Now the rest of the team need to prove themselves
SO Gallas is all but gone. And rightly so.
It’s a big, brave decision by Arsene and an acceptance by a very proud, stubborn man that things have not worked on this particular front.
But let us not kid ourselves Gallas was/is the only problem.
The easy thing now would be for the players to believe everything is fixed. They could dine out on the idea for a while, win a few games but then revert to old ways. Like Spurs players tend to when they sack a manager.
When Gallas questioned the attitude of some of his team-mates we may not have liked it, but it was hard to disagree. That Gallas’ own application has been highly suspect too does not invalidate that point.
So what we need now is for that attitude to change. It requires leadership not just from a new captain, but from the manager too. I can’t help looking at one or two players and wonder if there has been too much indulgence at times from the boss.
It also requires the players to lead for themselves. We have some brilliant, young, dedicated pros. Others need to grow up a little.
Thinking that ditching Gallas solves anything would be the biggest mistake we could make.
21 November 2008 at 8:55 pm
Thank fuck for that! Finally a decision that took balls from AW
A win tomorrow would be a sweet thing indeed.
21 November 2008 at 9:00 pm
Agree. The buck stops with the manager. He made him captain and sent Gilberto packing. We’re washing our dirty laundry in public which is very un-Arsenal. Mentally the team is a weak mess and all the spin from the manager cannot hide that.
21 November 2008 at 9:00 pm
wow…..that was quick…..i certainly didn’t see this happening so soon……and i completely agree…..just ditching gallas solves nothing…..but it sends a strong message…..and if anything the loss of a disruptive influence should help them focus a bit more on the game……
21 November 2008 at 9:03 pm
Gallas is just the beginning of what needs to happen at AFC. This team has proved itself and been found wanting. Wake up.
21 November 2008 at 9:13 pm
Great piece & great comments…
This is a message to the rest of the squad… NOT EVEN THE CAPTAIN IS SAFE!!
Looks like Arsene’ may have FINALLY, had enough!
Don’t about you lot, but I was dreading this game, a few hours ago… NOW, I CAN’T FUCKING WAIT!!! UP THE ARSE!!!
21 November 2008 at 9:47 pm
until it appears on the arsenal website i dont believe a word of it
could be another myles palmer stirred piece of rubbish
21 November 2008 at 9:56 pm
Yikes. It’s more messy than I realised: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/nov/21/arsenal-france
21 November 2008 at 9:58 pm
I can’t see Gallas staying now, but I’m sure that Wenger will make things as smooth as possible in the mean time. Cesc. Kolo, and Gael have Arsenal at heart. Might the decision gee Cesc up?
21 November 2008 at 10:31 pm
Well I’ll be stuffed, Arsene had the courage to do it. Not that that was in question, Arsene has never been scared to be ruthless before, sales of Vieira and Henry entered into evidence.
But, as usual, you are dead right GP, this means nothing if the lads don’t step it up. Let’s hope it revitalises a few of them (Real Cesc back please) and we unearth a real captain. The season is far from lost, let’s get behind our lads and enjoy what will be some good Arsenal moments this year I’m sure. Go you Arsenal.
21 November 2008 at 10:31 pm
We still need another defender and midfieler to compliment Cesc. That’s where the real problem is.
21 November 2008 at 10:41 pm
Good Riddins or however you spell it
21 November 2008 at 11:35 pm
Cesc is the new captain people, its official!
21 November 2008 at 11:35 pm
what arsene wenger should do
1.get rid of gallas,toure and bendtner because in the last two years there performances have been continuously disgusting and make fabregas as captain.
2.buy a world class central defender,defensive midfielder and a top quality winger because the only thing that theo walcott knows is to run apart from that he can do absolutely nothing.
3.wenger should learn from his tactics horrific errors that always play 4-4-2 and never take out your winger when you are losing in the game.
21 November 2008 at 11:54 pm
dont know wat everyone is complaining about. gallas was only saying wat our supporters and other teams are saying . that this team lacks heart and passion for a battle
22 November 2008 at 12:46 am
I reckon that a deal selling Gallas has already occurred or something has happened to take the pressure off of him so that he felt that he could air the team’s dirty laundry…It just seems like a brainless thing to do - Maybe Wenger found out about the biography and took the Captaincy from him days ago - It certainly is coincidental that Djourou and Almunia are bigged up on the Official Site this week and we know how Arsenal are with their PR….
Maybe a bit conspiratorial, but maybe not….
22 November 2008 at 1:17 am
Wenger is so “lucky”; Gallas does him an immense favour by his antics now deflecting attention away from the real reason we are in this predicament. Who made him captain in the first place when we had a perfectly capable and ready made replacement Gilberto? I’m convinced that with him still in the side, we would not have lost to Hull, Stoke and Fulham because his leadership would have pulled us through. I don’t think Gallas did anything really wrong if he was telling the truth and if players are really primadonnas and are not respecting the captain then they are at least just as or even more worthy of punishment. If we want to keep Cesc, let’s make him captain asap and PLEASE, PLEASE sign a GOOD centreback in January to replace Gallas!
22 November 2008 at 3:08 am
Saint, spot on mate, Wenger and others to blame as well, not just Gallas who, like eboue, was given too much responsibility . It could be a cry for help as much as anything. Now we all know what some of us have long suspected - there is a real problem in the side. If the player is who I think it is, rvp, then he should go as well. What is perhaps the worst aspect of this latest drama is that only a major transgression, not keeping locker-room chatter in the locker, was sufficient to get Wenger of his arse.
22 November 2008 at 3:14 am
The problem with the squad extends far beyond Gallas. The youth policy is way over-cooked, tactical blunders, team spirit obviously an issue that may worsen in Gallas’s absence.
22 November 2008 at 5:45 am
haha… i laughed out loud… for i’ve never seen an Arsenal team as weak as this
instead of admitting they are not good enough and weak this season, they try to cover up by making Gallas the scapegoat
instead of tackling the real issue and honestly seeking a solution, they make it like it’s a one person problem
if there is ever one person problem, the source of that problem is Arsene Wenger. His reluctance in getting a workable replacement for a defensive midfielder(which is bloody obvious to everyone on earth except Arsene himself) cost the team dearly. Yet he prefer to indulge in the state of denial, his favourite place for excuses this season.
as much as i hope arsenal would win against man city, i would love to see Arsene reaction if the team were to lose the game
22 November 2008 at 10:52 am
finalli……………Le Boss haz cum 2 his Sensez
Gallas haz fucked d squad up timez wivout numba………….
I’m proud of Arsene Wenger……………….
I now believe d@ he wud bring “World Class” playaz in January
22 November 2008 at 10:56 am
I really hope Arsenal win this game today.
Anything apart from a win will definately put pressure on the team and the glare of UK Press camera on Arsenal. We have problems. That’s been obvious for a while now. Anyone with average intelligence could have figured that out since last season. A lot has been happening in the Arsenal camp for a while now and it’s not Gallas to blame really. I believe heads need to roll. Not just Gallas. The main perpetrator will soon be known because I don’t expect Gallas to keep quiet after getting the boot. There have been a lot of fighting going on unknown to us all and the egos of some of our main performers have been getting the better of them.
22 November 2008 at 11:41 am
Sorry I don’t understand the stick Gallas gets, I’ve never seen him shirk on the pitch despite playing most games with Toure who is too similar his best games have been paired with a big entre back. As for form it goes up and down but then so does it for most players cesc. As for mistakes Clichy and Toure have made as many or more critical mistakes but people don’t run around calling them cunts. Gallas even tried to get the crowd going one of the few that claps after a game despite the stadium beinmg half empty because people like to see the inside of a tube train 5 minutes early.
The problem is Wenger’s failure to blend youth and experience, his experiment is failing and these players will not reach their full potential because they are indulged.
AW tried the nice guy captaincy with Henry who was probably the worst captain we’ve ever had, Gilberto would probably have been more of the same, and Gallas came with the winning mentality from Chelsea which the team needs to learn. Grind out results not play every other game. Look at Liverpool this season they haven’t even started to play well.
22 November 2008 at 11:45 am
Agreed, ‘playa. I wrote this on Arseblog’s arses:
“It’s nothing new that Pyles Malmer talks out of his arse, but he misses the point when he says we shouldn’t make Gallas the scapegoat. Of course he’s not solely to blame for the bad results. However, talking the way Gallas has done the past week is simply unforgivable, in my book, and that’s why he’s now all but gone. Plus, he never cut it as captain. Not when our back was against the wall, anyway. Now, let’s take this as a chance for a new start and go beat Citheh.
COME ON YOU GUNNERS!”
22 November 2008 at 7:51 pm
I hope the Gallas stuff doesnt deflect from the fact that we are shit right now. Gallas should not of gone to the press BUT how much of what he said was true? Wenger bombed out Henry for the same reason its just he didnt go public. Everyone called Henry moody when a WINNER like titi couldnt take the underperformances. Wenger is a nursery school teacher protecting the fragile egos of some crappy overpaid teenagers im pissed. He looks weak spouting the same nonsense every press conference. I think he has pampered these kids and they are disrespectful thinking they made it already. We have not good hungry players we got players who are happy to have a long term contract with a well known club only cesc and clichy, toure have a winning mentality
22 November 2008 at 9:26 pm
“Denilson and Song are, by some distance, the least scary central midfield we have ever had.”
I dunno, I was pretty terrified when I saw them on the team-sheet.
22 November 2008 at 9:28 pm
i felt so ashamed of aresenal today, couldnt believe this was an arsenal team, wanted to satnd up, but couldnt cos i couldnt let my team down. mancity beat arsenal, i would av said not in my life time, but it happened. denilson out of arsenal. we need prayers and we need to start preparing for next season
23 November 2008 at 6:21 pm
gallas is not really a good player anyway