why did we get rid of him? He is a talented, young FB that would have done well with Arsenal. Was it financial? Is he still on loan? I need some answers. If he's a Barca starter, he could start for our Gunners.
We sold him to Barca to smooth over the Cesc transfer, pretty damn good for us if you ask me. I don't mind Gio but we already have Cole, Clichy, and now Flamini at LB so it's not a need.
I thought he did well for us in the midfield too, it was a shame he got that bad injury when he did. His performances at left-back left a hell of a lot to be desired though.
He was always injured and wasn't close to holding down a regular place in the squad. He was a back up at CM, LM, and LB. His time at Arsenal never really worked out, and i wouldn't say he's been missed. It's good that his career has revived at Barca, but i don't think anyone would argue that letting him go was a mistake.
There are lots of left backs out there who are better than him. The fact that Barca can do well even with a mediocre left back and a horrible goalkeeper shows how good they are.
I thought Cesc came over for a song because he was too young at Barca to sign pro papers and we only had to pay fifa's "development" fees, but I could very well be wrong. Gio is the reason why I don't think the "old firm" would ever make it in the premiership. He was a pretty important player for Rangers but never got close to a starting spot for us. As others have said, he was a very useful utility player, but that wasn't good enough for him so he did the logical thing and left us for the biggest Dutch team that would take him.
As I remember, he provided some much-needed creativity in cm in 01/02, as everyone else went down injured. In Jan/Feb 02, if I recall correctly, he was running the game down the middle and doing pretty well. When more first-choice midfielders came back, he willingly played an unnatural position, and while he wasn't great, I remember thinking he was giving his all. So yes, he'll be remembered as a utility player and a less than competent fullback, but he had a run of form where he held the midfield together as well, and that's what I'd like to remember. Plus, he got as much of his name as he could onto his shirt, not just this gio business...
ok now i see the reasons. im so excited for our team's future. SOO much young talent, most of which is already playing well and ONLY going to get better
van Bronckhorst's PR guy must have specifically instructed him to eliminate his last name entirely, and a large portion of his first name to boot--> since he went off to Barca Land, he has, apparently for some time now, been simply known as "Gio". Now rechistened with a more flashy moniker, he can now fool people into contemplating his otheriwse non-existant Brasillian roots and, consequently, instantly give his game a style, flair and bounce it had always lacked....
The life story of Giovanni Van bronckhorst my friends, or who we should now refer to him as the dutch come brazillian, "gio"
GvB is a great player as of today.. He plays a very big part for Barca, as I'm an avid Barca fan... obviously not close to how much I love Zvezda or Arsenal, but I've always loved their style, even before Ronnie. And to be honest GvB is one 'elluva back for the Catalans. It just gets me thinking... of what could've been had he stayed... you know?
Probably in the reserves. He certainly had no chance at LB, and if he had any chance at CM, he would have been displaced by Cesc.
Like I said, I don't think any 31 yo journeyman player is going to displace Ashley Cole or Cesc Fabregas. Hence, he would likely be in our reserves. When he played for Arsenal, he had a hard time getting into the lineup (when he was healthy) in the prime of his career.
I would argue that he is in his best form ever. If I'm not mistaken he does start for Van Basten and the Dutch thus he's changed. Every time I see him he is better. I mean allowing 1 goal to Chelsea over two legs isn't bad.... GvB in my opinion wouldnt've started over Cole, but I think he would be starting now... and if he was still around and Cole leaves at the end of this season (I hate saying that) you would think he would've come in handy to nourture Clichy and Flamini a bit more... that's just my opinion.
That is the whole point, he would not have started in front of Cole and he would be sitting on the benches if Cole was fit. True, Cole is out right now, but during the time Cole was fit for the past few years he would have been picking splinters from his backside.
Correct me if i'm wrong, but is Gio even the first choice LB at Barca? I thought that Sylvinho and he were pretty much interchangable.
I think he's done well at Barca, and I'm always happy to see our old players do well (except against us!!). He had some problems breaking in here, but played well and worked hard when he was in. Our first choice MF at the time was just too strong to break into, and we also had Edu riding the pine already-just no room in the lineup for him.