Gilberto has recovered from his calf injury which kept him out of the FA Cup game against Bolton.
Gilberto will replace Abou Diaby in midfield against West Ham on Wednesday night.
Wenger quite simply said, and I quote, “Gilberto’s back”. Can’t argue with that.
Read more Arsenal injury news here: http://www.arsenal.com/article.asp?article=359010
Speaking of Arsenal’s FA Cup game on Saturday, Wenger said “Gilberto is a big doubt because of a calf problem,”.
I think that he picked up the injury in the extra-time of the Wigan game. This is purely guess work, as I don’t really know anything about the injury, but I have to write something here.
Gilberto has no history of a calf problem, so let’s hope the injury goes away in time for the West Ham game on Feb 1st.
http://www.arsenal.com/article.asp?article=353877
Gilberto believes Arsenal have a duty to make a success of this season — for the sake of Highbury.
The Club have been at the ground since 1913 but that time is rapidly passing. Depending on cup draws there are a maximum of 14 first-team games remaining at the famous old ground. But if Arsenal were to be knocked out of the Champions League and the FA Cup at the next stage, then there are as few as 10 matches left.
Gilberto feels the memory of Highbury must act as an inspiration for the remainder of the campaign.
“I think everyone will miss the atmosphere here,†said the 29-year-old. “At the beginning of the season we wanted to bring the title back to Highbury especially as it is the last season here. We know it is very difficult but we will keep going until the last opportunity.
“We are not happy with the position we are in at the moment. We want push a little bit more and get higher in the table.â€
Gilberto was speaking after the 7-0 victory over Middlesbrough on Saturday. The 29-year-old grabbed the fifth goal himself. It was a confidence-boosting win that put Arsenal within three points of the Champions League places. But just as importantly, the football produced by the home side was as good as anything seen under Arsène Wenger.
“When we have everyone available, fit and concentrated like today, it is very difficult to beat Arsenal,†said Gilberto.
“Since I came here, the Club has tried to play the way we did today. If you compare [our game] to other clubs in the Premiership it is completely different. I have never seen any club play the same way we play. This makes a difference.
“Now we want to push on and show everyone who said that Arsenal are not as strong as before. After Patrick’s departure, people said a lot of that. But it’s not true and we showed it today.â€
Gilberto played well against an appauling Middlesbrough side – and he scored!
Click the video icon to download his goal in .avi format:
It was a well taken goal – and even though the Boro keeper should have saved it, Gilberto did well to rise up to shoot on target. That’s his first of the season… well played, Berty Boy.
Here is what Gilberto fans are saying about his performance:
Gilberto put more miles in today than I have seen in a long while.
He didn’t have much to do, but he worked very hard… maybe he feels threatened by the new signings.
Well done Gilberto – a good bounce-back after the dodgy performance against Wigan!
Gilberto was interviewed by Arsenal.com, here is the article:
Gilberto believes the Carling Cup Semi-Final Second Leg will be very different to last night’s 1-0 defeat at Wigan.
Arsenal edged the first half at the JJB Stadium but were on the retreat after the break. The crucial goal came 12 minutes from time by debutant Paul Scharner.
It leaves Arsène Wenger’s side with work to do but, according to the captain last night, the odds will be stacked in Arsenal’s favour for the return rubber on February 24.
“I am really confident,†said Gilberto. “The next game against Wigan will be completely different to tonight’s.
“We did not play our best. It is very hard when you do that and you play against a side with experience who want to get to the Final. But the situation for this game was different. They played at home in front of their supporters so they wanted to push a little bit more.
“We are very disappointed about this result because we want to reach the Final of the Carling Cup. But we have a chance to get through because we play the next game at Highbury and there will be a fantastic atmosphere.â€
Wenger sent out a squad side at the JJB Stadium, partly through injuries partly to rest senior players after the intense festive fixtures. Gilberto felt the performance was more important than the personnel.
“It is sometimes quite difficult playing with a young team against an experienced side like Wigan,†he said. “But we played here before [in November] and we had a lot of difficulty winning the game even with an experienced side.
“This is a Semi-Final. It is a big game and we played with a young side. Maybe we missed some experienced players. Maybe we would have won with them, maybe not – that is football.
“We will see what is going to happen now [for the Second Leg]. If we play with our more experienced players then we should not lose the game, but if it is a day when you do not play your best then it does not matter if you play experienced players or the young.
“The most important thing is that you play your best.â€
This is the way Gilberto makes some frustrated Arsenal fans feel:
Gilberto though was something else. He looked like it was his first ever game of football. It was embarrassing watching him in the second half he was that bad. He gave the ball away all the time, missed tackles, missed headers, fell over his own feet. Truly horrible to watch and the sort of insipid, lackadaisical performance he’s put in on more than a few occassions [sic] this season. And he was captain as well? If he can’t be arsed to play the way he played against United because it’s Wigan in the semi of the lowly Carling Cup well he can fuck off. His performance tonight was to football what Phil Collins is to music. If it had been a dog there would have been a queue of people round the corner ready to put it out of its misery.
-Arseblog Editor, Jan 11
This critique is obviously very harsh – but we do have to ask ourselves, why does Gilberto find it so hard to turn on his good form?
It’s especially frustrating for Gilberto fans though, because this should have been a massive night in Gilberto’s football career. He was first team Arsenal captain in a Semi-Final, and he still put in a bad performance.
Some fans said Gilberto played okay, but okay isn’t enough when you are captaining young players in such an important game.
We all know how well Gilberto can play at times – let us pray that he can recapture his good form – and more importantly, capture it with some degree of consistency, starting with Middlesbrough FC this Saturday.
Come on Gilberto, be the player we all know you can be. (The good version, I mean).
Tonight’s weak Arsenal team will take on Wigan in the Carling Cup tonight. Arsenal.com shows that Gilberto Silva will be playing among the youngsters.
A news source said:
While Thierry Henry, Sol Campbell and Jens Lehmann are again rested, Gilberto will captain the side as he did in the last round against Doncaster.
The game will be shown on Sky Sports – be sure to catch Mr Silva with his Captain armband on.
Gilberto back to form
Gilberto tackles Van Nistelrooy
Gilberto was back from the injury that kept him out of the 0-0 draw at Aston Villa on New Years Eve (due to a groin strain) – but he was back in the team last night.
Arsenal took on Manchester United on the 3rd of January, and Gilberto was partnering Cesc Fabregas in the middle of the Gunners midfield.
Gilberto takes John O’Shea from behind
The game ended in a 0-0 stalemate, but Gilberto was hailed by Arsenal fans.
Gilberto bossed the midfield, and put in a lot of great tackles. He even had a shot on target which was blocked:
Here are some Gunners’ views on Gilberto’s game:
Gilberto was flying in with tackles! Good performance.
The last two times Gilberto has played, he seems to have improved a bit. Dare I say it, we missed him against Aston Villa.
Did anyone else notice what a difference it makes when Gilberto actually passes the ball forward? He was bringing Pires and Lauren into the attack very well, in my opinion. And I’m hoping today’s performance will return some of his confidence. He seemed ponderous while on the ball in our previous matches, but I feel that with van Persie back soon (hopefully), this can contribute to a revival of sorts.
The next Gilberto-question is: will he play against Cardiff this Saturday in the FA Cup? Whatever the answer is, I’d like to say….
Well done, Gilberto!