Ars is the most OVERRATED club.
They can kiss goodbye for this season. Try again next season.
WHAT A BUNCH OF WHINERS AND LOSERS WE HAVE AT THE EMIRATES!!
THIS COMING FROM CAPTAIN BOO HOO HOO BABY HIMSELF.
Gunners captain demands more courage from his team, saying 'we must be soldiers'
By Jason Burt
Friday, 21 November 2008
It is known that Gallas is still smarting after being attacked for his petulant display during the draw against Birmingham City last season
The sense of an enveloping crisis at Arsenal heightened yesterday with an extraordinary attack on his team-mates by William Gallas who revealed this season had been blighted by in-fighting, insults and young players on big salaries who are not "brave enough in battle".
The central defender risked being stripped of the captaincy – something manager Arsène Wenger has been urged to do in the past given the player's petulant behaviour – but also claimed he was considering quitting the club anyway if a trophy was not won.
Most damagingly of all, Gallas detailed two incidents which demonstrated the rifts that exist within the Arsenal squad – and talked about a player who had verbally abused him. Although Gallas did not reveal a name he offered a clue by saying "I'm 31, the player is six years younger than me". The finger of suspicion was immediately pointed at 25-year-old striker Robin van Persie although Emmanuel Eboué and Bacary Sagna are the same age.
Given that Arsenal are trying to rally themselves from a disappointing start to the season and also the severe blow of losing Theo Walcott to injury for three months, then Gallas's timing could not have been worse. He claimed he was speaking out because "there are things that can't be said and can't be tolerated" and because he is fed up with being criticised himself and accused of being a poor captain.
It is known that Gallas is still smarting after being attacked for his petulant display during the draw against Birmingham City last season in which Eduardo was badly injured and Arsenal's title hopes slipped away. Although he now accepts he was right to be criticised, he also believes the incident is being raked over and was not as bad as the way the unnamed team-mate reacted to him during this campaign.
"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 said. "There comes a time where we can no longer comprehend how this can happen."
Again Gallas would not reveal the player's name, although he said the incident occurred as Arsenal were attacking. "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. Gallas also claimed that he had broken up an argument in the Arsenal dressing room during half-time in the 4-4 draw with Tottenham Hotspur last month. "There was a problem at half-time," Gallas said.
Gallas was speaking in the wake of France's goalless draw against Uruguay on Wednesday evening, in which he played. He went on to accuse Arsenal's much-vaunted youngsters of lacking 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," Gallas said. "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."
Asked if the crop of young players could emulate Manchester United's golden generation of the 1990s, Gallas said: "The problem is the Manchester youngsters have been through something, they've won something." In contrast, he said, Arsenal's players have been rewarded early with lucrative, long-term deals. "That makes the difference, perhaps," he said.
Gallas went on to criticise the midfield – Cesc Fabregas, Denilson, Samir Nasri, Theo Walcott and Abou Diaby – which played in last week's defeat to Aston Villa, contrasting the game with the previous week's victory over United. "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."
Having won two league titles with Chelsea, before leaving after a fall-out, Gallas said: "I have to win something, Arsenal has to win something." Another season without doing so would be a "kind of failure" which would lead to him considering his future. "We will have to see," he said.