Now Gallas turns on France team-mates

William Gallas appears to be heading for a showdown with his France team-mates as well as seeing his Arsenal captaincy put under threat.

Gallas, 31, has revealed rifts in the Arsenal dressing room, a blazing row during the interval of the 4-4 draw with rivals Tottenham and a problem with an unnamed team-mate unsettling the squad.

Now in his autobiography, Gallas reports unrest in the France camp during their disastrous Euro 2008 finals, singling out a player who he felt was disrespecting older members of the squad.

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It led to a training-ground confrontation between the pair.

Gallas wrote: "I was also 20 years old once. I would never have allowed myself to speak in this tone to a footballer who was older than me."

He added: "The youngsters from the Euros seem cheeky, very sure of themselves. They think they know it all, but they don't know anything.

"Faced with his contempt, I raised my voice. The young player said: 'Lower your voice, speak less loudly'.

"I replied: 'How are you speaking to me? Who do you think you are? You are only 20 years old. I am not your friend.

"He said: 'Me neither, I am not your friend'."

Gallas will be in the limelight when Arsenal travel to Manchester City this weekend.

Arsenal fans' forums are now polling who will succeed the France centre-back, rather than if boss Arsene Wenger should keep giving him the armband.

Wenger himself has an alternative on the role of the skipper, insisting the game is too fast for one person to take sole responsibility on the field.

"It's so quick everywhere, there is less time for one person to lead the team," said Wenger. "You need more shared leadership on the pitch.

"You still need people talking in the dressing room but on the pitch it has become too quick for just one guy. Now the goalkeeper catches the ball and straight away the ball is in the other half."

Before retaining his captain, Wenger reviewed Gallas' role as skipper at the end of last season following the centre-back's infamous tantrum at Birmingham where he bizarrely was at the other end of the pitch in protest when James McFadden scored a last-gasp penalty.

Drawing at St Andrews put a huge dent in Arsenal's title hopes, and this season they have already lost four Barclays Premier League games.

Gallas found himself in the headlines again when he was pictured with a cigarette on a night out, although he has also had his leadership skills praised by pundits during the recent win over Manchester United.

Wenger has limited options to replace Gallas at City this weekend, with Cesc Fabregas, the supporters' favourite for the role, suspended.

Kolo Toure is a doubt with a calf problem, and is considered a quieter member of Wenger's squad.

Former England boss Graham Taylor feels Wenger would be brave enough to make a change if he feels it is necessary.

"Arsene Wenger, the manager that he is, would know the kind of person he wants as a captain, and if it isn't working for him, make those changes," Taylor told BBC Radio Five Live.

"He knows his players better than any of us, he knows what he's looking for as a leader, as a captain. If he feels that Gallas isn't doing that then I think he's wrong if he continues with him.

"I would have thought by now a manager of Arsene Wenger's calibre knows what makes a good captain, and I'm somewhat surprised that he still has stuck with Gallas even after that Birmingham situation."

Former Arsenal defender Nigel Winterburn said he was disappointed with Gallas' outburst and said the matter should have been dealt with internally.

He told Sky Sports News: "I'm very disappointed with Gallas' comments.

"We all know arguments happen at half-time and full-time in any game, not just at Arsenal, and they're dealt with inside the club.

"It certainly doesn't need the captain to come out and tell the world players have fallen out - that can be good, it shows they care and are not prepared to accept defeat.

"He actually said one team-mate is being disruptive, which puts the suspicion of blame on four or five players. He hasn't come out and named the player."

Gallas has been quoted in the Evening Standard as being open to an eventual return to France for the final stages of his career, although there has been no suggestion of that being imminent.

Gallas said: "It's true that I'd like to return to France for one or perhaps two seasons to finish my career.

"But if I go it won't be to just anywhere. I'd go to a big club or nowhere at all. The choices look simple to me - it would be Marseille, Lyon, Paris Saint-Germain or, let's not forget, Bordeaux.

"PSG are a massive club and known everywhere. I've stayed in contact with Claude Makelele and he's told me that he's pretty happy to be in Paris. He feels he's getting the respect he deserves from everyone."