I am not an Arsenal supporter and, equally, I don’t particularly dislike them either. I do seem to have written about them much more than any other club so far this season though. It isn’t always about the fabulous style of football that manager Arsene Wenger has got them playing either. It is often about other stories that come so regularly from behind the scenes in North London.
‘All for one and one for all’
It is a fact that Arsenal just have so many characters who are easy to write about. What they do and what they say are very often worth watching and listening to. The ‘all for one and one for all’ attitude that you see at Old Trafford, Anfield and Stamford Bridge seems to be sadly lacking at The Emirates.
None of the players, staff or management at The Emirates exemplify this lack of team spirit or ‘sticking together’ nature more than captain William Gallas. He is rarely far from the news with his actions and words and I would imagine that sections of the tabloid press just follow him about, as they know that sooner or later they will get something interesting.
Not brave enough
In his latest appearance on the back pages of all the newspapers, the French defender has warned Arsenal’s young stars, his team-mates of course, that they are “not brave enough” to challenge for this season’s Premier League title.
“We are not brave enough in battle. I think we need to be soldiers. To be champions, you have to play big matches every weekend and fight.”
The thirty-one year old French international was talking in the wake of Saturday’s 2-0 defeat by Aston Villa. That made it four league defeats already this season and leaves Arsenal some nine points behind the leaders, Chelsea and Liverpool.
Speaking to the Associated Press, Gallas said,
“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 have to be warriors. That is how the team will forge their character and experience.”
Whilst it is difficult to disagree the with the sentiment that Gallas is trying to put over here, it is somewhat difficult to reconcile that sentiment with what he went on to say. To develop a tight and disciplined dressing room and a togetherness amongst the team, the one thing you must never do is to discuss internal problems in public.
In typical Gallas fashion he talked about disharmony in the dressing room,
“There was a problem at half-time of the 4-4 draw with Tottenham. The only thing that I could say at half-time was ‘guys, we resolve these problems after the match, not at halftime’.”
Gallas went on to say that on another occasion some Arsenal players had been insulted by one of their own team-mates.
“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, 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 all the blame. I’m 31, the player is six years younger than me.”
What Gallas didn’t say of course was that these type of incidents happen at every club in almost every game. What happens elsewhere is that the players, captain and management deal with it and channel the energy that is developed as a result into making the team work harder and fight for each other rather than against each other.
Long line
This is the latest of a long line of incidents involving Gallas since he took on the captaincy and his days of wearing the armband must be numbered. In playing terms, he seems to have forgotten that it was him that couldn’t get to Agbonlahor or get the ball off him for Villa’s decisive goal at the weekend.
He recently came under severe personal scrutiny after being photographed leaving a nightclub in the early hours with a cigarette in his mouth.
And he was also famously ridiculed following his show of emotion at the end of his side’s 2-2 draw with Birmingham City last season .
Gallas went on to say that Arsenal need to win something this season. He did so without managing to avoid slagging off some of his team-mates again though!
“I have to win something this year. I have to win something, Arsenal has to win something. It’s four or five years since Arsenal won anything – 2004 the league title. That’s nearly five years, and that’s not good. Big contracts make the difference, perhaps. You can rest on your laurels, that’s for sure.”
Should be a fun atmosphere at the training ground today then!
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