Wearing the armband: Cesc Fabregas
Denilson has rocked the boat at
Arsenal by questioning Cesc Fabregas's
captaincy.
The Brazilian midfielder has revealed he does not consider
Fabregas a true leader, and admits that the team lacks a strong
personality on the pitch to galvanise the side.
Many observers credit Spain star Fabregas with being the
man who could finally fire The Gunners to a trophy for the first
time since 2005 - Arsenal currently sit third in the Barclays
Premier League table and are set to take on Leeds United in an FA
Cup third round replay on Wednesday night.
But Denilson believes there is no one man who can claim to
have inspired the team and that results so far are a sign of a
strong collective unit.
'Fabregas is the captain but he is not a leader,' he said
in an interview with Arsenal Brazil and published on Arseblog.com.
'It's a personality thing and a leader can be young. It's something
they are born with.
'We are lacking leadership and we need leadership to go
forward. There isn't a leader. I don't see one player as a
leader.
'At Arsenal it's more of a collective team at the moment,
everyone is talking - but a leader is always important for a
team.'
Fabregas used his Twitter account to respond to Denilson's
comments, and insisted there was no disharmony within the Arsenal
camp.
Thumbs up: Denilson and Fabregas on their way to Leeds
for Arsenal's FA Cup replay
Instead of dismissing his team-mate's criticism,
Fabregas sympathised with the Brazilian's situation before urging
on his Gunners' team-mates to record a win over Leeds at Elland
Road.
He posted: 'Abt what Deni said. I've been in his situation
before, just a misunderstending. Now lets win tonite!'
Fabregas also posted a picture taken with Denilson as they
travelled on the train up to Leeds for the cup replay, with both
men smiling and posing with thumbs up.
But Denilson has thrown his backing behind Manuel Almunia,
the deposed and now out-of-favour former Arsenal no 1.
He said: 'The best keeper at Arsenal is Manuel
Almunia.'
Denilson is expected to feature again at Elland Road, as
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger rotates his squad.
It was the Brazilian who had given away a penalty to Leeds
in the first tie 10 days ago. Fabregas kept the Gunners in the
competition with a last-minute spot-kick of his own, and afterwards
had given Denilson a dressing down for making such a clumsy
challenge.
'They scored from a penalty that, at this stage when you are a
professional footballer you can not give away this type of penalty
so easily,' Fabregas said in his post-match TV interview.