Gilberto on tricky Bolton
From Icons.com - Thursday 26th January 2006
This entire article is the voice of Gilberto himself:
I'm a bit tired of Bolton crossing our way and this could be the perfect occasion for Arsenal to get rid of these ghosts. I still remember how painful it was when we lost the 2002-03 Premiership basically because of a bad result at the Reebok.
We can’t afford another bad result in the FA Cup, a competition that means a lot for us and has a big reputation worldwide. For me, it is also a special trophy that I won in my very first season this country. I would love to win it again in that amazing Millennium Stadium.
It’s important we impose our game against Bolton, for we have quality enough to get a good result, as much as I believe the Premiership is experiencing a narrowing in the gap between the top and mid-table teams.
In my opinion, there is no point in trying to overanalyse what has gone wrong with us in the Premiership and we should think instead that there is much to fight for in terms of Champions League qualification. And I don’t need to remind anybody that next month we play a dream tie against Real Madrid in a competition that our club has never won. It is more than enough to give us motivation for the rest of the season, but it’s important to concentrate at one game at a time.
Bolton must certainly be thinking now that they have a chance to upset us due to their recent track record against Arsenal at the Reebok and to the fact we so far have not played up to our true potential in the Premiership. They are a very determined and physical side and this can help a lot against sides theoretically more technical. Besides, everybody wants our scalp, regardless of the competition. It reminds me a bit of playing for Brazil in terms of how the smaller sides seem to put the knife between their teeth to face us.
Gary Speed is a strong player who also knows a lot about positioning. We are also talking about somebody who has got a lot of Premiership experience. As for the manager, he almost took a mid-table size to the Champions League last season. I don’t know much about his working methods but a lot of well-known players have joined Bolton recently. As an admirer of English football, I’m happy to see an English manager doing well in the game. It is important for the game in this country.
