Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack can understand why William Gallas spoke out against his Arsenal teammates.

"The young players who are coming through are different," he told the Sunday Times. "When I was a young player of 20, I was different from what I am at 32. But as a captain you have to be able to put yourself in the position of the younger players, how they are feeling. They tend to speak more.

"Maybe there is today more equality and not such a hierarchy. Maybe it's better being a young kid now. When I grew up it was different. You looked up to the older ones; you didn't talk to them a lot when they were in their group together. That was normal."