Silva bullet! GILBERTO: WE LACK REAL LEADERS

GILBERTO SILVA admits it is hard to watch his beloved Arsenal struggling less than two decades after he and his Gunners pals ruled supreme. The Brazilian arrived in north London a World Cup winner in 2002 and a year later he had carved his name into English football’s history books as a Double winner and Invincible.

He went on to win a second FA Cup under Arsene Wenger and helped the club reach the 2006 Champions League Final where they were beaten 2-1 by Barcelona. Arsenal supporters would give their right arms to be in Europe’s top cup competition these days, let alone reaching the final.

And many would give their left ones for Gilberto to still be in their team because the quality, steel and quiet authority he brought as a defensive midfielder are exactly what they are lacking now . Gilberto (above) said: “In our time, we had so many leaders on and off the pitch. “Everyone spoke through their body language on the field and, honestly, in the few years this is last something I have seeing at Arsenal.

“From what I understand, they do have some guys who are the leaders of the team.

“But the hard thing for me to understand is to see exactly on the field how this leadership works out.

“It’s very tough to see the situation Arsenal are in and you can say that about the last few years.

“But I hope they can find a way to get back to the glory days.

“It’s going to be very hard work for everyone at the club – the board, the staff and the players – and they all must work together if they are to change the situation.”

Gilberto was surrounded by plenty of players who backed up technical ability with bottle – Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry, Sol Campbell, Kolo Toure and Dennis Bergkamp to name a few.

He added: “When things were not working well we expressed our frustration on the field – running, tackling, giving everything.

“Even though I didn’t talk loudly, the way I looked at the guys, they knew when I was frustrated.

“But if I had to receive any criticism from anyone else, it’s part of the situation. I didn’t have the really missed ability to score goals like Thierry but I understood my position and I always understood what was my role in the team.”

That isn’t always true of the current crop and the Brazilian believes young Matteo Guendouzi needs to decide what he wants to be.

Gilberto, the first goalscorer at The Emirates Stadium, said: “I like him. He seems a very interesting player.

“He has ability, he has pace to go forward.

“But sometimes I just feel a little bit confused about which position he plays.

“If he wants to be a like a No.6, to protect the back four, or a No.8 to go box-to-box. If he wants to be a No.6 he has to play simply and hold his body on the field.

“And he has to mind his temper, sometimes I see him a little bit nervous, and sometimes that seems unnecessary.

“He needs to just play his game – he has ability, he has quality.

“But don’t pay attention to some other things because when I see him play and suddenly he starts to get nervous in some situations and then he loses his focus.”