Gilberto plays in Man Utd defeat
April 14, 2008
Gilberto took part in Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat to Man United at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Though the press seem to be pretty unanimous in their opinion that Arsenal played well, they are completely divided on how Gilberto played. Some say that he was ineffectual in stopping Ronaldo (a strange criticism, considering Gilberto plays centrally and Ronaldo plays out wide), and others say that he was one of Arsenal’s most solid players.
I think he did a good job in helping the two centre backs – one of whom was the unproven Alexander Song. Having Gilberto just in front of the defence definitely helped reduce the threat of Man United – and indeed, the only way Man United were a threat turned out to be via a penalty and a set piece.
A note on the set piece: Gilberto was judged to have given away the free kick which led to Man United’s winner; but supporters on both sides of the Arsenal/United border seem to be agreeing that it was never a free kick – so Bert was unlucky there. Despite that though, Hargreaves did score the resulting kick, and a mighty strike it was, too. Gilberto was also in the wall for the free kick – and many people have noted that the wall failed to jump after Hargreaves struck it. I do agree with this. In fact, everyone in the stadium seemed to be sure that Ronaldo was going to take the kick – from Lehmann, to Gilberto, to every fan in the stadium, and probably to Ronaldo himself. So when Hargreaves actually struck it, it took the wall completely by surprise. (For what it’s worth.)
So, onwards. Gilberto will continue to play during Flamini’s absence. If Flamini hadn’t been injured on Sunday, Gilberto probably would have probably still played at centre back instead of Song.
Arsenal’s season is over – but in a strange way, Gilberto’s might just be starting.
Go Bert.