“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’.”
OK. What other response do you think “I am not your friend” gets you? Is the 20 year old going to say “I’m sorry, I thought you were my Christmas tree.”
Gallas just revealed his thin skin towards the French team.
Gallas would only say it was a player whose name began with “S” and there is buzz in the media that it might be Samir Nasri who is now a team mate at Arsenal. So much for building team confidence.
The rant against his Arsenal team mates is even more disturbing. He is obviously trying to deflect criticism from his less than inspirational captaincy. You can question the effort of some of the younger players and motivate them without tattling to the media about specific examples. Now the media circus is jumping all over this story. An educated guess and we come to the conclusion that it must be RVP who gave Gallas the figurative finger. If Gallas has a sense of entitlement that comes with his age, RVP has a sense of entitlement. Period. But RVP has been at Arsenal a lot longer and in that sense should be considered a co-equal of Gallas. Plus, if you are a smart captain you can get prima donnas on board. Massage their egos and talk about their indispensability.
Wenger has made mistakes with his choice of captains in recent seasons. Thierry Henry was too aloof and non-committal while Gallas is a blowhard who acts out quite a bit. He should have been stripped of his captaincy after his meltdown in the Birmingham match in February but Wenger decided to go with him because, well, there are very few choices left after Gallas. Remember Gallas also sought his way out from Chelsea because he could not get on with John Terry and the Chelsea management, so this stuff is par for the course with him.
Does this make Gallas want to stay on at Arsenal and fight after accusing his team mates of having no heart? No. He has already started making noises about wanting out.
If Arsenal rights the ship these will just be distractions but Wenger has to make a choice. He cannot be too happy about Gallas outburst towards the players. A number of former players are also coming out with their disapproval. Does he finally strip Gallas of his captaincy? I think he should.
The shortlist is very short. Does he give it to Fabregas? No, because the Catalan has been struggling with form and he needs to concentrate on getting it back. Without him as a catalyst Arsenal loses its attacking flow. To burden him with this additional responsibility during these trying times might be too much. Then there is Toure. I have always liked him. He is a veteran and well respected at Arsenal. He is low key and uncontroversial who manages to get along with his team mates. And he has an advantage as a defender. As a captain he might find his voice. Now, if he can only resolve his injury problems.