By
Matt Hughes
Arsène Wenger is facing mounting pressure to strip William Gallas of the Arsenal captaincy after the France defender launched a verbal attack on his team-mates yesterday. In an outburst that goes some way towards explaining the club's problems this season, Gallas revealed details of a confrontation in the dressing-room at half-time of last month's 4-4 draw with Tottenham Hotspur and complained at length about the insulting behaviour of an unnamed team-mate.
Wenger, a stickler for the sanctity of the dressing-room, is furious that internal problems have been made public and is understood to have said as much to Gallas in a meeting at the club's training ground yesterday.
Gallas's captaincy credentials have been in question since his on-field tantrum after Arsenal conceded a late equaliser in the match away to Birmingham City in February and he was fined two weeks' wages after he was photographed leaving a nightclub with a cigarette in his mouth last month. Wenger will not take any action before tomorrow's Barclays Premier League visit to Manchester City but plans to review the captaincy over the next couple of weeks, with Cesc Fàbregas and Gaël Clichy the most likely successors.
The manager's decision may rest on Gallas's standing among his team-mates, who have reportedly grown distant from their captain as a result of his repeated criticisms - particularly the individual singled out yesterday.