Toure: We lost our nerve after the Birmingham game

Kolo Toure has admitted in an interview with Setanta Sports News that Arsenal lost their nerve during their failed title pursuit and that captain William Gallas suffered as a result of his actions in the club’s now infamous draw at Birmingham in February.

After suffering the trauma of seeing their colleague sustain a compound fracture of the leg after a tackle from Martin Taylor, The Gunners then conceded a last minute penalty to leave Gallas storming off to the halfway line and kicking advertising hoardings in behaviour unbefitting of a captain.

The galling nature of the draw clearly affected the side and Toure has admitted that from that point on, the North Londoners lost their nerve and could not achieve the correct focus needed to win The Premier League.

“I think we were not calm enough, we lost our mind a little bit and did have some bad attitudes at times for the games, and I think the game against Birmingham was one of them,” said Toure on Setanta Sports News.

“After that we didn’t take it together really well and I think that put us under pressure and everybody was under pressure after this game because nobody wanted to do a mistake again.

“We were really nervous because we were getting closer to The Premier League and I think we lost our nerve a little bit and we lost the title.”

In light of his actions at St Andrews and Arsenal’s subsequent collapse, Gallas’s captaincy has been called into question and there have been suggestions that his team-mates are not supportive of his leadership.

Toure acknowledges that Gallas made a mistake against Birmingham but has praised his defensive colleague for the way in which he lead the side at the start of the season.

“It is a decision for the manager [whether Gallas remains as captain], and I think he is the only one who can take the decision,” Toure added.

“I think he [Gallas] has been really good for us for us at the start of the season, he was really good, we can say it.

“And then after this Birmingham game he made a mistake, he knows that, and we all tried to bring him back to the team and he came back to the team well.

“But when you make a mistake it is difficult after that and I think it is not only that, we can think it was a really important part of our season.”