Invisiblewall.net: Gilberto Silva News

Source: Soccer 365

This is what Gilberto said earlier this week:

“I was excited when Atletico Mineiro sealed promotion back to the top division,” said the Samba King star. “If I receive such an invitation, it is logical to say ‘yes’ – for the affection, it would be an immense pleasure for me.”

“Such a proposal would be very welcome, but I know that this does not only depend on me.”

Despite all the headlines this week, this isn’t actually news. Gilberto has always said he would be interested in moving back to Brazil after his Arsenal career. (He’s been saying it for the last three years.)

Source

Following Robbie Savage’s broken leg, Gilberto has said a little bit about the whole Savage-Red-Card debate.

Here we go:

I feel sorry for Savage, because even with what he did against me, it’s not the kind of thing I would want for a fellow professional.

I wish him all the best and a good recovery so that he can come back quickly.

I don’t hold anything against him. But I’ve never tried to get someone sent off — and I think Savage tried to make me react as I did.

We have played against him many times and he has tried this with other players.

He tries to upset people on the pitch but we need to respect him. I wish him all the best because he’s a professional player.

You play football for 15 or 20 years but you never learn everything. It was a lesson for me. I should not have reacted.

The game had been stopped by the referee and, as I was preparing to get up, I felt a kick in my back.

I don’t understand why he kicked me. I know I was wrong to react as I did because we could have lost that game. With 10 men it’s even harder.

It’s been difficult to watch the games and come to the Emirates without being part of the team.

I was very down after the red card. I went straight to the dressing room and was very upset. In the second half I went to the lounge to watch the game although I didn’t want to. I was really annoyed with myself for the reaction I had.

I heard he broke his leg but I don’t hold anything against him.

He wants to play football and what happened with me is the kind of thing I want to forget.

I didn’t see him after the game. He didn’t call to apologise or anything — but I think as I was so upset maybe I didn’t want his apology.

But if he tries to say sorry to me, then, of course, I would accept that.

Of course, the games with Bolton and Wednesday’s semi-final second leg against Spurs are very important.

I still think we can win the Premiership but in case it doesn’t happen it’s important we win the domestic cups. But if you ask players in the squad how they feel, they will say they want to win everything.

We’re looking strong at the moment and that makes us believe in ourselves.

Bolton have some quality players and are quite physical in the way they play. The teams who play against them need to cope with that. We’ve had some nightmares at the Reebok but we can deal with that sort of game now.We have a young team but after a period of transition we’ve shown fantastic spirit and character.

The team look solid and strong now and the more we play the more confident we feel.

From the ever-great Arsenal-Mania.com:

Gilberto: We still want to win title

Arsenal midfielder Gilberto Silva, suspended for the match against Manchester United, says that his team are still targetting Premiership glory.

The Gunners are 15 points behind the leaders but that hasn’t stopped Gilberto from declaring that he is confident of making up the difference.

Gilberto said: “We need to take it step by step. To change our situation we have to win all 15 games we have remaining.

“Sunday will be very important for us. If we win, who knows what might happen. Maybe they could slip up, like we did in the 2002/03 season.

“We were 12 points ahead and then we dropped point after point and they caught up with us and won the league.

“But first of all we have to make sure we win our games, because unless we do that nothing can happen.”

On the front page of Arsenal.com today:

Gilberto will pay a heavy price for his red card at Blackburn but Arsène Wenger believes that his team can cope with the loss of their influential midfielder.

The Brazilian will miss the Premiership clash with Manchester United, the Carling Cup Semi Final first leg at Tottenham and the FA Cup tie against Bolton. However Wenger is confident that his squad will rise to the occasion once again.

“Gilberto will be missing but we feel that with the spirit and quality we have we can cope with that,” he said. “We have had three different teams in our last three games but produced the same quality. We are very proud of that at the Club.”

Wenger described Gilberto’s dismissal at Ewood Park as “harsh” but praised Robbie Savage following reports that the Rovers midfielder, whose foul provoked the Brazilian’s reaction, asked referee Rob Styles not to send the Arsenal midfielder off.

“It is very fair from him and if he has done that I thank him because from the outside the red card looked harsh,” said Wenger. “You have to accept it because Gilberto retaliated and really he should not have retalitated at all.

“Savage could have stayed on his feet but I think he realised he made more of it than he should have. He said to the referee ‘don’t send him off’ because I think he realised he should not have gone down.

“But if you ask the referee he will tell you he sent Gilberto off for retaliating and he will gain his case at the FA because [the rules say] it is a red-card offence.”

All the players will have to dig deep. At least Thierry Henry is back, and Fabregas is on form, which should go some way to counter the effect of Gilberto’s absence.

Gilberto started Arsenal’s game tonight against Blackburn, only to get sent off after fifteen minutes.

Gilberto clashed with Robbie Savage, who appeared to kick Gilberto twice, before Gilberto kicked back in frustration. Gilberto was shown a straight red car by Rob Styles, while Robbie Savage escaped with a yellow card. Commentators called the decision unfair on Gilberto – and I agree. By the book, it was a straight red card for Gilberto. But Robbie Savage was completely responsible for causing the reaction. He made two terrible lunges for the ball, both which should have received a yellow card each. Gilberto then lashed out at Savage, but received a red card for one foul. Savage flung himself on the floor like the Savage he is.

Arsenal went on to win the game 2-0, and Savage played like a girl. (Which is how he always plays.)

After the match, Arsene Wenger said he had spoken to Gilberto, who had said that he “did not make contact with Savage”. This is obviously not true, and if Gilberto claimed it, he is either lying, or being misquoted. Wenger called Gilberto “a very honest boy – a very honest man” – but despite Gilberto being hard done by, he has to be faulted for his lashing out at Savage, and certainly then saying that he did not.

Wenger said that it was very harsh on Gilberto to get sent off – and also that he will not appeal against the decision. This means that Gilberto will miss Arsenal’s next three games. They are against Manchester United, Tottenham and then Bolton. This is bad news for Arsenal, as these three teams are devilishly tricky. Flamini will have to step in for Gilberto while he is suspended.

A good Arsenal win marred by a bad day for Gilberto. At least Robbie Savage is having a worse day.

Edit: Wenger’s quotes have been published on Arsenal.com. They go like this:

on Gilberto’s red card…
“He will miss three matches. To me the red card looked harsh because the first foul was made by Savage. Gilberto reacted a bit too much because he was kicked after the referee had blown the whistle. Ideally he should not have reacted at all but he told me he didn’t touch Savage. There is not a lot we can do about it, we had to accept it and we gave the right response. We played 80 minutes with 10 men and still kept going forward every time we could.”

on a possible appeal against the sending off…
“Usually appeals don’t work when the referee has seen it so we could even get one game more! We don’t want to take that chance.”

on the ‘letter of the law’…
“I felt that Savage went in an aggressive way to Gilberto. I felt that if you send Gilberto off then you should send Savage off as well, although I need to see the incident again. The referee was very close to the action and decided to give Savage a yellow for the first foul, which he deserved. He applied the law to the letter, that means a red card for retaliation and a yellow for a bad foul, so he can defend his case. But in the spirit of the game I think both could have gone.”

Photos:

Gilberto on the ball

Gilberto kicked by the Savage one

Gilberto kicks out at Savage

Gilberto is restrained by Mcartney after lashing out

Gilberto squares up to Savage after the girly-haired one gets up

Gilberto shown red

Red from a different angle

Gilberto being consoled by Henry after being sent off:

Gilberto walks to the stands

Source

Gilberto is Arsenal.com player of the month!

I hope YOU voted. Because, if you DIDN’T…. well…. then… it doesn’t really matter, actually. Because Gilberto won Arsenal’s player of the month for December. He stormed the poll with 42% of the votes. Adebayor was in second place, with 20% of the votes.

In the words of Arsenal.com,

The industrious Brazilian excelled as stand-in captain in the absence of the injured Thierry Henry and enjoyed arguably his most productive month for the Gunners, scoring five goals.

The 30-year-old is not renowned for his potency in front of goal but he kicked off the month with two emphatic spot kicks in the North London derby as the Gunners put Tottenham to the sword.

Full involvement followed as Arsène Wenger’s side earned vital draws against Porto in the Champions League and against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. In the latter Gilberto made a crucial intervention to deny Didier Drogba a goal.

Perhaps his most important contribution however was in the 2-2 draw with Portsmouth at Emirates Stadium. Two goals down after 47 minutes, Gilberto pulled Arsenal level just moments after Emmanuel Adebayor had leapt off the bench to reduce the deficit.

That equaliser sparked a run which saw Gilberto score in three successive games as Blackburn and Watford both suffered the wrath of the free-scoring Samba star. It seemed everything that went right for Arsenal in December was in some way down to the deputising skipper.

Nice! Well done Big Bert. May your great form continue!

Did Gilberto foul Alonso?

Alonso denies ‘dive’ accusations

Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso insists he did not dive to win a penalty in the FA Cup loss by Arsenal.

Alonso was booked after going down over a Gilberto Silva challenge at 0-0 before the Gunners went on to win 3-1.

“I felt the contact, that is for sure,” said Alonso. “People who have watched it on TV have said it was a clear penalty and I felt that on the pitch.

“I was talking to the referee and Gilberto and I said to them there had been contact, that I didn’t cheat.”

He added: “I was trying to play with the ball and I fell down because of that contact – I was not cheating.”

Referee Steve Bennett immediately pulled out a yellow card for the Spanish midfielder and was only yards from the incident but Reds boss Rafael Benitez backed up Alonso.

“I felt it was a penalty early on when Xabi Alonso was brought down,” said Benitez.

“I was not happy with the yellow card for Alonso, the card was too quick. Sometimes you need to wait before making a decision that quickly.

“There was contact but it was not very clear. And if it is not clear then it should not be a yellow card.”

As an authority on the matter (…or not…), I can say that Gilberto did not foul Alonso. If Alonso was not in the penalty area, and Gilberto challenged Alonso in exactly the same way that he did, Alonso would not have fallen over. He went down under the ‘challenge’ because he was in the area. Alonso jumped up into the air, then decided to fall over, bent his legs, pointed his foot in the direction of Gilberto’s ankle to engineer a contact, then just fell to his knees after brushing Gilberto’s foot. Gilberto did not cause Alonso to fall over: Alonso caused Alonso to fall over. This means it was not a foul. It does not mean that it was a yellow card to Alonso though either; it just means that Alonso a fairy-boy, and that he must deal with this fact on a daily basis.

Arsenal Mania have a few nice quotes from Gilberto talking about the Brazil vs. Portugal game due to take place at Ashburton Grove:

“I’m lucky enough to play there with Arsenal and playing there back in September with Brazil was really special.

“It’s a great stadium to play in, the atmosphere is fantastic for all supporters and I’m really looking forward to the match.”

Gilberto will probably play in the game, but probably only for one half.

The game will take place on February 6th, and will be the second time Brazil have played at Arsenal’s stadium.

Click here for the match report of the first game.

…And click here for details of the Portugal game.

Exciting times for Gilberto, oh yes.

Source

Gilberto praised by Henry

Here is what Henry said about Gilberto:

We have won so many games while missing important players, so I think people should give credit to the players who deserve it.

Being out of the team injured for a few weeks has meant that I can see and hear things from a different perspective – and I do want to pay credit to Gilberto.

He has been an amazing player for Arsenal for years, but it seems like he has to score goals before he gets the credit he deserves.

I would say he has been our most consistent player this season, he is scoring goals, making vital tackles, and he deserves more credit.

Nice!

Gilberto was substituted after about 70minutes during the 4-0 thrashing of Charlton Athletic at the Emirates on Tuesday night. Apperently he was suffering a slightly tight groin before the game. Wenger stated in his press conference that he needs Gilberto for the FA cup game away to Liverpool on Saturday, and took him off as a precaution for the upcoming trip to Anfield. Let’s hope he is fit and has a great game, and maybe yet another goal to add to his impressive tally this season.