One of the great messages that comes out of the club, and has done for many seasons, is that the squad is unified, is one and is together in their pursuit of honours. We all know that this is a myth to some degree because even the most congenial of settings, a sustained period of harmony is impossible, particularly in a scenario where there is heady combination of egos and testosterone. You accept that but one thing that has happened is that any rows have been kept behind closed doors, dealt with in-house and certainly not played out in the back pages. Not any more.

In bringing a row on the pitch into the back pages, William Gallas has created all sorts of problems for himself as leader, not just in relation to the obvious breach of trust which has happened. Having been the subjected to a media witchhunt, there can be little sympathy for a man who walks around the fire and pours petrol over it. It is impossible to conceive of a way in which he can, in the long-term, the captaincy. I would be surprised if he is not Captain on Saturday simply due to the absences and lack of cover in defence which mean Gallas must play. Once the final whistle has gone, Arsene has a decision to make as to who must replace him, assuming Gallas does not do the honourable thing and hand in his armband before then.

Infuriatingly, Gallas‘ comments are not out of line when he talks of the team’s performance:

We have to understand that to be champions, you have to play big matches every weekend and 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.

He is absolutely correct in his analysis. The problem is the inconsistency being shown by the team. Losing to (with all due respect) teams such as Fulham, Hull, Stoke and Villa as well as dropping points against Sunderland and Tottenham shows that there are weaknesses to be exploited. The run has to end quickly to restore the ‘fear factor’. Observations about fighting, warriors are the perfect words to use. It is a time for the team to win ‘ugly’ which means they still play better football than 90% of the top flight.

This all gets lost in the mire surrounding his comments, widely accepted as being about Robin van Persie. Quite what the Dutchman has said or (not) done to instigate the criticism, I cannot remember. Gallas quotes himself as saying at the interval:

There was a problem at halftime. The only thing that I could say at halftime was ‘Guys, we resolve these problems after the match, not at halftime.’

Quite right too. At half-time, the only thing that should have concerned them was winning the match, not bitching about one player unless their performance was wholly detrimental to the team. It was not given they had clawed themselves back into the game and finished the half on top.

It is not hard to work out why Gallas has made his outburst. He gives the reason himself:

I am trying to defend myself a bit without giving names. Otherwise I’m taking it all (the blame). It’s very frustrating

He is feeling the pressure of the constant criticism of his leadership and his form which is hardly surprising given his culpability in goals conceded this season. Quite what he hoped to achieve is anyone’s guess. Frankly the only outcome is the complete loss of trust from his colleagues. Personally, I have no time for his whining and self-pity. He would have gained more respect from everyone had he knuckled down, concentrated on his game and leading the team. Instead, he has attracted scorn and derision.

The nail in his coffin, so to speak, comes with the comments:

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.

The only people who know what was actually said and whether it constitutes being called an insult are those involved. If disrespect is being shown to the team, Gallas as captain is quite right to pull someone up over it. He is wrong to bring that into the public domain without prompting. It begs the question as to how unified the dressing room  really is. Yet they are all big enough and ugly enough to handle this in house and sort out their own squabbles internally.

Little surprise that Tottenham stayed in the game. If they heard the arguments, they would have carried on believing. Perhaps RvP commented that players were being too slack in defensive duties. Who knows but that would have been a pertinent observation.

The impact of this is to further destabilise the club, in the eyes of the public as it is, and gives Manchester City, a team struggling for form, further hope that they can take the points tomorrow. It will require a cohesive team effort to win with the game. Maybe this is what Gallas is trying to achieve and has Arsene’s blessing to do so. I cannot think that it would be simply due to the crass nature of the psychology involved.

It is little more than self-pity on Gallas’ part. He indicates that he feels his future is not necessarily at the club. So be it. At the end of this season let him go.

No doubt there will be clarifications about what he has said or not, denials and contrition. I do not care for that. I cannot support William Gallas as captain and if anything is won this season, it will be in spite of his leadership not because of it.

’til Tomorrow.