Fabregas replaces Gallas as Arsenal skipper
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William Gallas will line up with his Arsenal team-mates when they face Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday, but not as captain.
Arsene Wenger has confirmed that the 31-year-old has been permanently replaced as the Gunners skipper by 21-year-old Cesc Fabregas.
The controversial defender was axed from the trip to Manchester City on Saturday, which Arsene Wenger's men lost 3-0 as their Premier League title hopes were dealt another blow, after publicly making critical remarks about the team and questioning their fighting spirit.
However, Wenger - who named goalkeeper Manuel Almunia his captain at Eastlands - maintained former Chelsea defender Gallas, 31, still had a future at the club.
Although the Arsenal manager refused to discuss the reasons behind the player's absence, Wenger confirmed Gallas would be reinstated, but not in a leadership role on Tuesday.
''William will play against Kiev, but the captain of the team will be Fabregas,'' said the Arsenal manager. ''I do not think I have to especially explain why I make the decisions, but it is a permanent thing.''
Wenger felt it had been an ''interesting'' few days for Arsenal, whose season is threatening to unravel.
He said: ''When you do not win, nobody jumps off the roof, but the frustration does kick in. It is a good opportunity now for us to show we have strength and ability - you know how it works, you go from fantastic to a catastrophe, but real life is somewhere in between.''
Wenger insisted: ''So even if we are at the moment frustrated, it is not all doom and gloom. We have a strong belief in our ability and we have a good opportunity to show we care about the club and that we can qualify tomorrow.''
Wenger, though, maintained the future of the club was in safe hands, led by 21-year-old Spain international Fabregas.
The Arsenal manager said: ''I believe the captain is the voice of the club towards the outside, and is one of the leaders of the team.
''However, I do not believe in just one man in the dressing room who sorts out all of the problems. A successful team is a shared leadership inside the dressing room. He (Fabregas) will be one of the leaders, but not the only one.''
Fabregas told Arsenal's official website: "It is a great honour for me to captain one of the biggest clubs in the world.
"It is a proud moment. I know it's a big responsibility but together with my team-mates, I know we have the spirit and commitment to get back to winning ways and fulfil our potential.''
Wenger continues to keep the faith this group can produce the results needed to compete for honours.
He said: ''It is a learning trade, to be a top player in a top club, you need to be mentally very strong and to deal with these types of concentration. We have quite a good way to protect the players here and they know how much we believe in them and how much confidence we have in them.
''My trust in my players has not be affected. I have to stand up for my players in the criticism we get, but we are a strong team and that will come out.
''I am focused to do things well, the right way. I am strong enough to let people have opinions, and do what I feel is right.''
Gallas arrived from Chelsea as part of the deal which took full-back Ashley Cole to Stamford Bridge in August 2006, and Wenger insists he has no regrets about making the outspoken Frenchman Arsenal captain following the departure of Thierry Henry.
''William is a player and a man whom I rate, I have a big respect for him,'' he said.
hope fab will b more consistent & reali motivate the squad...
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Former Arsenal midfielder Emmanuel Petit has hit out at the English press for their treatment of William Gallas.
Gallas was axed from Arsenal's 3-0 loss at Manchester City on Saturday after publicly criticising his team-mates in an interview given last week.
The 31-year-old Frenchman has been stripped of the Gunners captaincy by manager Arsene Wenger, but Petit, a former team-mate of Gallas at both Chelsea and the French national team, believes the media must take a share of the blame.
"The gutter press in England are doing their job well,'' he told L'Equipe TV. "They have a happy heart when they can hit out at a French player, and I am well placed to know that.
"They already did that with other French players such as (Eric) Cantona. It's been a year now that the press have tried to push Gallas out of Arsenal. Why? I have no idea.''
Petit, a member of Arsenal's double-winning side of 1998, believes his former club are already out of the title race but is adamant freezing out Gallas would not improve their fortunes.
"Arsenal, Arsene and Gallas cannot stop working together,'' he said. "When you see that the team have five defeats in 15 matches, you realise that they have worn out their joker in the the fight for the title.
"Arsenal can not alternate between the sublime of last year to the mediocrity of this season. Gallas is being singled out, but there is a lack of form in a lot of players.
"Gallas does not have unanimous support in the dressing room as captain. It's certainly a generational problem. Gallas' move did not stem from bad intentions but it has been perceived as such.''
hes right..
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it's bout time, no doubt he is young but he has a lot of charisma n tis might give him more motivated when he is given responsibilities.
one such young chap who took the capt armband was tony adams n he was capt until he retired.
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Fabregas wants to follow Adams example
Fabregas wants to follow Adams example
By Jonathan Chong on Thursday, November 27, 2008
New captain Francesc Fabregas has said that he hopes to follow in the footsteps of all the great Arsenal captains of the past, and one such figure that stands out for him is Tony Adams.
Adams, also affectionately known as 'Mr. Arsenal', led the club to three league titles in different decades (1988/89, 1997/98 and 2001/02).
Fabregas is also mindful of the need to set his own example and history as captain, but is using Adams as the benchmark for a successful captaincy.
He said: "From what people say he [Adams] was amazing. I never really saw him play because I was too young but from what people say he was amazing and everybody says amazing things about him.
"Hopefully one day - not so much be like him, because I like to be my own player and person - but of course I want to achieve the things that he achieved."
"I want to lift a trophy. At the end of the season we will see what we can achieve. At the moment we are in all of the competitions, people can say whatever they want about the title race but we have only played 14 games.
"It is not over yet and it is up to us to finish where we will finish. We will see, at the moment nothing is done and we will fight until the end."
Extracted from Arsenal-Mania.com