Premier League - Gallas loses captaincy

Eurosport - Sat, 22 Nov 10:34:00 2008

William Gallas has been stripped of the Arsenal captaincy and has not travelled with the squad for Saturday's match at Manchester City.

FOOTBALL 2007/08 Premier League William Gallas - 0

France Football report that France international Gallas, 31, has been dropped by Gunners manager Arsene Wenger after revealing comments the defender made about disharmony within the squad.

The respected news source also claims that either goalkeeper Manuel Almunia or full-back Gael Clichy will captain the side at the City of Manchester Stadium.

Gallas revealed in an interview earlier in the week several incidents where he has had arguments on the pitch and in the dressing room during matches, including at half-time during the 4-4 draw with local rivals Tottenham Hotspur in October.

"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.

Those revelations from the centre-back - who arrived from Chelsea in 2006 as part of the deal that saw Ashley Cole move to west London - were then followed the release of a part of his autobiography detailing a row with a young member of the France squad during Les Bleus's failed Euro 2008 finals campaign.

Gallas wrote: "I was also 20 years old once. I would never have allowed myself to speak in this tone to a footballer who was older than me.

"The youngsters from the Euros seem cheeky, very sure of themselves. They think they know it all, but they don't know anything.

"Faced with his contempt, I raised my voice. The young player said: 'Lower your voice, speak less loudly'.

"I replied: 'How are you speaking to me? Who do you think you are? You are only 20 years old. I am not your friend.

"He said: 'Me neither, I am not your friend'."

Gallas was made club captain following the departure of Thierry Henry during the summer of 2007.

His captaincy was called into question the following February at St Andrews when - following striker Eduardo sustaining a horrific broken ankle and James McFadden's last-gasp penalty securing a 2-2 draw for Birmingham - Gallas slumped down in the centre circle at the final whistle and remained sat there, visibly upset.

Tony Mabert / Eurosport

Comment 109 - 128 of 168

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  1. i like Arsenal because is not much english about this­ team

    From baltykshop, on Sat 22 Nov 7:46AM

  2. k toure should be the leader

    From zlex99, on Sat 22 Nov 7:34AM

  3. gallas should be stripped of the captaincy, it should­ of gone to someone else at the start of the season­ after his outburst`s from last year! Critisising team­ mates publicly, tantrums on the pitch, not to mention­ the amount of goals we`ve conceded thanks to many of­ his mistakes, i think he`ll be offloaded in january,­ frankly good ridance! wenger needs to take some of the­ blame gallas was always contraversial and he knew that!­ But anyone saying wenger needs to go, knows nothing­ about football!! up the gunners

    From slattersteve, on Sat 22 Nov 7:32AM
  4. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    does anybody really care, (you are just a french­ reserve team, with the occasional foreigner) and you­ will win nothing anyway, also you have nobody with the­ cojones to be a true skipper, maybe you could try­ buying an English (shock horror) player.

    From Kevin, on Sat 22 Nov 7:09AM

  5. I am an Arsenal fan, but not Gallas, i even prefer the­ young Djrou to him in that position, nevertheless, i­ appreciate his courage for voicing out, this must have­ been going on for long and it's better for him to­ loose his position as captain rather than to be a­ target all the time.

    From abbey c, on Sat 22 Nov 7:07AM

  6. Arsenal manager.. Arsene Wenger is the problem behind­ Arsenal Rings, bcos he has turn d club into a National­ team hehe by Giving the catain to a worthless player­ who is not even worth being an assistant captain.. I­ wonder how many Goals Manchester City will beat the­ gooners.. You better go and coach the championship­ side..

    From sammywealth, on Sat 22 Nov 7:00AM
  7. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Or is it a @#$% South London pub team that moved to­ North London.

    From derek, on Sat 22 Nov 6:52AM

  8. This was long overdue. Clichy for captain on doubt.

    From Wilfred, on Sat 22 Nov 6:51AM

  9. Almunia captain
    Toure vice captain.

    From Araw, on Sat 22 Nov 6:50AM

  10. Gallas was a blinding defender at Chelsea alongside­ John Terry, maybe he made a big mistake and went to a­ @#$% North London Pub Team

    From derek, on Sat 22 Nov 6:49AM
  11. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Omar, quickly marry Kathy. She got 2 big cities for­ you.

    From Tan, on Sat 22 Nov 6:29AM

  12. Hi,
    I have been a Gunners fan since i started following­ EPL. I have enjoyed their style of playing and yes,­ disappointed with their results in the past few years.­
    They lack the experience needed to tide over tough­ situations. While there are outstanding young­ performers in the team, they need to be balanced by the­ tougher experienced players.
    Looking at Gallas­ outbursts, we could easily infer that he is not fit to­ be a captain, he has not handled the situations­ properly......
    But could he have made this outburst­ because he lacked support both from the team and from­ the Manager? That undermines the authority and that­ could have been premepted by removing him at the­ beginning of this season itself, based on his last­ season's performances.

    From Sathya Karthik, on Sat 22 Nov 6:15AM

  13. i think toure are the better person to replace­ gallas...

    From PaAn, on Sat 22 Nov 6:13AM

  14. Gallas is great, good on him for talking out about the­ rifts, now that its in the open maybe something can­ happen and they can get adressed. I still think dumping­ him as captain is a bad decision tho.

    From christiankemp1, on Sat 22 Nov 5:14AM

  15. Gallas is great, good on him for talking out about the­ rifts, now that its in the open maybe something can­ happen and they can get adressed. I still think dumping­ him as captain is a bad decision tho.

    From christiankemp1, on Sat 22 Nov 5:14AM

  16. Thankyou Gallas. here is a guy thats obviously realised­ he can't/shouldn't continue as captain. Gallas­ knew all to well an outburst about problems within the­ club would result in him losing his captancy, or worse.­ Lets hope any problems a fixed as soon as possible and­ Wenger makes 2 world class signings in the tranfer­ window, DM & new CB please.

    From streaky24, on Sat 22 Nov 4:54AM

  17. Right decision. He shouldn't have been picked as a­ captain in the first place. Fabregas is still too young­ for the job. Manual Almunia should be the guy.

    From Tim, on Sat 22 Nov 4:54AM

  18. i think,for the good and future of the clue,Callas­
    shuld drop the captancy to fabricas.

    From bonchima, on Sat 22 Nov 4:13AM

  19. i think,for the good and future of the clue,Callas­
    shuld drop the captancy to fabricas.

    From bonchima, on Sat 22 Nov 4:11AM

  20. i love it.

    From Dani, on Sat 22 Nov 3:48AM
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