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 117 - 136 of 176

Sort comments by: Most recent

  1. what Gallas said was right...they are not brave enough­ to win the Premier League title.
    Ar'sengal' is­ a good team with many young talented­ players..........BUT they are too YOUNG n have not much­ experience unlike Man utd, etc other big­ club........... MAN UTD FOREVER!!!!!!!

    From Arif, on Fri 21 Nov 1:29AM
  2. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    I'm a lovely cheerleader with beautiful blue lips­ and ..... ok so I'm Ashley Cole ok I admit it (kiss­ me, Joe..........) xxxx

    From Gerwen Arenas, on Fri 21 Nov 1:02AM

  3. people can we think of who to replace him when the­ bandi staking off him cos i don't see noone doing­ it they all so young that they are easily proned to­ getting into a fight looking at the picture i think he­ was moaning at Clichy for the own goal but as a leader­ win or lose encouragement is the key to succcess. If­ arsenal is to become big new and experienced players­ should be bought thogh we say children are the future­ leaders not when u are part of the top. any retail­ assistant here please introduce Wenger to mix and­ match(adults with experience and kids). GOD BE WITH­ ARSENAL THOUGH AM A MAN U SUPPORTER. LONG LIVE MAN U­ LONG LIVE OUR WINNING WAYS PEACE

    From kweku, on Fri 21 Nov 12:27AM

  4. Cmon Lads !

    Toure for Captaincy...What ya all say ?

    From The Professor, on Fri 21 Nov 12:18AM

  5. we need del piero...

    From Unknown U, on Fri 21 Nov 12:07AM

  6. I really wonder how Arsenal supporters will treat­ Gallas in the next game in Emirates Stadium. Because in­ Turkey if a captain speaks in such a way to the press­ (no matter he is right or wrong), he will not even dare­ to step onto the pitch on next game.

    From ONURE, on Thu 20 Nov 11:16PM

  7. the arsenal dressing room should replace the Larger­ Hadron Collider as a creator of BLACK holes. I hope the­ disappear up their own backsides.

    From GARY, on Thu 20 Nov 11:07PM

  8. Are all French players le sulk? They have bottom lips­ like a snow ploughs! Cheer up! Your on thousands a­ week!

    From D, on Thu 20 Nov 11:00PM

  9. its no surprise that players are arguing at arsenal.two­ of the players aint pulling there weight.walcott and­ bendtner,walcott is to gready you can see the­ frustration on players faces when he tries to take­ every player on then goes and loses it.he is overated­ all he can do is run fast,nicklas bendtner is the­ second player who aint up to much he as had enough­ chances now,i think its time he moved aside and let­ vella have a go..i no its not nice to say but im­ pleased walcott is injured i bet arsenal start doing­ better now because everybody else at the club passes­ the ball all the time..

    From d b, on Thu 20 Nov 10:46PM

  10. everybody keep talking sh******t about gallas,the­ problem with arsenal is mr wenger....he single handdly­ gave a new player a captian when there are players like­ kolo toure and gilberto in the team,he wenger has no­ repect for the arsenal players........gallas is doing­ all he can to be a very good lead but he is new and the­ guys cant accept that...never!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    From osita, on Thu 20 Nov 10:45PM

  11. and by good im not being sarcastic

    From llxll_wesley_aka_twes_llxll, on Thu 20 Nov 10:41PM

  12. That's what happens when you put a bunch of­ 'good' kids together everyone of them thinks­ they can run the show

    From llxll_wesley_aka_twes_llxll, on Thu 20 Nov 10:40PM

  13. No Professionalism shown by Gallas, this is something­ that happens at all the clubs during tough times (As­ recently experianced by Arsenal with the 4-4 draw­ against Tottenham etc etc)
    During these times problems­ are resloved within not by airing you laundry to the­ neighbours.
    Weak Club Captain at Arsenal compounding­ their indifferences.
    Come on Arsenal move the band away­ from Gallas.

    From Joe, on Thu 20 Nov 10:31PM

  14. Is it me or is football a joke right now . stop going­ dont encourage these idiots

    From Glenn T, on Thu 20 Nov 10:25PM

  15. gallas has done something bad,irritating and he has­ given the others club the confidence to playy and beat­ us i mean even eyinmba will not fear us.i regreted the­ day we swap gallas 4 ashley cole .old gunners kudos to­ you.bad leader leads to bad team except the team can­ dismmis him.arsenal is weak common wake up

    From Menmento, on Thu 20 Nov 10:12PM

  16. Williams his not the chap to be blamed....The­ unification among the club is no more there....All the­ club need at the moment is....RE-SHAPE...
    ARSENAL....

    From Semmy, on Thu 20 Nov 10:01PM

  17. What kind of proffesional is Gallas? Captains should­ not be broadcasting this kind of stuff, he should be­ stripped of his captaincy for this.

    From Skittles, on Thu 20 Nov 9:44PM

  18. Gallas = idiot. How that emotional wet towel is captain­ at arsenal beyond me. He should have been stripped of­ the captaincy after his hissy fit against Birmingham­ City last season.

    From Brian, on Thu 20 Nov 9:41PM

  19. FrantK McClintock, Tony Adams, Patrick Viera.....those­ were real Arsenal captains. How did that whining @#$%­ Gallas ever make captain?

    From bill b, on Thu 20 Nov 9:38PM

  20. I WONDER WHAT ARSENE WENGER IS DOING KEEPING GALLAS IN­ THAT POSITION OF CAPTAIN AND EVEN IN THE SQUAD. I HOPE­ HE OFFLOAD HIM IN JANUARY WHILES SHORING UP THE­ DEFENCE, MIDFIELD AND EXPANDING THE SIZE OF THE SQUAD­ AS A WHOLE WITH MORE EXPERIENCED AND PROMISING PLAYERS.­ ANOTHER FAILED SEASON COULD SEE PLAYERS LIKE FABREGAS­ RETHINKING THEIR FUTURE, AND I HOPE WENGER REALIZES­ THAT.
    FIVE YEARS WITHOUT SILVERWARE IS AS BAD AS IT­ GETS.

    From sampson, on Thu 20 Nov 9:33PM
Sort comments by: Most recent

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account