Invisiblewall.net: Gilberto Silva News

From the worst newspaper in the world

Brazil team-mate and ex-Arsenal midfielder Gilberto Silva has told the unsettled Samba star he needs to embrace English culture to fully enjoy the Premier League.

Midfielder Gilberto, 33, was a Gunner for six years and now plays for Panathinaikos in Greece.

He said: “The biggest advice I can give Robinho to adapt to England is to learn the language.

“That is one of the most important things. It opens up so many more opportunities.

“Then learn how the game works there. I think he’s learned that and I think his English has improved. We do speak.

“Kaka is another Brazilian who speaks English and we all speak together in English sometimes. We even do it in a fun way.”

Gilberto added: “In the last few weeks, Robinho’s been receiving treatment for his injury.

“He’s concerned because he wants to play for City and for Brazil but he looks all right now.

“Of course, when these kind of rumours come out – are you going to stay, are you going to leave – the player tries not to get involved and to avoid this conversation.

“If people interpret comments, it can turn another way. So we are avoiding this topic.”

From FTBL:

Greek League: Katsouranis Could Overtake Gilberto Silva in Ranking of Midfielders

Panathinaikos’ Konstantinos Katsouranis (pictured right) will be in a position to topple Brazilian Teammate Gilberto Silva as the #1 in the FTBL ranking of midfielders in the Greek top league when the Greeks take on Ukraine in World Cup 2010 playoffs in the coming days.

In the two playoff games, Katsouranis, who has an overall FTBL score of 76.22 points at the moment, will face planks of 4 and 14 rating points, respectively. That means he should be in a position to at least catch up with Gilberto Silva (84.4 points) after the first game.

In addition, the # 3 in the ranking, Giorgios Karagounis (57.67 points), also of Panathinaikos, will likewise be in a position to close the gap with Katsouranis: he will go into the matches with lower planks of 1.8 and 7.9 points to beat.

From Tim Vickery’s excellent column for the BBC.

He’s having a go at Gilberto still! Good to know some things never change. Here’s the reprinted article:

Brazil coach Dunga is fiercely loyal to his group of players – which is hardly surprising.

When he was appointed after the last World Cup, this novice coach was widely seen as a short-term solution, a poor man’s Luiz Felipe Scolari keeping the seat warm while the real thing was unavailable.

Instead of which, Dunga and his band of men have, bar last year’s Olympics, won everything in their path – they have claimed the Copa America, Confederations Cup and finished top of South America’s World Cup qualification table.

Dunga, then, stands by those who have stood by him – none more so than Gilberto Silva. The more his central midfielder is criticised, the more firmly his name is written on the team-sheet.

Arsenal, he said a few months back, have become a ‘timeco’ since they let Gilberto Silva go.

It is not a word that lends itself to an easy translation, but it is not at all complementary – it means a small, insignificant, rubbish team – and hardly seems an appropriate term for the dash and fluency of Arsene Wenger’s side. Surely this is taking loyalty too far.

Gilberto Silva is a player with many virtues – and can point to a truckload of titles to back them up. He is also by all accounts an excellent dressing room influence, the kind of person who naturally puts team above self. And the fact that he was willing to accept responsibility to take Arsenal’s penalties speaks well for his strength of character.

One of the great things about football – a key part in the game’s global success – is that in can be interpreted in different ways. We can all have our own preferences for certain styles and approaches.

And, for what it’s worth, I find it somewhat depressing that Gilberto Silva stands by to represent Brazil in central midfield for the 84th time against England this weekend.

One of my most enriching experiences was to talk football with the late Zizinho, Pele’s idol and the star player from the 1950 World Cup. Having played through a period of intense tactical development in Brazilian football, he was obsessed with different formations. In 1985, he published an autobiography.

The last words were as follows. In Brazil, he argued, “the cabeca-de-area [midfielder who sits in front of the centre backs], a man who can control 70% of his team’s possession, has now been given the specific function of destroying, when it should be to set up the play.”

I’m with Zizinho on this one. Effectively, centre backs have often been played in front of the centre backs – a trend which has reached its logical conclusion with Gilberto Silva, originally a centre back, enjoying such a long international career in midfield.

It is because of this development that Brazil are no longer as attractive to watch. They can still count on fabulous individual skill. But with guard dogs in place of artists in such a key position, their game seldom flows as sweetly as it used to when Clodoaldo, Falcao or Toninho Cerezo set the moves in motion.

The other side, though, has a very powerful argument in its favour. Brazil went 24 years without winning the World Cup. The titles, at all levels, started piling up once more when they closed down the centre of the pitch.

The physical development of the game, it is argued, mean that it is no longer possible to waltz through the middle of the field as the 1970 team did when becoming the best in the world – and the 1982 side did while losing it.

It is a respectable line of thought. Dunga has even gone as far to suggest that calls for Brazil to return to a more traditional approach are part of a European plot to ensure that his country stops winning.

But evidence from this year’s youth tournaments suggests that Brazil’s model, so successful over recent years, might be tiring.

In the final of the World Under-20 Cup, Brazil lost on penalties to Ghana, after being unable to break down an opponent that played with 10 men for some 80 minutes. At Under-17 level, the story was far, far worse. The group phase eliminated just six of the 24 teams – Brazil were among them.

Both teams were rich in individual talent. The Under-17s were widely seen as Brazil’s most promising team at the level for some time. Both, though, filled central midfield with proto-Gilberto Silva figures – giant, dogged, limited, holding the fort to free the full-backs and unable to contribute anything imaginative to the build-up.

This, of course, is the principal criticism levelled at Gilberto Silva – his passes are usually slow and to the side. At 33, though, the defensive side of his game may have lost something.

It is fascinating that Wenger chose to get rid of him so early. Part of this, I would imagine, is that once Fabregas became the king of the midfield another partner was needed – and Silva lacks the pass and move game to accompany him. But also – and I would love a response on this from Arsenal fans – I wonder if the change of home ground had anything to do with it.

The Emirates pitch is much bigger than Highbury, and maybe Wenger came to the conclusion that the Brazilian was no longer mobile enough to cover it. If there have been times over the last few years when Arsenal have looked like a ‘timeco’, it would probably be when Gilberto was on the field in his final season with the club.

Of course, at that point the veteran was hampered by a lack of regular first-team action.

He is a better player than he looked in some of those final games for Arsenal. And Brazil don’t have a Fabregas for him to accompany. Indeed, as they look to launch the counter-attack, they often sit so deep that there is little room between him and the centre backs, and consequently less space for him to cover.

With his experience, defensive awareness and personal qualities, Gilberto Silva remains an important part of Dunga’s Brazil. Player and coach have picked up titles together, but the real test is coming in South Africa next year.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Loukas Vyntra and Djibril Cisse scored Sunday for Panathinaikos to win 2-0 at Levadiakos and take the outright lead in the Greek league.

Panathinaikos broke the deadlock in the 66th, when Vyntra headed in a corner taken by Sotiris Ninis. Cisse made it 2-0 in the 80th from a cross by Brazil midfielder Gilberto Silva to score his seventh goal of the season.

Panathinaikos has 28 points, two more than defending champion Olympiakos, which drew 1-1 at home with Iraklis on Saturday.

Also Sunday, it was: Asteras 3, Giannena 0; Atromitos 0, Ergotelis 0 and Xanthi 1, Panionios 2.

Seeking a win in order to take advantage of Olympiakos’ draw, Panathinaikos attacked from the kickoff and squandered a major chance when a shot by Cisse in the fifth minute hit the post.

The France striker, who moved to Panathinaikos this season from Marseilles, had another scoring opportunity in the 22nd when he shot wide from the six-meter (yard) area.

Levadiakos, struggling to avoid relegation, defended stoutly but failed to create much in attack. The hosts’ best chance came in the 74th, when a blistering shot by Stefano Napoleoni forced goalkeeper Alexandros Tzorvas to palm the ball over the crossbar.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Loukas Vyntra and Djibril Cisse scored Sunday for Panathinaikos to win 2-0 at Levadiakos and take the outright lead in the Greek league.

Panathinaikos broke the deadlock in the 66th, when Vyntra headed in a corner taken by Sotiris Ninis. Cisse made it 2-0 in the 80th from a cross by Brazil midfielder Gilberto Silva to score his seventh goal of the season.

Panathinaikos has 28 points, two more than defending champion Olympiakos, which drew 1-1 at home with Iraklis on Saturday.

Also Sunday, it was: Asteras 3, Giannena 0; Atromitos 0, Ergotelis 0 and Xanthi 1, Panionios 2.

Seeking a win in order to take advantage of Olympiakos’ draw, Panathinaikos attacked from the kickoff and squandered a major chance when a shot by Cisse in the fifth minute hit the post.

The France striker, who moved to Panathinaikos this season from Marseilles, had another scoring opportunity in the 22nd when he shot wide from the six-meter (yard) area.

Levadiakos, struggling to avoid relegation, defended stoutly but failed to create much in attack. The hosts’ best chance came in the 74th, when a blistering shot by Stefano Napoleoni forced goalkeeper Alexandros Tzorvas to palm the ball over the crossbar.

Source: Times Online

Brazil: a potent mix of silk and steel
Once again the tournament favourites, the rejuvenated South American side combines enormous flair with pragmatism

“It is a team in which everyone is fighting for each other,” explains Gilberto. “A team that will never give up. Just look at the Confederations Cup. You see the final against the USA — we had quite an easy game against them in the first stage and the final was really hard. But we turned the situation around because everyone fought. We have a quality and play with real intelligence.”

It was an abrasive, high-risk strategy, so when the 2007 Copa America was won without the required degree of élan and the Olympic side collected only bronze, Dunga’s detractors demanded his sacking. “For any manager, it was not going to be easy to build up a team after the big depression of 2006,” says Gilberto. “When he took charge there were so many people who did not believe in him — in the press, among other managers. Even though we won the Copa America the criticism was there, and many people on the outside were not optimistic about what we could achieve.”

On the inside, though, Dunga’s methods impressed. He offered every player an equal opportunity, easing their passage into the squad, shielding them from external criticism and promising they would be retained if they performed. “He’s been very fair, honest with everyone and he’s a very simple guy to work with,” says Gilberto. “We have a nice person who supports us, who takes the pressure from us, but we know on the pitch we have to give something back in compensation.”

Gilberto has become a symbol of the Dunga era. Prematurely cast aside by Arsène Wenger during Arsenal’s 2007-08 League season, the holding midfielder bore heavy criticism as Brazil’s World Cup qualifying campaign stuttered in 2008. How, his detractors asked, could a player be first choice for Brazil when he wasn’t playing for his club side?

Clearly, what the team needed was more imagination in the middle of the park. Dunga suffered similarly after Brazil’s early exit from the 1990 World Cup and refused to buckle. Gilberto accepted a transfer to Panathinaikos, principally to sustain his international career. “I really thank him for the trust,” says the 33-year-old from his villa overlooking the Athenian coastline. “I missed a lot of games, but I think me and him have something in common as players. We’ve both been heavily criticised because we do a kind of job that people don’t understand is very important for the team. We are like the middle of the engine, but they think that because you play for Brazil you must do tricks like Robinho, go past players like Kaka, score like Luis Fabiano. What really matters is when the manager trusts in what you can provide for the team — as a person and a professional.”

When the yellow-clad engine warms up against England on Saturday, it will present a subtly different tone. Dunga’s Brazil are a big, physical side, defending in the European style from front-to-back. They score frequently on the counterattack yet have not forsaken Brazil’s traditional game.

“We have a mixture of many things,” argues Gilberto. “Maybe a few years ago Brazil were well known for keeping the ball, for possession, nice tricks. We still play this way but now we can change our style during the game. We can keep the ball, then suddenly we change for the counterattack. It’s almost like a killer instinct — we’ve got a chance, we score a goal.

“What’s important now is to keep our focus on a very high level. In 2006 nobody said we would not reach the final. I don’t know if we believed that, but maybe we relaxed a bit. We don’t want to let this situation develop in the group. If we lose focus we are in danger again. It’s what we are working to avoid.” Hold the front page. It’s Brazil who are in for the kill.

Source

SK Sturm Graz v Panathinaikos

Kostas Katsouranis’ goal earned Panathinaikos a 1-0 victory over Sturm Graz to move them within touching distance of a place in the last 32 of the Europa League.

Sturm continued to find life difficult as the half wore on and goalkeeper Christian Gratzei had his palms warmed by a cross-shot from Gilberto Silva after 27 minutes.

Player Ratings: Brazil 0-0 Venezuela
In what was supposed to be a celebration match for Brazil to wrap up the qualifiers, they were held to an exasperating stalemate. Goal.com rates the performers on the pitch.
15-Oct-2009 6:40:25 AM
Kaka – Brasil x Venezuela

Gilberto Silva – 7: With Lucas helping out with the dirty work, the captain was able to show more attacking intent than usual. Even had an attempt which came back off the post.

Source

He is a disciplinarian manager not scared to drop star players or ignore public opinion.

Cracking down on the indulgences of previous regimes, his tough style has led to early qualification for South Africa, leaving a nation convinced that they are going to win the World Cup.

Sounds familiar? Well, this is not Fabio Capello transforming England but former midfield star Dunga working his magic on Brazil.

Ironically, his Capello-style methods are the biggest threat to England next summer.

Just as with Capello’s team, a string of victories have allowed Brazil to use their final group games, against Bolivia and Venezuela, as preparation for the real thing in eight months.

They have also learned similar lessons to England from the last World Cup. While Capello has banished the WAGS, Dunga – still known by his childhood nickname rather than Carlos Caetano Verri – has got rid of the hangers-on that always seemed to follow Brazil.

The two managers will be able to compare their respective progress when England face Brazil in a high-profile friendly in Qatar on November 14.

For both countries, next year’s tournament is a chance to make amends for the disappointment of their efforts in Germany in 2006.

Brazil, then the defending champions, flew home after being beaten by France in the quarter-finals, England meekly going out at the same stage following another penalty shoot-out defeat, this time by Portugal.

Failure was bad enough for Sven Goran Eriksson’s squad but for Brazil it was close to disgrace. They had arrived in Germany full of hope but the magical quartet of Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Kaka and Adriano failed to click and some players blamed fatigue because of the off-field circus surrounding the squad. Former Arsenal midfielder Gilberto Silva, expected to be an important member of Dunga’s starting line-up happened in Germany.

‘We had an amazing team in 2006 but the preparation was terrible,’ he said. ‘There were so many people around us all the time, in training, in the hotel, everywhere. We never had any chance to relax and concentrate on our matches.

‘There was noise all the time. If we walked through the lobby or went to the main door, there would be cameras pointing at us, people wanting autographs. There was no escape.’

Next year will be different. Dunga will ensure neither fans nor media will be invited to training close to matches and the hotel will be off-limits to everyone, including wives and girlfriends, until after games.

Gilberto, who now plays for Panathinaikos in Greece, said: ‘Our fans are wonderful. Wherever we go in the world, they want autographs, they rush past the security guards to try to hug the players. It means a lot to them. But we also need our own space to play well. We have to learn from past mistakes.

‘Dunga talked to the players and we told him the problems from before. There are players in the 2006 squad like Kaka and myself who want it to be different in South Africa. We are in the World Cup to win it – not for a holiday. That is what it felt like in 2006.

‘As players, we make sacrifices to play for our country. So let’s do it properly. We can have a party afterwards, not before.

‘We don’t want agents in the hotel either. The transfer market is crazy around the time of a World Cup and the agents try to stick to us all the time. It can be distracting. The best thing for players is to stick with each other. The circus is over.’

Dunga’s no-nonsense approach to management is a logical extension of his playing days. He may have captained Brazil to their victory in the 1994 World Cup but he was the ultimate workhorse for the more flamboyant talents of players such as Romario.

Little surprise, then, that Dunga the coach has little time for those who let their country down in 2006. To the consternation of the powerful Brazilian media, his players now train behind closed doors, the samba stars are out and the piano carriers like Gilberto Silva and Felipe Melo in.

Instead of 35-yard Roberto Carlos style free-kicks, Brazil now score more goals from headed set-pieces than any international side in the world.

Four of their 10 strikes in the Confederations Cup group stages earlier this year were from dead-balls, while the winner in the final was from a corner.

Just as Michael Owen is not considered by Capello on reputation alone, neither Ronaldinho nor AC Milan boy wonder Alexandre Pato, 20, are in Dunga’s current squad and they are unlikely to make the plane to South Africa.

They are considered luxury items by the new regime, while Liverpool’s much-maligned midfielder, Lucas, 22, is in the 24-man group because of his work ethic. Gilberto, 33, who won the World Cup under Luiz Felipe Scolari in 2002, says the manager’s changes were vital, even if they might seem un-Brazilian.

And with the country on a sporting high after winning the right to host the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, two years after they host the World Cup, victory in South Africa has become imperative.

But Gilberto sees Capello’s side as a major rival, particularly with Steven Gerrard in England’s line-up.

‘Gerrard is my favourite England player and we were lucky he was injured for the 2002 World Cup. If he had been fit, England might have beaten us in the quarter-final. Let’s just say I was glad he was not there,’ said Gilberto.

‘He is one of the best midfielders in the world, if not the best, because you can never predict what he is going to do. He can attack and defend very well, and can pass and score goals. It is unusual to do everything well like that.

‘England were our hardest opponents in 2002, harder than Germany in the final. They will be one of our biggest challengers this year as well. Capello has the balance of the team right and they seem to be mentally stronger now. I can see a Brazil-England final.’

Balance is what Gilberto brings to Brazil, alongside Melo, 26, who joined Juventus from Fiorentina at the start of the season.

‘Everyone has our job to do in the team,’ said Gilberto. ‘My job is to help players like Kaka shine. If I can leave the field at the end of the game almost dead because I have worked so hard, I feel I have done my bit.

‘Then the fantastic players like Kaka have the chance to show what they can do. He could show himself to be the best player in the world next summer but he needs our help to do that.

‘Sometimes the job I do is not appreciated but if the manager knows what we do, it is OK. I have spoken to Lucas about this as well. He has had criticism in England with Liverpool but people should believe in him.

‘People think if you are Brazilian you should have tricks like Robinho or Ronaldinho, or score 25 goals every season. But you cannot have a whole team of players like that. We all have our job to do.’

The problem for Capello and Brazil’s 31 other rivals is that Dunga understands that team philosophy very well.

So while the football purists may miss out on a samba treat in South Africa, Brazil – officially the top-ranked team in the world – will be harder to beat than ever.

Read more: clicky

Source

RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) — Kaka, Luis Fabiano and Gilberto Silva stayed behind from the rest of the Brazilian national soccer team’s trip to face Bolivia.

Injuries kept the stars from participating in Sunday’s match. The three trained on Sunday at the Morenao stadium in Campo Grande, the site of the team’s next game in the South American World Cup qualifiers against Venezuela.

The national team will hold practice on Monday in Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul. The tree players took advantage of their time on Sunday to get to know the field, jog and take part in a light practice headed by the national team’s physical trainer, Fabio Mahseredjian.

Helton, a reserve goalie, also stayed behind but did not take part in Sunday’s practice.

After the match against Bolivia on Sunday, the Brazilian athletes will return to Brazil early on Monday morning.

After a light practice on Monday, the head coach of the national team, Dunga, will prepare an inter-squad scrimmage in order to observe his athletes and make a starting line-up for Wednesday’s game against Venezuela. Kaka, Luis Fabiano and Gilberto Silva are expected to be ready to play.

Source: ESPN

Finally, on Sunday, Brazil visit Bolivia. There is nothing riding on the match as Dunga’s team are comfortably at the top of the standings and the Bolivians have been out of contention for a long time.

Midfielder Gilberto Silva said: “Our motivation is to keep winning. I never want to lose. In the Brazil team you can’t relax.

“This time the qualification wasn’t as hard as in previous years but we’re all focused on winning these last two games to end in the best way.”