Fuming Gallas on red-line with boss…who’s at fault?
By Randy Osae
One name was very informal in Wednesday’s media talks – Gallas, that was. Arsenal’s skipper is now reportedly on the verge of facing scrutiny from Arsene Wenger and club officials about the possession of the captain’s armband after carelessly lifting the lid on the currently worsening turmoil at Arsenal’s ranks.
To the uninformed, Gallas firmly criticized his teammates of being naive, and insisted “to not take all the blame” for Arsenal’s blemishes. Indeed, the most controversial of Gallas’ comments which were published by the Times was his claim that a teammate, “six years younger than him” was in the middle of disputes which notably occurred at the half-time break during the 4-4 draw with Spurs.
The only 25 year-olds in Arsenal’s squad are; Robin Van Persie, Emmanuel Eboue, Eduardo and Bacary Sagna, while Emmanuel Adebayor, who is a few months short of that age at 24, could be counted. So the math can be variously done about who Gallas was blaming here.
Gallas’ comments were much diverse and intense. And his only savior at the moment could be misquotation by his interviewer after duty with France, but the simple note is; a close source to Arsenal’s first-team has revealed Wenger’s disciplinary plans against the captain and the manager’s stopping of any other scheduled meetings with the media on Gallas’ agenda.
It remains unlikely that Wenger will strip Gallas of the armband. Arsenal’s French boss usually insists such changes can cause instability in the squad, but while Gallas may stay as the leader, it’s very conspicuous that there are patches to fix at Arsenal.
What could also be wrong would be the misinterpretation of Gallas’ surrender to clear the slate after unending bashing since been assigned the captaincy at the beginning of last season. Arsenal’s problems on the pitch do not directly string to just leadership – some sluggishness on it by the whole team and the supposed disharmony off it, might be what should be dissected well.