Gilberto WILL start
April 2, 2005
Highbury will offer a special welcome to Gilberto tomorrow. After more than six months out with a fractured vertebrae, the Brazilian is set to resume his role in central midfield.
It is fair to say that absence has made Arsenal hearts grow fonder of the quiet, efficient and affable 28-year-old. However his manager never needed convincing.
“Gilberto is a quiet guy,†said Arsène Wenger. “He never wants special attention but people forget he is a world champion.
“Sometimes there are players who have a real team attitude – a discreet one, not a flashy one — and sometimes these kinds of players are not rated as much as they should be.
“The positive thing [about his time out] is that when he did not play people realised how important he was.
“Gilberto makes the game fluent and simple. He does the cleaning work and that is always important in the house.
“At the same time I would not want to diminish the merits of Mathieu Flamini and Cesc Fabregas. We have still had a reasonable season because they have done very well. That was unexpected. But at some stage, when we did not have Edu, Gilberto and Vieira, we were very young.â€
And for all their abundant abilities, there is one thing Flamini and Fabregas do not have — height. (Though, at 17, the Spaniard is still growing). Wenger believes the lack of another strapping six-footer in the Arsenal area has hindered his side in defending set-pieces.
“Gilberto is good in the air and some stage we were a little bit too small,†said the manager. “You suffer a bit less on set-pieces when you have Gilberto and Vieira in there.
“If you look at the statistics, we are one of the teams with the least crosses against us but the percentage we have conceded on crosses is three times higher than any other team. That means we were not always able to compete with their size.
“For example Charlton had something like 97 crosses against and we had 36 but we conceded the same amount of goals on headers. In this area Gilberto’s absence has played a big part.â€
Vieira ruled out but Gilberto will start
Arsène Wenger will conduct a midfield merry-go-round on Saturday. Just as Gilberto returns to the first-team after a long absence, Patrick Vieira is ruled out with a hip problem.
The Brazilian’s return to the starting line-up has far greater significance than the absence of the Frenchman. Gilberto has been out since mid-September with a fractured vertebrae while Vieira is likely to be sidelined for “two or three daysâ€.
Thierry Henry returns to the squad after his calf problem but in-form Philippe Senderos has been ruled out with a minor thigh injury.
“We do not have Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Vieira, Philippe Senderos and Sol Campbell tomorrow,†said Wenger.
“Philippe has a very slight thigh muscle problem that will be only two or three days. Patrick has a hip problem and that will be two or three days as well. Also Dennis still has his calf problem and Edu has his cartilage.
“However Thierry is fit and Gilberto will play.â€