Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has refused to blame captain William Gallas as the reason for the Gunners' demise in the last few months. Gallas' appalling outburst at Birmingham was the game where Arsenal's form took a downturn, and many have blamed the Frenchman for Arsenal's demise.

Wenger 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."