Gallas: No blame from Wenger

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Arsene Wenger would not be drawn on who will captain Arsenal next season, but does not think current skipper William Gallas should shoulder the blame for a campaign without silverware.

The former Chelsea defender was handed the armband in the wake of Thierry Henry's departure for Barcelona, and guided his side to the summit of the Premier League and quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League.

But the Gunners' campaign began to unravel after a 2-2 draw at Birmingham, in which Eduardo suffered his horrific leg injury and Gallas staged a bizarre one-man sit-down protest in the centre-circle at the final whistle.

Outburst

Wenger, speaking at this week's forum for Arsenal shareholders, said: "I don't share the view that Gallas is a bad captain. He is a captain who is very committed and tries to work hard for the team.

"He had an outburst at Birmingham, but I still believe today that, even if that was a mistake, that was not why we did not win the championship.

"That would be too easy as an excuse because there are other incidents. That would be a cheap excuse.

"At the time [of the Birmingham game] we were five points in front and everybody had been praising his captaincy.

"I believe we all make mistakes and we had to come back as a unit and try to win the championship."

Priority

However, Wenger would not commit on just who would wear the armband come August.

"It [the captaincy issue] has been raised by a lot of newspapers, but I must say I have not looked at the situation yet," he said.

"My priority is to keep this team together and then we will see where we go for next season."