Premier League - Gallas: Arsenal in civil war

Eurosport - Fri, 21 Nov 07:57:00 2008

Arsenal captain William Gallas has revealed serious disunity within the squad and said that the team are not brave enough to win the Premier League title.

2008-2009 Arsenal William Gallas - 0

In a frank interview Gallas took the rare step of going public with his frustration at a series of bust-ups within the Emirates Stadium dressing-room.

The Frenchman said that a team-mate had insulted him during a match and he did not want to take the blame for the constant friction at Arsenal.

"When, as captain, some players come up to you and talk to you about a player ... complaining about him ... and then during the match you speak to this player and the player in question insults us," Gallas told AP.

"There comes a time where we can no longer comprehend how this can happen.

"I am trying to defend myself a bit without giving names. Otherwise I'm taking it all (the blame). It's very frustrating," he said.

"I'm 31, the player is six years younger than me." The 25-year-olds in the Arsenal squad are Robin van Persie, Emmanuel Eboue, Bacary Sagna and Eduardo da Silva, who has been out injured since February.

Another incident occurred during the recent 4-4 draw at home to North London rivals Tottenham, in which Arsenal surrendered a two-goal lead in the dying minutes.

Gallas said that divisions in the squad could damage their quest for silverware.

"There was a problem at halftime. The only thing that I could say at halftime was 'Guys, we resolve these problems after the match, not at half-time.'

"We have to understand that to be champions, you have to play big matches every weekend and fight. We are coming up against teams who are not scared to play football against us, who are not scared to take us on at our place, and this is becoming dangerous for Arsenal.

"We are not brave enough in battle. I think we need to be soldiers. We have to be warriors. There are teams who can do it well against us, and we have to be able to face up to these attacks."

He said that Arsenal lost 2-0 at home to Aston Villa last Saturday, a week after beating Manchester United, because they did not play as a team.

"Maybe, against Manchester, it was the whole team that fought for victory," Gallas said.

"But when you stop fighting together, there comes a time when the midfield will sink, the defenders, unfortunately, can also sink. That's what happened against Villa."

Gallas's captaincy has come under fire since his furious 'sit-in' on the pitch at St. Andrew's after last season's 2-2 draw against Birmingham City.

His latest comments will embarrass manager Arsene Wenger and do little to endear him to his team-mates, who may be surprised that their skipper has chosen to share dressing-room secrets while attempting - by his own admission - to deflect blame away from himself.

Alex Chick / Eurosport

Comment 137 - 156 of 176

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  1. Gallas has spelt-out the problem with Arsenal.Some players are not putting reasonable effort for the sake of the team and want Gallas to bare the blame. Mr.Wenger, What are u going to do about this?

    From enyegu, on Fri 21 Nov 6:24AM

  2. when pigs fly, Arsenal will be a great euopean club and why not let's dream win the champions' league. MANCHESTER UNITED IS FOREVER THE BEST TEAM.

    From chris b, on Fri 21 Nov 6:00AM

  3. the captain is speaking the truth. Most fans hate to be told the truth. The problem with arsenal is not the captain but a few elements like Adebayor, Van persie and Bendtner who just cant score nor do they have the urge to score. Wenger should luk 4 more aggressive strikers like VELA, Simpson and walcott.

    From kamauwalter, on Fri 21 Nov 5:47AM

  4. keep trying young guns?oooooooooh ooooooooooooh ooooooooooh

    From Andrew, on Fri 21 Nov 5:47AM

  5. @#$% ARSENAL

    From magnus j, on Fri 21 Nov 5:37AM

  6. squirmyroot27 how much you cretin

    From balkinsnet, on Fri 21 Nov 5:26AM

  7. The Arsenal is not for those who are not our members or fans. So let us sit and discuss our problems among ourselves. Forget about Gallas, Wenger or Van Persie.

    From sofo, on Fri 21 Nov 5:16AM

  8. The Arsenal is not for those who are not our members or fans. So let us sit and discuss our problems among ourselves. Forget about Gallas, Wenger or Van Persie.

    From sofo, on Fri 21 Nov 5:16AM

  9. squirmyroot27, where did you grow up, probably a good 5 hrs from Manc town.
    PR!CK

    From sven.iversen@..., on Fri 21 Nov 4:57AM

  10. Man Utd forever, Arsenal who is what well be asking in a few seasons, wenger wont see the season out!!! ill put money on it!!!

    From squirmyroot27, on Fri 21 Nov 4:52AM

  11. Hey there. THIS WAS THE ONLY PROBLEM WHY ARSENAL NEVER EVER GOT CHEMPIONS LEGUE TITLE. THE TEAM IS OUT OF SOUL - for VICTORY. IT is one of the best in terms of technics and organization, but always LACK of BRAVE to win!!!!!!!!! Gallas is ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. There were four gyus always trying to win - Gallas,Toure, Fabregas and Hleb, Hleb has left, the three. All other palyers play for the club because this their job!!! @#$% walcot, van persia, denilson, and OF COURSE Wenger. Arsen - is not the person to lead the team any more. He is brave, i agree to get the youngs and to procced. but he is @#$% too bad physcologist to unite the team for GREAT Victories.

    From muhsinjon, on Fri 21 Nov 4:50AM

  12. arsenal - gallas = victory

    From puva, on Fri 21 Nov 4:20AM

  13. osita marc you have absolutely no fukin clue what you are talking about. gilberto cant exactly captain arsenal when he doesnt play for them anymore! how about getting your facts right before commenting?

    From mike s, on Fri 21 Nov 4:14AM

  14. Guys we need to get rid of Gallas , if hes the captain taking truth is good not with media. coz others teams listen and read then they try to rip arsenal off.... we need to have toure or fab as the captain..... not gallas wenger's biggest mistake ever was as soon gallas come give him the captaincy. there are other players... why we holdind our VICE CAPTAIN on the bench... thatz mad........... we need more players with experience and who know the team work.. coz of gallas we can loose more players.....

    From lata_arsenal, on Fri 21 Nov 4:05AM

  15. I'm not Gunners fan but Wenger's greatest mistake.... GALLAS. Can't you just stick with English players.

    From raymand_78, on Fri 21 Nov 3:42AM

  16. and i lay a lil blame on Wenger its him who decided gallas as a captain. then he sould do something about this.
    if it was Ferguson, i think he wouldnt let this happened.

    From Lily Jadore, on Fri 21 Nov 2:54AM

  17. robin van persie. a trouble maker. i think he sould show more respect for gallas as long as hes a captain. if there are some issues and the all arsenal players want new captain they need to talk seriously. now is no good. arsenal are too young all might be thinking they are the best and better than the others. they need to fix it. and need a stronger captain to lead.

    From Lily Jadore, on Fri 21 Nov 2:38AM

  18. Well as an ARSENAL fan I will like to say I was disappointed with Gallas's statement if indeed he did say them,lets hope the greatest coach in the WORLD will take note and know how to sanction him,Patrick Viera is French and he captained us excellently well so I believe Gallas has his own demon or vendetta he has not achieved and he should stop using ARSENAL FC to do it.

    From athleticzeus71, on Fri 21 Nov 2:03AM

  19. You all idiots!! Gallas has all the right to say the truth about those young pride morons who think they are the big shots. Persie is the BIGGEST F+++++ EVER I would love to beat the @#$% out of him - arrogant selfish prig!!!

    From Mirek P, on Fri 21 Nov 1:39AM

  20. I MISS THE OLD ARSENAL, IT USE TO BE REALLY FUN, BUT NOW IT LOOKS LIKE IT WILL END IN TEARS AGAIN, WHAT KIND OF LEADER WOULD TELL IS ARMY THAT THEY CANNOT DO IT? GALLAS IS NOT FIT TO LEAD ARSENAL. I AM VERY CONFIDENT THAT WITH THE RIGHT LEADER WE CAN DO IT, YES WE CAN, HOWEVER WHAT I KNOW IS THAT THIS HAS NEVER BEEN ABOUT GALLAS, ITS ABOUT US THE FUNS AND WITH OR WITH OUT GALLAS, I WILL STAND FOR ARSENAL ALL THE WAY. YES WE CAN.

    From Wilson-M, on Fri 21 Nov 1:32AM
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