b>Bert scores:
Gilberto scored a header from Walcott’s cross against Bolton yesterday. Arsenal went on to lose the game 3-1. Gilberto captained the Gunners in Henry’s absence. From Arsenal.com:
The visitors needed another response. Gilberto provided it by rising unmarked to nod home a cross from Walcott. The stand-in captain picked up the ball, tucked it under his arm, ran back and plonked it back on the centre spot.
Ah well.
Gilberto was an unused substitute against Hamburg on Tuesday night. He is still getting back into the swing of things at Arsenal after his compassionate leave in Brazil. Maybe he was jet-lagged. Maybe he was a bit unwell…. or…. I don’t really know. I’m just making things up. Some journalists said that “Arsenal struggled dealing with counter attacks without Gilberto”. So there you go. The important thing is that Gilberto starts playing games again and gets his match fitness back. And anyway; his week off came at quite a good time. He was getting very tired.
Gilberto back from Brazil
This is what Wenger said:
Gilberto is back in the squad. He has returned from Brazil. He had a family problem but it is sorted out. I have to decide yet but I think he will start.
Great!
GUNNERS MISS MIDFIELD DUO
Arsenal will be without midfielders Gilberto and Freddie Ljungberg for Saturday’s Barclays Premiership clash with Newcastle.
The 30-year-old Gilberto returned to Brazil to deal with a family matter, and is not expected back until Sunday.
“I had him on the phone last night, and he is there for sickness reasons,” manager Arsene Wenger revealed.
“The situation looks quite good now, and hopefully he will be in on Monday morning, so we will see him for the Champions League game.”
Ljungberg will also be rested again on Saturday after several weeks out with a calf injury.
“I nearly wanted to pick him, but it is down to the fact that for five weeks he has not played one minute at a competitive level,” said Wenger.
Brazilian Julio Baptista, however, is available, along with goalkeeper Jens Lehmann, who has recovered from the heavy cold which saw him miss the win over Liverpool and Germany’s midweek Euro 2008 qualifier in Cyprus.
Midfielder Tomas Rosicky (hamstring) is still a week or so away from fitness, while Abou Diaby (ankle) and Lauren (knee) are long-term absentees.
Newcastle keeper Shay Given and £10million striker Obafemi Martins could return from injury.
The Irishman has been sidelined for two months by an abdominal injury which required surgery after a collision with West Ham’s Marlon Harewood, while the Nigerian has missed the last five games with a hamstring injury.
Turkish midfielder Emre is suspended, while Celestine Babayaro (groin), Olivier Bernard (hip) and Michael Owen (knee) are also out, but Shola Ameobi (hip) could play his final game before having an operation and Stephen Carr (foot), Titus Bramble (back) and James Milner (leg) could be available.
Teams
Arsenal (from): Lehmann, Hoyte, Toure, Gallas, Clichy, Fabregas, Hleb, Henry, van Persie, Baptista, Almunia, Djourou, Senderos, Eboue, Song, Flamini, Walcott, Aliadiere, Adebayor.
Newcastle (from): Given, Harper, Srnicek, Carr, Taylor, Moore, Bramble, Ramage, Huntington, Butt, Parker, Solano, Milner, Duff, Dyer, N’Zogbia, Pattison, Ameobi, Martins, Rossi, Sibierski, Luque.
I hope that bit by Wenger means that whatever has happened in his family has been resolved. Hopefully we’ll see him in the Champions League match.
Brazilian blow for Gunners
17-11-2006 10:56
Arsene Wenger has confirmed midfielder Gilberto has returned to Brazil for family reasons and is unlikely to play against Newcastle.The Gunners midfielder pulled out of Brazil’s friendly with Switzerland this week to return to his homeland for personal reasons.
And Wenger has now confirmed he is un likely to be back in time to face the Magpies at the Emirates Stadium.
“I believe we have a family problem with Gilberto. He has had to go back to Brazil,” said Wenger.“We hope he will be back in time, but we are not completely sure.
“He had to pull out of the Brazil squad this week and I would say there is an 80% chance he will miss the Newcastle game.”
Even though Newcastle aren’t really showing at the moment, they have quality, especially with Parker in the middle. Going to be tough without Gilberto, but hopefully we’ll manage.
We find out what “Personal Problems” mean
Today, Wenger said: “We have a family problem with Gilberto. He has had to go back to Brazil. We hope he will be back in time (for Saturday), but we are not completely sure.”
This is very sad for Gilberto. I will not speculate about which family member might be having ‘problems’, this would be disrespectful. Instead, I will just wish Gilberto and all of the Silva family in Brazil the best.
Updates soon.
Why is Gilberto out of the Brazil squad
“Personal reasons”?
Gilberto was very close to making his first ever appearance as BRAZIL CAPTAIN against Switzerland tonight; but he has pulled out due to “personal reasons”. Edmilson and Lucio were both taken out of the squad due to injury, leaving Gilberto set to start as Brazil captain. It may never happen though; Arsenal’s other Brazilian, Denilson, has been drafted into the squad to replace Gilberto.
What are these personal reasons? We don’t know. (It’s personal, duh.) It could be a family issue, problems with people within the Brazil squad, or an injury precaution. Nobody knows, apart from him!
We will hopefully see Bert again soon in an Arsenal shirt, though.
UPDATE! “The People’s Daily” says:
Denilson will replace Gilberto Silva, who also plays for Arsenal and asked the coaching committee to be dismissed from the game due to private matters.
I’m not quite sure what that means, because it’s written in such bad English. If you wrote that article, please ask for some help next time.
Gilberto helps Arsenal to 3-0 win
Gilberto stands around quietly for a minute in memory of soldiers who died
Gilberto helped Arsenal to a flattering 3-0 win over Liverpool today (Sunday). It was a normal performance with Gilberto, so I won’t talk about it too much. He made a few wayward passes, but patrolled the defence when defenders like Flamini, Toure and Gallas were busy scoring goals. Solid!
Gilberto helps everybody celebrate Gallas’ goal
Here is what Gilberto told Arsenal.com:
The game against Liverpool is very important. If we want to fight for the title then we must win this game. We know what happened last year, we struggled a lot in the early stages.
This season we have dropped many points already, that is why we are so far from the [leaders]. But we know we want to fight for the title and that is why this is a crucial moment for us.
This is the kind of game that, if you win, gives you a lot of confidence because we’re going to play against a great team with good players,†he said.
We need to concentrate from the start because if you make a big mistake against a team like that they kill you. That’s why we cannot afford to miss so many chances when we get an opportunity to score.
I think it’s much better – not easier – but better when we play against a team like Liverpool because they will not sit back just to defend. They will come out and want to play. They want to win.
But, at the same time, we are confident for this game. We’ve forgotten about our last few games and I think we’ve taken a lesson from them.
Source
Gilberto blames Pardew for Wenger reaction
The normally non-blaming Gilberto today blamed Alan Pardew for the actions of normally non-aggressive Arsene Wenger.
ARSENE WENGER’S players were left ‘scared’ of him following his astonishing clash with Alan Pardew during Arsenal’s defeat at West Ham.
Midfielder Gilberto is the first Gunners’ star to shed light on exactly what happened in the dressing room after the touchline clash that stunned football last Sunday.
The Brazilian World Cup star revealed he and his team-mates gave the normally mild-mannered Wenger a wide berth after the 1-0 defeat which left them 10 points behind Premiership leaders Manchester United with their title challenge in tatters.
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And he also revealed that “p****d off” Wenger did not even deliver a full-time team talk after the match, preferring simply to sit brooding in silence.
But Gilberto maintained that dismal though the team’s performance was, Wenger’s anger was reserved exclusively for Pardew following the Hammers manager’s ‘disrespectful’ goal celebration.
Speaking to the Brazilian media, Gilberto said: “There were no problems between Mr Wenger and the players because the problem didn’t involved the players. But the situation left us scared. We know the manager and we know that he is very polite and calm. Something very bad had happened to make him react like he did.
“After the game, Mr Wenger didn’t talk to anyone. As it wasn’t a problem involving the players, he decided not to discuss it with us.”
Wenger is known for being a fierce competitor. Last season he squared up to Tottenham chief Martin Jol, while his face-offs with Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson are well documented.
But Sunday was the first time Wenger has allowed his emotions to boil over to such an extent that he had to be restrained by fourth official – Andy D’Urso.
The FA have charged both Wenger and Pardew over the scuffle with possible punishments ranging from a fine to a touchline ban.
But Gilberto is in no doubt that Pardew is squarely to blame for the incident, insisting the West Ham boss had no right to approach Wenger as part of his goal celebrations after Marlon Harewood’s dramatic late winner.
In a blistering attack on the Upton Park chief, Gilberto added: “I have seen it on TV many times and when West Ham scored, Pardew came to our bench to celebrate, but in a offensive way.
“That made Wenger react like he did, and that is why he had to talk to Pardew about that celebration.
“He was p****d off about the way Pardew celebrated and, as I said, that was the reason he reacted that way. As I saw it on TV, Pardew said some words that he, as a manager, should have thought about before saying.
“He should have showed a little more respect. Of course, he could celebrate the goal, but not in the offensive way he did.
“That is what made Wenger react.”
Very juicy indeed! More to follow tomorrow, no doubt.