William Gallas had exposed himself as an unsuitable captain long before his recent outburst in the tabloids, where he tried to remove all blame from himself and put it on the shoulders of his younger team mates.
The temper tantrum at Birmingham would have been enough for most managers to call it a day, yet Wenger kept faith with Gallas. That was an error in judgement that has proved costly for Arsenal.
In the 4-4 draw with rivals Tottenham Hotspur, the cracks were apparent to those on the pitch. Spurs striker, Darren Bent, has since reflected on that game, where Arsenal threw away a 4-2 lead in the dying moments.
“You could definitely hear the players arguing between themselves but we were just focusing on what we had to do and we put them under pressure and got our rewards,” said Bent.
Wenger has finally made the right decision where the captaincy is concerned, binning Gallas and putting Cesc Fabregas in his place.
“It will be Fabregas,” said Wenger, when asked who would captain his team for their Champions League game against Dynamo Kiev. “I don’t think I have to explain why. It is a permanent thing. I believe the captain is the voice of the club. William is a player that I rate. I have big respect for him. He was working as a captain under a difficult media environment and he was under big pressure. At some stage, you do not want that pressure to affect him or the team.”
Do you think Fabregas is the right man to replace Gallas?