Chapter Twenty-Three: The Third Captain
The contradiction between Toure and Gala comes from the huge difference in their personalities.
Originally from Africa, Toure was born with an inferiority complex when facing Europeans, and he and his brother Yaya. Toure is the same, both of them are the kind of people who don't usually speak, but have a lot of thoughts.
When he took over the role of Arsenal's defensive stalwart from Keown, Toure felt that he deserved to be the cornerstone of Arsenal's reconstruction, and although he was not good at words, he has been trying to prove his worth with his actions.
But when Gara and Ashley. After Cole's exchange at Arsenal, everything seemed to have changed somehow.
Coming from footballing powerhouse France, Galla played for five years in Marseille and was selected for the French national team, and he is full of confidence. It was this self-confidence and innate flamboyance that made Galla not see himself as an outsider after his new arrival at Arsenal, and he began to frequently direct the defence at the back, even replacing the captains Cesc Fabregas and Toure to shout at his team-mates.
This kind of behavior, Xiaofa did not make any statement, Wenger estimated that it was also considered that a team on the field does need to be verbally guided to everyone, so he has not stopped it, but it is different here in Toure, Toure is very disgusted by this kind of overstepping the bounds of the behavior.
If Galla is indeed superior and plays a role in the backline, then Toure is not easy to say, but the actual situation is not the case.
Gala likes to run with the opposing attacking players and press closely. There is no problem with his attitude, but the problem is that he always can't prevent the opponent's last pass, and as long as the opponent passes the ball, it is a dangerous cross, and at this time, his partner Toure is often needed to wipe his ass for him.
How could Toure like a player who is not as strong as himself, but who likes to point fingers at others, and even tries to get involved in the captaincy of the team?
Not to mention Toure, it's the whole Arsenal team. There are very few people who really have a good relationship with Gala. Even Clichy, who is also a French player, doesn't bother him much.
Galla also seems to be aware of Toure's hostility towards him, so the relationship between the two has been cold, and although they are central defensive partners, they usually communicate with each other very little, whether in training or during games.
Until half-time in the game against Manchester United. Gala tried to carry the responsibility on her shoulders like a leader. Toure spoke coldly beside him. This completely angered Gala and brought the relationship between the two to a freezing point.
Ultimately, in this inconsequential training match. The contradiction between the two completely broke out.
It all started with a breakthrough from Eduardo, with Toure and Galla both expecting the opposition to stop them, only to drop back, and eventually Eduardo seized the opportunity to strike a long-range shot from the edge of the box to break the door of substitute goalkeeper Almunia.
The conceded goal annoyed the two centre-backs, and they began to blame each other, which eventually turned into a tearing fight, and in order to dissuade them, the likes of Descartes and Xiaofa stepped forward to try to separate them.
And the so-called "Descartes and Xiaofa fighting" photos taken by the reporter came from this way, judging from the blurry photos, Descartes and Xiaofa did show their heads in the crowd, and the positions of the two looked like they were tearing each other apart due to the shooting angle.
In fact, the two hugged Gala and Toure one by one, trying to separate them.
Well, the media first shocked the "twin star infighting", and then found that the situation did not seem to be like this, and happily kicked the news of the "brawl on the training ground of Gala and Toure", and for a while the Kearney training base became a holy place for the paparazzi, and Arsenal, which performed well this season, began to have infighting, such news should be seized quickly!
At this time, the professor was standing in front of the large glass window of his office, looking at the crowds of reporters outside the base, and he was furious.
Since forcing away the likes of Patrick Vieira and Andreas Pire, the pressure on the professor has been enormous, and he has been working hard to maneuver around the transfer market in order to bring Arsenal back to the glory of the 03-04 season.
Finally, the structure of the team has stabilized this season, and the performance of the players is also very good, the league has been played for 22 rounds so far, Arsenal can still remain unbeaten, it seems that this season's championship has a big head, but I didn't expect such a thing to happen within the team at this time!
If it's just ordinary players fighting, it's okay, but Gala and Toure are Arsenal's main central defenders this season, and they are also important contributors to the team's unbeaten record so far. Admit defeat directly!
The red-faced professor was thinking in front of the glass window, when there was a slight knock on the door, he came back to his senses, walked back to his actions, and forced himself to suppress the negative emotions in his heart, and shouted without waves: "Please come in." ”
It was Toure who came in with a look of disgruntle.
Seeing the professor, Toure nodded respectfully, put away the anger on his face, and whispered, "Boss." ”
Arsene Wenger also nodded, then paused slightly, and after some language, asked: "What's the matter, you're a veteran of the team, why is this happening?" ”
The unconvinced look on Toure's face jumped out again, and he said angrily: "That guy's mouth is too broken, obviously it is his responsibility to lose the ball, not only did he not admit it, but he also slandered me in turn, I couldn't hold back for a while, so I ......"
The professor rubbed his eyebrows, and he could see that Toure had a look of disdain and hatred on his face when he spoke of Gala, and it seemed that the problems between them did not form in a day or two.
Considering that Toure was the team's vice-captain, Wenger didn't seem to lecture him too much, so he nodded him lightly and sent him out of the office.
Turning around, Garra also appeared at the door of the office.
Seeing Arsene Wenger, Garra's expression was much calmer than Toure's. He and Arsene Wenger are both French, and he believes Wenger will not punish his fellow countryman too harshly.
Wenger really didn't scold him or look excited, this kind of thing is estimated to be able to do if Ferguson is expected to be able to do it, Wenger has always been a gentleman, so his words are full of peace.
"William, you have seriously violated the team rules this time, do you understand?" The professor's voice was not audible, but Galla keenly sensed that Wenger was preparing to make a big deal small, as he positioned it as a "violation of team rules", which meant a maximum of a few internal bans. A little more fine. It's nothing at all.
Thinking of this, Garra's thoughts suddenly came to mind, he honestly admitted his mistake, and then suddenly raised his head and said to the professor: "Actually, I think there should be a better solution to this matter. ”
"Oh?" The professor was surprised and asked, "What do you say?" ”
Gala volunteered: "Actually, I found out when I came to the team. The atmosphere in our team is dreary. Francisco (Cesc Fabregas) and Colo (Toure) don't like to shout during the game. So there's a lot of connection missing when you're playing, which isn't a good thing for the team. I took the initiative to direct on the pitch in the hope that everyone would be more aware of their responsibilities. I think it's good for the team to improve the communication with my teammates. I know what they say about me, they think I want to usurp the captaincy of the team, but I don't care, I just want to make the team perform better and win more trophies. ”
"Do you want to be the captain?" The professor's words were filled with curiosity and a certain impulse.
Gara raised his chin and said proudly: "Of course I think, even Napoleon said that a soldier who does not want to be a general is not a good soldier, and I think I am fully capable of taking on this heavy responsibility." ”
"This ......" the professor fell into deep thought, and after a long time, he raised his head and said hesitantly: "Then you go back first, let me think about this matter, and besides, the punishment within the team will be posted tomorrow, I hope you can understand our decision." ”
"Yes." The professor's expression gave Gala some kind of hope, and his eyes began to glint with ambition, and he didn't care at all about the punishment that was coming.
Sure enough, the next day, the Kearney training base posted a notice board against Galla and Toure, who were also suspended for two games, fined 25,000 euros, and ordered to apologise to their team-mates for ruining their training matches.
This punishment did not surprise everyone, so the team members only discussed a few words in a whisper, and then dispersed.
But when the professor appeared on the sidelines of the training ground and announced his other decision, everyone was stunned.
"Yes, I announce that from now on, Galla will be the third captain of the team, I hope to give him more responsibility, so that he can use the shouting in the future games to command everyone, I hope everyone will accept this decision and help the three captains to manage the dressing room better."
For Cesc Fabregas and Toure, this is a subtle expression of dissatisfaction with their "inaction", which does not refer to their performance on the pitch, but to their role as the captain and vice-captain of the team, but rarely use words to encourage their teammates and unite the team, and the professor thinks that they have not done enough.
But for the other players, the professor's arrangement was a bit unexpected, and after the brawl, not only was there only a slight punishment, but he was promoted to the team's third captain, what does this mean?
This shows that the professor is ready to reuse Gala.
It's not easy to shout out to your team-mates on the pitch, he proves your status and identity in the team. When Gala yelled on the pitch before, everyone could listen to what they wanted, and if they didn't want to listen, they could not dump him at any time, because he was just an ordinary member of the team, why did he shout? What qualifications does he have to shout?
But now it's different, now Galla has become the third captain of the team, although there are still the first and second in front, but there is no way, the captain is the captain, the captain represents the embodiment of the coach's will on the field, if you don't listen to the captain, it means that you don't listen to the manager, if you don't listen to the coach, what will happen to the coach, I believe I don't need to elaborate, right?
Arsene Wenger did this with a bit of a sense of favoritism, but as we all know, Galla has long been a habit of shouting on the pitch, and a team that doesn't have a player who is constantly yelling at his teammates is really dull.
Now that this matter has become a fact, everyone can only choose to accept it, and no one will make an objection at such a time.
It's just that when the players dispersed to practice, no one saw the cold glint of serious disbelief that flashed in Toure's eyes.
Why should I be punished for fighting, but he should be rewarded for fighting?
Toure looked at Garra's swaggering back as he left, and then at the professor's bland expression, and had secretly made up his mind.
To be honest, when he heard that Galla became the third captain of the team, Descartes was quite surprised and envious.
Like Galla, Descartes also likes to shout loudly during games to remind his teammates and boost morale, but he is not as "two-tempered" as Gala, he knows how to behave with his tail between his legs when he first arrives at Arsenal, and it is not until he is familiar with his teammates that he starts to perform more on the pitch. And he pays attention to proportionality when he shouts, and he shouts directly with teammates who have a good relationship, and he is much more polite when shouting with a big guy like Xiaofa in the team, so although he often yells on the field, he is much more popular than Gala.
Descartes didn't expect that Galla fell into the eyes of Wenger precisely because of his "out-of-line" performance, and as a result, he was promoted to the third captain of the team.
If he had known that Arsene Wenger had such thoughts, Descartes felt that he should have shouted louder to get the professor's attention.
Descartes was full of envy and remorse, he wanted to be the leader of this team, of course, he had to start as the captain, but now that the three captains have been decided, he has also lost an excellent opportunity, how can he not regret it?
Of course, he is not the only one who has the same mind as Descartes, in fact, the German goalkeeper Lehmann also has the same thoughts as him.
Lehmann has also been at Arsenal for five seasons, and he is the oldest remaining unbeaten team today, he is 37 years old this year.
This season Arsene Wenger wants to promote young goalkeeper Almunia and make Lehmann more involved in the Champions League, which has caused great dissatisfaction with Lehmann, who believes that his form is fully enough to cope with the double challenge of league and cup competitions, and he wants to fight again for next year's European Championship.
However, Arsene Wenger's determination to train young players was unshakable, and Lehmann could only reluctantly accept his decision to share playing time with Almunia, which was already a very frustrating thing for him, but he did not expect to suffer another blow in the matter of the third captain.
In terms of qualifications, contributions, and performance, Lehmann will never admit that there is anything he will not be as good as Galla, but why did Arsene Wenger hand over the captain's armband to the, who have only been in the team for a season, but ignore a veteran like himself?
Lehmann disagrees with this decision from the bottom of his heart, but he also knows that Arsene Wenger is the ultimate god of this team, and no one can object to his decision.
For a while, the German veteran goalkeeper, who was about to turn 38 years old, had mixed feelings, and he seemed to have a hunch that his time at the Emirates Stadium was running out. (To be continued......)