arsenal's victorious 2003-04 season were enough to earn him a winners medal. In doing so, he set the record for youngest winner of a Premiership champions medal.[2]

After Ashley Cole suffered a fractured foot in October 2005, it seemed that Clichy would earn some valuable first-team action during Cole's time out; indeed, with rumours linking Cole with a transfer to Spain, it seemed that Clichy could make a strong case for continual first-team action. However Clichy ironically suffered an injury identical to Cole's, leaving Arsenal with a crisis at the left-back position.

Clichy returned to first team action on April 25, 2006 in a Champions League semi-final against Villarreal, and came on as a substitute for the injured Mathieu Flamini. Clichy suffered a re-occurrence of his injury and missed the end of the season including the Champions League Final, and would not return to the first team until 14 October 2006.

When Cole left for Chelsea in August 2006, Clichy became the first choice left back at Arsenal. As Cole's understudy, Clichy made 62 appearances (including 39 in the league) for Arsenal in three seasons. In the season which followed Cole's departure, Clichy made 27 league appearances in a total of 40, and has since become Arsenal's first-choice left back. In the season 2007-2008, Clichy was selected in the PFA Team of the Year as left back.

[edit] International career

In 2007 he was called up for the French national squad. He was called up again in January 2008, for the French game against Spain, and the 5 February 2008 B friendly against Congo DR.[3] Despite an excellent season with Arsenal, Clichy was omitted form Raymond Domenech’s provisional Euro 2008 France squad[1]

[edit] Near death experience

In his early years, after climbing over a metal fence, a ring he was wearing got caught and tore his finger off.[4] He had a seven-hour operation to sew it back on, but during the operation, his heart stopped beating due to a problem with his lungs. After 15 seconds it restarted and, thankfully, he recovered. Doctors described it as a "miracle" that Clichy survived. His mother had the resources to help him recover after years of experience in medical school as a nurse.

[edit] Style of play

Clichy is one of the most attacking full backs in the Premier League. As one of the fastest players in the Premiership, he is never hesitant to overlap his left midfielder, usually Tomáš Rosický, and join in with the attack. Gaël contributes to a lot of goals via crosses from advanced positions on the left wing. His dribbling has improved immensely since his arrival at Arsenal and the natural width provided by himself is indispensable in helping Arsenal to attack.

Defensively, Clichy has matured with every match. His electrifying pace and energy gives him the ability to dispossess the attacker of the ball at the first opportunity possible. He has been known to totally shut down his side of the field to opponents' attack. He is the only Arsenal player to have played in every Premier League match in the 2007–08 season so far, and is known affectionately by Arsenal fans as "Mr Consistent"[citation needed]. He frequently tops the Opta statistics for best defenders in the Premiership. Arsenal fans nickname him "Gaelforce" because of his pace[citation needed].He also has had a popular song created for him by the Arsenal fans Gael Clichy,Clichy He's better then ashley,He shoulda been number 3 Gael Clichy,Clichy.

[edit] Career honours

Arsenal

  • Winner
    • FA Premier League Winner: 2003–04
    • FA Cup: 2004–05
  • Runner-up
    • Champions League Runner-Up: 2005–06

Personal

PFA Team of The Year: 2007–08 he plays for arsenal

[edit] Arsenal career statistics

(correct as of 13 May 2008)
Club Season League Cup[5] Europe Total
Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists
Arsenal 2003-04 12 0 0 9 0 - 1 0 - 22 0 -
2004-05 15 0 0 7 0 - 2 0 - 24 0 -
2005-06 7 0 0 0 0 - 4 0 - 11 0 -
2006-07 27 0 1 7 0 0 6 0 0 40 0 1
2007-08 38 0 5 1 0 0 10 0 1 49 0 6
Career totals 99 0 6 24 0 0 23 0 1 146 0 7

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Gael Clichy Profile. Sky Sports. Retrieved on 2008-04-03.
  2. ^ Clichy excels in Cole role - Football News - Telegraph
  3. ^ (French) List of the pre-selected players in the French A-squad in the season 2007-2008.
  4. ^ Clichy excels in Cole role - Football News - Telegraph
  5. ^ Includes FA Cup, League Cup and FA Community Shield

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Arsenal F.C. – current squad

1 Lehmann • 2 Diaby • 3 Sagna • 4 Fàbregas • 5 Touré • 6 Senderos • 7 Rosický • 9 Eduardo • 10 Gallas • 11 van Persie • 13 Hleb • 15 Denílson • 17 Song • 19 Gilberto • 20 Djourou • 21 Fabiański • 22 Clichy • 24 Almunia • 25 Adebayor • 26 Bendtner • 27 Eboué • 30 Traoré • 31 J. Hoyte • 32 Walcott • 34 Gibbs • 35 Nordtveit • 36 Randall • 37 Rodgers • 38 Simpson • 39 Lansbury • 40 Mannone • 41 G. Hoyte • 42 Mérida • 43 Barazite • 44 Ogogo • 45 Dunne • 46 Gilbert • 47 Steer • –– Ramsey • –– Vela • Manager: Wenger


Persondata
NAME Clichy, Gaël
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Clichy, Gaël
SHORT DESCRIPTION Professional footballer
DATE OF BIRTH 1985-07-26
PLACE OF BIRTH Toulouse, France
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH