Gallas reveals rift in Arsenal dressing-room
Arsenal skipper William Gallas has revealed rifts in the dressing room undermining the club's current campaign and has suggested his team-mates have been unsettled by one member of the squad.
The French defender has been criticised for his leadership.
Gallas has called Arsene Wenger's side ''not brave enough in battle'' and has urged them to fight to revive a season that has already included four Premier League defeats.
The 31-year-old also claims that some of his team-mates have approached him to complain about one member of the squad. Gallas would not reveal the player's identity but revealed the team-mate to be six years younger than him.
"There are things that can't be said and can't be tolerated," Gallas said on the Times website. "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.
"There comes a time where we can no longer comprehend how this can happen. I am trying to defend myself a bit without giving names. Otherwise I'm taking all the blame. It's very frustrating. I'm 31, the player is six years younger than me.
"There was a problem at half-time at Tottenham.The only thing that I could say at half-time was 'Guys, we resolve these problems after the match, not at half-time.'"
Currently there are four 25-year-olds in the squad: Robin Van Persie, Emmanuel Eboue, Eduardo and Bacary Sagna, although it is not clear who the offending player is.
Gallas also believes the youngsters emerging into Arsene Wenger's team lack the stomach required to cope with physical matches and fears that lack of fortitude could shatter their already faint title hopes.
"We are not brave enough in battle," Gallas said. "I think we need to be soldiers. We have to be warriors. There are teams who can do it well against us, and we have to be able to face up to these attacks.
"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."
Gallas has yet to win a trophy since moving to Arsenal from London rivals Chelsea in 2006 and the Gunners are nine points behind league leaders Chelsea are losing four matches already this season.
The centre-back is growing increasingly frustrated by the team's failure to challenge for silverware.
"I have to win something this year. I have to win something, Arsenal has to win something," Gallas said. "It's four or five years since Arsenal won anything. That's nearly five years, and that's not good.
"For me the title is not over, it's true that we are nine points behind Chelsea, but you have to be optimistic and you can't give up.
"Four defeats is a lot, but it's a long season. I think it will be very tight this year and we will have to hope that Chelsea draw a few games and have a few defeats."
