Hello my english friends! I'd like to know how well is the brazilian Gilberto Silva doing in your squad and how important he has been to the FA championship that you've winned. What about other tournaments? How many goals has he scored in the whole season? It's interesting to know since no other brazilian has done well in an english club besides Juninho in Middlesborough. Cheers.
Hello, MIG! I'm American, but I think I can still answer your questions. Silva's done well at Highbury. He started with a bang, scoring the winning goal in the Community Shield match (a preseason friendly) against Liverpool. He didn't score in the league this season, but he was a solid player, helping to control the midfield in the early part of the campaign. He did notch two goals in Champions League, one in the first minute against PSV Eindhoven and the other against Auxerre in the first leg of group play. Unfortunately, he seemed to tire a bit towards the end of the season, probably in part to having played the World Cup in the offseason and having little time to recuperate before he began training with Arsenal. But he had an excellent FA Cup Final this past weekend, helping to keep Southampton from getting any real flow until very late in the match. I'm hopeful that he returns to his early season form next season and can maintain it the whole way through on our way to more glory!
One complaint about Gilberto is that he hasn't been as physical as I think he should have. His only yellow card of the season came in the opener against Liverpool in the Community Shield. Not saying he needs to be a dirty player, but come on, if you're playing central midfield and are primarily a defender, you should probably pick up more than one yellow a season. Besides that, I agree with Jason. You can tell he's got talent, but he tired during the season. However, he turned in excellent performances in the 2-2 tie against ManUre, and in the FA Cup Final. Next season I expect him to be much fresher and used to the pace of the English game, and I predict he'll score more goals, especially with his head.
In truth the 'jury is still out' on Gilberto; particularly in such an important position as a holding/providing mid-field player. He has often failed to commit hard into tackles and so far has not been willing to stamp his authority on or take control of matches, in the way that his playing partner, Vieira, does. This reluctance has been very significant because of the absence of Vieira at the end of our season, due to injury. Bizarrely, for someone who has a World Cup winners medal he seems to get very nervous before big games? To be fair, the English Premiership is a tough league to get used to and expectations placed upon Gilberto have been very high. He is certainly a player of quality, but, next season, he will have to play consistantly at the top of his game/ability to keep a regular first team place. Gilberto is, however, in very good hands. The Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, is second to none at getting the best out of his players and if any one can help Gilberto to successfully adapt to English football he can!
Maybe his main problem is that he is being compared to Vieira because they're playing alongside each other. I've been critical of his performances this season, pulling out of tackles, some sloppy passing etc., but hopefully he will come back more attuned to the English game next year and take some more of the pressure off Vieira's shoulders.
I think we'd agree that overall there is still potential upside to Silva. He showed ability this year and I think you can attribute his lapses to a combination of being tired from the World Cup and lengthy Brazilian season that preceded it and adapting to the English game. Many players need a bit of time to adapt, Pires comes to mind. Gilberto's problem will be that when he's truly effective you won't really notice him. If we win a game 3-0 with an incredible goal from Henry or an amazing pass from Bergkamp, few people will recall that Silva intercepted two key passes, effectively marked the opponents influential midfielder or accurately sent a pass to Pires that led to a goal two passes later. A perfect example is the FA Cup final. I can't remember anything specific about his performance, but if we held our opponent scoreless and Vieira wasn't playing I'm willing to wager Gilberto played well.
I think you hit the nail on the head. He seems like a quiet guy on and off the field. Nothing spectacular, nothing flashy, just solid and reliable.
Re: Re: Gilberto Silva Which is exactly what we need. If his game keeps improving as I hope it should, i believe that we'll have a Brazilian Lee Dixon in our midfield. Not flashy, not spectacular, but loyal, hardworking, reliable and solid beyond belief. Rein mais le Quad! OPArsenal
I think if you look at the way our season went, it seems like, after Gilberto started to show signs of fatigue and his form dropped off (I believe it started after we beat ManUre in the FA Cup, when he was just coming back from that stupid friendly in China), we started blowing late leads and dropping points. I think he's one of the two or three unsung heroes on this club, and I mean REALLY unsung, as you rarely even notice he's on the pitch when he's playing well.
jwaldman I'm going to take your perfect setup pass to mention that now is the time to go to www.arsenalamerica.com and vote for our Unsung Hero of the Year Award. Gilberto is a nominee.
Sorry boys, I don't think that we need a one trick pony defensve minded midifielder; and if we did Gilberto would definitely not be the man for the job! I don't think tiredness justifies his lack of committment in a challenge! He needs to get stuck in and get forward. I agree with Dwinkler, he could be good for 5/6 goals a season with his head and we are sorely in need of more aerial options, particularly from open play. I think he will come through, but, reliable just isn't good enough for a club with Arsenal's ambition; unless Gilberto wants a second string supporting role alongside Edu? He failed to get forward enough this season and when he did, like his tackling, he was very tentative and lacked committment. Too many times he looked like he didn't know where he was supposed to be. Bottom line when Vieira was out he didn't step up to the plate and that is what we need from him and that is what he has to find this summer. He seems to like playing at Cardiff, now we need him to do it at Highbury and the other 19 Premiership grounds!
I think Martin Tyler, as usual, summed it up perfectly during the match. He mentioned that Gilberto's nickname is "The Invisible Wall," but that at times he'd just been "Invisible." We clearly saw him turn in performances of varying quality; I say give him a chance to settle in and get some rest.
Two things for Gilberto... First, have a good vacation / holiday, man. Brazilian WC winner, straight into the Community Shield, and the League / FA Cup / Worthless Cup mix. Relax on the beaches of Uruguay, babe. Second, watch clips of Patrick. Watch him make the play, and lay it off. And watch him make the play and decide to GO! Sometimes you're the "invisible wall," but once in a while, you're the tail end of the pogo stick - spring it on 'em! Look for a more rested, adjusted Gilberto to bring more to the Gunners next year. -G. Rex
i'll make you right. for anyone thats played the game, its not only draining physically, its draining mentally also. Im sure theres more to come from him, playing constant football for two years over a variety of continents must be murder. You got to give our imports time to bed down, bergkamp, henry, ljungberg didnt set the world on fire, thats why i reckon our friend pascal will be a different player next season.