Gerard was another waste of money, considering he was a cantenaro and was let go by Barca, so after one good season with Valencia you decided he was good enough. He was crap.
As I believed I said on here when you got Christanval many Barca fans I spoke to at that time thought you had signed the next Thuram
Petit and Zambrotta weren't bad deals at that time. Now don't get me wrong they weren't great deals, but they were not the worst either. Petit gave you a good couple of years and was a steady influence in central midfield.
At the time you signed Zambrotta, many people, including myself thought he was the best left back in the world. His first year wasn't that bad, though his second was. But he had pedigree and was a magnificent full back on his day.