Invisiblewall.net: Gilberto Silva News

Captain Bert
in
Attack of the Fixtures

Gilberto was captain again in Henry’s absence to help Arsenal to a boring 0-0 draw at Porto. Arsenal have qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League as a result.

In other slightly more exciting news, Wenger had this to say about Gilberto:

“Gilberto Silva is a strong leader, much stronger than people expect. When his back is to the wall, he stands up. He is not a penalty taker but the way he took them against Spurs tells you a lot about his character.”

Booyah.

Gilberto also said some stuff about the difficult games to come:

It’s important to show we can play without Thierry. We have big games coming up and we have won a derby now so have confidence for these games.

I am proud of the result we got against Tottenham. It’s always a hard game and but we knew what we had to do to win and showed 100 per cent spirit to win every ball. That is the spirit we need to show now,” said Gilberto, who added that while a title challenge looks beyond Arsenal now, they must not give up hope.

We need to be realistic, the gap is too big at the moment, and it won’t be easy because the top two teams don’t drop points at the moment. But we just need to do the best we can, like we did against Spurs, and then we will see.

We made our job easier because everybody fought for the result – when everybody thinks the same way like we did on Saturday then things come easier.

If you look at the age of the team we have a lot of young players and they believe in me and have a lot of respect for me.

It’s good because during the game I try to help them as much as they can, but they help me by responding. And that’s what makes a team.

Well said, that man.

Source

Gilberto shouldered a mountain of responsibility in Saturday win over Tottenham on Saturday.

The absence of Thierry Henry meant the Brazilian not only took the captain’s armband but also the penalty-taking duties. Gilberto had missed a seemingly vital spot-kick at Manchester United in September so you could forgive him a few nerves as he stepped up in dying seconds of the first half. Keeper Paul Robinson went the right way but Gilberto’s placement was perfect. He then sent the England No 1 the wrong way with a game-clinching second penalty 18 minutes from full time.

“I enjoy taking them,” he admitted afterwards. “Normally it is Thierry who does it but he wasn’t there. When he is not there I take them.

“It’s the type of thing I enjoy. When I have missed one in the past I just needed to keep going because it’s all part of football.

“But I must say with the second one I asked other players if they wanted to take it but they left the responsibility to me.”

Responsibility, of course, is all part of being captain. With Dennis Bergkamp and Sol Campbell departing, Gilberto was a natural choice for vice-captain at the start of the current campaign.

“You can see the age of the team,” he said. “We have a lot of young players. I feel all of them believe in me and have a lot of respect for me.

“It’s good because during the game I try to help them as much as I can. But at the same time they help me because they respond to what I say on the pitch.

“I’m very happy and proud for the result we got. We knew it would be a very hard and tough game but we came to the game to win. We were 100 per cent in every ball.

“This is the spirit we need to continue our job and see what we can do.”

Gilberto scores twice against Spurs

Gilberto captained Arsenal to a 3-0 win against London rivals Tottenham on Saturday. Gilberto scored two penalties in the game, and played very well indeed. Both penalties were quite controversial; the first one should not have been given at all. However, Gilberto coolly slotted away the first penalty into the bottom left corner, and the second one into the bottom right corner. Adebayor scored Arsenal’s first of the game with a great one-on-one with Spurs keeper, Paul Robinson.

Gilberto was yellow carded in the match for fouling Jermaine Jenas. It was a fabulous (ie. illegal) challenge (ie. rugby tackle): so if possible, try and catch it on the highlights.

It’s his first ever Brace for Arsenal – Go Bert!