Just gets worse and worse for Arsenal :)

[Elvoz]

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger will not strip William Gallas of the captaincy following his outburst about his team-mates' lack of courage. (The Guardian)

Or, yes he will - but not before the Gunners' game against Manchester City on Sunday. (The Times)

a no brainer

[Matt]

Arsenal lack grit and a top keeper. Can't see anything wrong with what Gallas had said although I'm sure everyone associated with Arsenal would have preferred it not to have been aired in public.

Do they even have another candidate for captain?

[Elvoz]

Arsenal lack grit and a top keeper. Can't see anything wrong with what Gallas had said although I'm sure everyone associated with Arsenal would have preferred it not to have been aired in public.

Do they even have another candidate for captain?

really ?
would you appreciate your captain giving out what goes on in the dressing room ?
why does he need to go public at all

[Dessy]

Arsenal lack grit and a top keeper. Can't see anything wrong with what Gallas had said although I'm sure everyone associated with Arsenal would have preferred it not to have been aired in public.

Do they even have another candidate for captain?

Arsenal lack leadership and have done for some time now.

Gallas' is not captain material. Organise, galvanise, lead by example?

I don't think theres anyone there who jumps out as true captain material maybe Silvestre if not a little too early in his Arsenal career?

[dom9]

I have slightly mixed views on Gallas as a captain. He clearly has the respect of the players at Arsenal and they in general listen to him and he has united them as a group. However when they as a team or him as an individual come under real pressure and things go against them he seems to fall apart somewhat.

To be honest I think people on here read too much into what out players say on a lot of occasions. In this case though I think that criticism is justified. Why defend yourself and not the team in an interview. The failure to name the player but giving hints such as the age. It seems really poor form. I'm not sure that airing issues is always a bad thing but in this case the way it has been done seems to be totally counter productive.

I think that it is too early to talk of teams being out of contention for the title, even if they are a long way behind. On the other hand I think that what I think are systematic problems in the Arsenal team and they are being exposed at the minute.

10 points behind at this stage of the season can be made up. But to overhaul Chelsea, United and Liverpool is just too much. We have been in this situation countless times in previous years, and even with title winning form from January onwards, the gap hasn't narrowed enough to catch up properly.

[Matt]

Read the rest of the sentence!

At least arguments in the dressing room mean there's a bit of passion. The bust-up was widely reported after the game anyway and he didn't name names.

He wouldn't be the first player to refuse to comment on his future either.

[Matt]

Arsenal lack leadership and have done for some time now.

Gallas' is not captain material. Organise, galvanise, lead by example?

I don't think theres anyone there who jumps out as true captain material maybe Silvestre if not a little too early in his Arsenal career?

He's not an ideal captain, true but there really isn't anyone else. I suppose Fabregas would get the nod if Gallas lost it.

I wonder if Wenger regrets selling Diarra.

[dom9]

Read the rest of the sentence!

At least arguments in the dressing room mean there's a bit of passion. The bust-up was widely reported after the game anyway and he didn't name names.

He wouldn't be the first player to refuse to comment on his future either.

I did, and I am still writing them off as title contenders. They have no chance now.

[Matt]

I did, and I am still writing them off as title contenders. They have no chance now.

Sorry mate I was replying to vozzie - didn't expect such a plethora of posts whilst I was typing

You're right though, they won't do anything this season. Their problems aren't dissimilar to those of Spurs.

[dom9]

Sorry mate I was replying to vozzie - didn't expect such a plethora of posts whilst I was typing

You're right though, they won't do anything this season. Their problems aren't dissimilar to those of Spurs.

Ah right.

[Joe Le Toff]

Gallas gave this interview just as his autbiography was released in France.

Timely coincidence

[dww]

10 points behind at this stage of the season can be made up. But to overhaul Chelsea, United and Liverpool is just too much. We have been in this situation countless times in previous years, and even with title winning form from January onwards, the gap hasn't narrowed enough to catch up properly.

I kind of agree (although it is only 9 points ) but I actually think we will see more points lost by teams over the season. Unlike last season when United and Chelsea looked like inevitable winners I think all of the top three have shown obvious weaknesses (although fewer teams seem to have tried to exploit those of Chelsea so far with the exception of ourselves and Wigan who were very unlucky against them). At this point Arsenal can make that gap up by winning all their games in the mini-league and therefore I don't think you can discount them even if they are by far and away the worst bet of the top four to win the league.

[Roboklopp]

Dunno- I think they really overachieved last season. Since then, thy've lost some important players.

Also, I think they will chuck away plenty more stoopid points this season.

[Dessy]

He's not an ideal captain, true but there really isn't anyone else. I suppose Fabregas would get the nod if Gallas lost it.

I wonder if Wenger regrets selling Diarra.

Possibly, but I would imagine the loss of Flamini is one that he may come to regret more?

[dww]

Dunno- I think they really overachieved last season. Since then, thy've lost some important players.

Also, I think they will chuck away plenty more stoopid points this season.

I think they actually underachieved last year in some ways. That team was immensely talented and Flamini knitted it together brilliantly. The reaction of the team to the Birmingham match and losing Eduardo killed them for me. United and Chelsea's poor starts should have allowed Arsenal to win the league all three teams were of comparable quality in my view.

Possibly, but I would imagine the loss of Flamini is one that he may come to regret more?

Losing Flamini and not replacing him has been a huge problem for Arsenal. For no obvious reason the Goals! where I play on Mondays was showing last seasons Arsenal - United match (2-2) and the while obviously United did better in that game it was largely by luck. The difference between that game and this seasons was immense. The flow was essentially all in Arsenal's control and no play went through the middle of the pitch with Hargreaves and Flamini totally dominant. This seasons game both teams were wide open and it could easily have been 4-4 and the fact you can always attack Arsenal centrally now has been key to the games where they have lost points this season.