Gilberto: Arsene’s strength? He never lets players down
ARSENAL Invincible Gilberto Silva will never forget the patience and understanding shown by Arsene Wenger when the Brazilian initially struggled to make the transition from World Cup winner to Premier League ‘Dog of War’.
‘In Brazil, a central midfielder gets the ball and sometimes plays it to the side,’ says Gilberto. ‘In England, that’s not very useful. You have to play it forward. It was important for me to adapt.
‘Arsene identified this area in which I needed to improve my game and he came to me in a very good way to tell me this. We spoke privately, without anyone else knowing.
‘I think this is a very good way of managing. I have seen some managers expose their players in front of the others at training or say something publicly. He never did that with me.’
It is a story that helps to explain why there haven’t been many dissenting voices among Wenger’s former players as he celebrates his 20th anniversary at the club.
Gilberto played under Wenger from 2002-08, winning the Premier League, two FA Cups and reaching a Champions League final. Not bad for a defensive midfielder forced to use his ‘big brother’ and team-mate Edu as a translator when he first met up with Wenger at pre-season camp in Austria.
The contrast is stark between Wenger and Jose Mourinho, who fell out with some of his players at Real Madrid and has already pointed the finger at some individuals at Manchester United.
Gilberto, now 39 and the sporting director of Greek giants Panathanaikos, is sure Wenger’s way works best.
‘He took care of the person as well as the professional. It’s the way he is, the way he acts, and I think for the players it’s very good,’ he says.‘OK, we make mistakes and so do managers, we are human beings not machines. And football is very emotional with strong feelings. I never saw Arsene let his players down. If you expose people, you create such a bad atmosphere inside the dressing room, inside the club. It makes things hard for you.’
The one item missing off Wenger’s excellent c.v. is a European trophy and Gilberto believes that Wenger’s attacking instincts may have to be curtailed to change that.
‘The Champions League is a cup, like the World Cup,’ he says. ‘We had Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho in our 2002 team but first of all we had to be very careful and not concede goals. No small mistakes and from there, you give yourselves a chance.
‘The Champions League is Arsene’s biggest target now as he was very close 10 years ago.
Arsenal and Brazil legend Gilberto Silva will be returning to England this week to take part in the football industry’s Soccerex Global Convention in Manchester. Tomorrow, Gilberto will join former Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier and Southampton’s executive director Les Reed on a panel to discuss the roles that Academies can play at football clubs. It’s very difficult but they have to believe — and take care.’
Gilberto remembers well the 2006 final when he was in the Arsenal side beaten by Barcelona. ‘It was the biggest disappointment of my career,’ he admits. ‘Arsene was like us in the dressing room, very disappointed, but even then he was not the type of person to shout at everyone.’
Gilberto, who thinks it is unfair to compare the lack of trophies since 2006 with the earlier glory years, adds: ‘He has not only taken care of the team, he’s looked after the infrastructure and finances. His work has improved the club for the next 50 years. So we can say he has done a very good job.’