Invisiblewall.net: Gilberto Silva News

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,277-1563843,00.html

Gilberto resolves to click back into place
By Gary Jacob
IT DID NOT TAKE Arsenal’s slump to illustrate to Arsène Wenger the importance of Gilberto Silva. The Arsenal manager has always appreciated his inconspicuous work in protecting the defence and it was not by chance that cracks opened in the team during the midfield player’s absence because of a back injury.

Arsenal were top of the league, seemingly imperious, when Gilberto played his last match before injury in September. When he returned, more than six months later, he found them endeavouring to scrape into second place and reach the FA Cup Final, an ambition that hinges on their semi-final against Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.

The Brazil international has been the man most missed by Arsenal this season — even if this sounds surprising to some supporters who have never warmed to his anchoring play. Statistics support the case: he has been on the losing side only five times in 69 league matches for the club. Little wonder that Wenger is to offer him a three-year extension to his contract, which has one year remaining.

“It was a coincidence (Arsenal’s dip in form), and in one way it was good that the people appreciated me when I was out, but I would have preferred to be playing,” Gilberto said. “When you can’t do what you normally do, it is very frustrating.”

In Gilberto’s absence, it was a difficult period for Arsenal and they have never fully healed from the scars that Manchester United inflicted upon them, first in ending their 49-match unbeaten record in the league, then their title challenge. Depending on the semi-final results, some redemption could come against United in the Cup Final. “People remember who wins, never who is second,” he said. “The season has been very hard because some of the important players have been injured. We are still strong, we need to carry on and if we win the FA Cup, the season will not be a disaster.”

Gilberto is warm, relaxed and quick to smile. Yet mention his back injury and he turns reflective. He sustained the problem on the opening day of the season, but it was seven more matches before a second scan showed that he had a fractured vertebra. There was a chance that the injury could have ended his career.

“I felt pain every day during training, but I wanted to help the team,” Gilberto said. “But it got worse, until one day I woke up and I couldn’t tie up my trainers, so I thought this is enough for me, something is wrong.”

He received conflicting advice about whether he needed an operation, but opted instead to spend two months recuperating in Brazil, where he had to wear a body brace to support his back. He has returned looking leaner, with a thicker shock of hair, and with even more vigour to help out at Street League, an expanding project that enables the homeless to play football. “I was always positive in my recovery. Sometimes I felt pain and complained about the brace, but my family said: ‘Be patient it is going to be OK’,” he said.

“But it was difficult as I didn’t see any games, I didn’t follow the team, stopped watching football. Some of my friends told me the results. I thought if I watched and thought about football, maybe it will take me longer to recover. But I think I made the best choice just to focus on my recovery. Had I not done that, it may have been worse.”