Invisiblewall.net: Gilberto Silva News

Goal.com runs an article about the midfield hole at Arsenal.

Wenger: I Don’t Need A New Midfielder
Arsenal gaffer Arsene Wenger has surprisingly played down the need to sign a new midfield battler…

The Gunners fans are generally of the opinion that, following the departures of midfield trio Gilberto Silva, Mathieu Flamini and Lassana Diarra, Arsene Wenger must bid big for a new central presence in January.

Barcelona midfielder Yaya Toure is perhaps the most high-profile player linked with an Emirates switch in the New Year, where he would link up with Ivory Coast team-mate and brother Kolo.

However, despite watching his side implode and throw away a two goal lead in the dying stages of the thrilling North London derby on Wednesday, en route to a 4-4 draw, Wenger remains bullish over the need to bolster his midfield.

The Frenchman said: “Another midfielder? I don’t know, because I feel that Denilson had another outstanding game today.

“In fact, when we conceded the [first] goal, we had our defensive midfielders on the pitch. We had [Alex] Song on the pitch, who is a defender and midfielder, when we conceded the two goals [late on].”

Instead, the boss just hopes that his young side can start to shape up quickly, before another shot at the Premiership title slips away. “The maturity problem will improve with intelligence,” he insisted. “They will learn from their mistakes.”

From Goal.com

After Panathinaikos drew 2-2 (having very nearly lost), Pana manager Ten Cate was questioned as to why he took Gilberto Silva off at half time.

When questioned about the withdrawal of midfield lynch-pin Gilberto Silva at half-time, Ten Cate said the Brazilian had a muscle concern and refused to link the result with his absence.

“We need to look in the mirror.” Ten Cate said.

“We are responsible for what happened today.

“We didn’t defend well.”

He added: “Everyone makes mistakes but in defense and goalkeeping they are always fatal.”

We’ll soon see how bad the injury is.

In an amazing article by The Sun, Denilson talks about his childhood, and notably about his relationship with Gilberto Silva:

“It was not easy for me at first. I came to England at 18 and really struggled to settle in. I was living alone, knew no one, could not speak the language and the weather was so cold.

“Everything was so different to back home in Brazil. I owed so much to Gilberto Silva. He was amazing.

“Even though he is older than me, he was always there for me with good advice and friendship.”

Search the internet and it is not difficult to find footage of a sheepish Denilson singing and dancing as Gilberto and fellow Brazilian Julio Baptista play the banjo.

Denilson, who has started 13 games in Europe and the Premier League this season, added: “All the other players think it’s very funny.

“They all say to me, ‘I’ve seen you dancing’.

“I was sad to see Gilberto leave Arsenal at the start of the season because he is such a good friend.

“But, at the same time, I was also excited because I knew that with Gilberto, Mathieu Flamini and Alex Hleb all going it was a great opportunity for me.

Panathinaikos FC’s UEFA Champions League campaign starts now according to Henk Ten Cate as the Greek side attempt to get off the mark in Group B, facing Werder Bremen at the OACA Spiro Louis Stadium.

Midfielders back
Ten Cate, who has Gilberto available after international duty and midfield talisman Giorgos Karagounis back to fitness, saw his side fail to break down PAOK FC in a goalless Super League draw on Sunday. Yet the former Chelsea FC assistant coach can take heart from Bremen’s tendency to underperform on their travels.

From UEFA.com

Player Ratings: Brazil 0-0 Colombia
Brazil returned to their old ways, with another highly disappointing goalless draw, this time with Colombia at the legendary Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday night. Goal.com rates the performers…

Gilberto Silva – 5.0: Worked hard in the middle of the park, but was rather slow when distributing the ball. Found it tough matching the speed of his opponents.

From Goal.com

Goal.com Reports:

Lucio: They Tried To Poison Us!

Brazil had no problems overcoming Venezuela at the weekend, running out 4-0 winners. However, defender Lucio claims the team were intentionally poisoned ahead of the game.

The Bayern Munich centre back complained of a stomach ache and had to be sick during the half time interval. He wasn’t the only one with Maicon, Gilberto Silva and Elano also affected. To blame was coffee served to the team back in their team hotel.

The Brazilian team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar has diagnosed food poisoning, but failed to point the finger of blame at anybody in particular. Lucio however was more forthright in his opinion when speaking to the Brazilian newspaper ‘Zero Hora’.

“It was an attempt to harm the Brazil team” he said. “If that was their intention, then it didn’t work because it just made us even more motivated” he added.

It wasn’t just the unsavoury coffee that caused Carlos Dunga’s side distress. According to reports in ‘Zero Hora’ the hotel employees in the Caracas hotel made a tremendous amount of noise, while the squad were also forced to wait inside their aeroplane for 90 minutes on landing in Venezuela.

The good news though is that team doctor Lasmar has given all those affected a clean bill of health for their next game on Wednesday against Columbia.

From Goal.com

Three goals in the opening 20 minutes set Brazil on their way to a comfortable victory at Venezuela. Both teams played some breathtaking attacking football but the two goalkeepers also had a blinder of a game. Goal.com rates the performers on the pitch.

Gilberto Silva – 7.5: Never needed any more than two touches or three seconds on the ball to connect defence to attack. A textbook performance on how to become the perfect defensive midfielder.

From Premiership Latest:

Brazil coach Dunga has revealed Gilberto Silva was hurt when the former Arsenal midfielder was denied chance to become the Gunners permanent captain.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger handed the captain’s armband to William Gallas at the start of 2007-08 campaign following Thierry Henry’s departure to Barcelona, going against popular perception that Gilberto was the man to step into Henry’s shoes on a permanent basis after being the stand-in skipper when the French maestro was injured in the 2006-07 campaign.

Gilberto Silva, who then turned down chance to lead Brazil, is now playing for Greek club Panathinaikos since summer’s free transfer.

“Beyond being a great player, he is a great man,” Dunga is quoted as saying in Mail Online.

“There was a time I gave him the captain’s armband and he immediately said to me: “It is for Lucio. He deserves it. I had the same situation at Arsenal and I wasn’t happy.”

“That shows what kind of man he is and how much he worries about his team-mates.”

Gilberto is the best.

The Daily Mail also reports this story.

I can’t believe that Juventus are still being linked to Gilberto even though Bert has now moved to Panathinaikos.

Goal.com reports:

Juventus are looking to ruffle feathers in January’s transfer window as they are planning a major spending spree, according to Il Corriere Dello Sport.

Jean Claude Blanc and transfer chief Alessio Secco have added a number of names on their list and they include Inter’s Dejan Stankovic, who is benchwarming in Milan. Tottenham’s Luca Modric is also a target as is Gilberto Silva of Panathinaikos.

Brazil coach Dunga has reworked his squad ahead of their World Cup qualifiers with Venezuela and Colombia.

Injuries to Chelsea’s Alex and Julio Baptista of Roma have forced Dunga to bring in fresh face.

Hamburg defender Silva and Internacional winger Alex are the players called into the party – which does include Kaka, who only recently returned to training with Milan.

Earlier this week Inter Milan’s Adriano was called up to replace the injured Luis Fabiano.

Squad in full

Julio Cesar (Inter Milan), Doni (Roma), Maicon (Inter Milan), Daniel Alves (Barcelona), Lucio (Bayern Munich), Juan (Roma), Thiago Silva (Fluminense), Silva (Hamburg), Kleber (Santos), Juan (Flamengo), Gilberto Silva (Panathinaikos), Josue (Wolfsburg), Lucas (Liverpool), Anderson (Manchester United), Elano (Manchester City), Kaka (AC Milan), Mancini (Inter Milan), Alex (Internacional), Adriano (Inter Milan), Jo (Manchester City), Pato (AC Milan), Robinho (Manchester City).

Source: Sky Sports