On Gilberto
I couldn't help wondering what Gilberto had in mind when he blamed the poor performance on the difficulty of playing with youngsters. While I do agree that it isn't easy to play with youngsters when you are used to playing with worldclass players, I think it's wiser to shut up when you play like an inexperienced youngster yourself. His performance of late has been rather embarassing to watch.
I used to question his contribution to the team. But when he got injured last season, I was led to believe that his invisible wall was indeed vital to our defense. That would be a big mistake as it turned out that while he does possess a sound positioning sense, he is not good enough for anything other than intercepting pass.
He can't tackle hard enough and he doesn't have enough strength or pace to stop strong and skillful players such as Rooney, Gerrard, or Lampard.
When he does get the ball, his passing would often let him down. What's the point of being able to intercept opponent's pass if the next thing you do is to pass it back to your opponent?
That he was doing well when PV was around is probably because what he needed to do back then was only to intercept passes after all. And that's why he seemed to be invisible during our glorious year. PV would make the tackle and bring the ball forward. Occasionally we would lose the ball or need to pass the ball back and that's when Gilberto's positioning help. He helps us keeping the possession with his simple football.
But that was Arsenal of the past. Opponents would just sit back and let us play in their own half. Today's Arsenal are different. To begin with, we don't have that box to box midfielder who does all the things anymore. We don't intimidate others anymore. On the contrary, teams such as Bolton or Blackburn would come at us and try to intimidate us.
Gilberto can't afford to remain invisible anymore. He has to get involved in the midfield battle and in going forward. That's why he seems much much more visible this season. And that's why we begin to see how bad his passing is. He isn't playing his game at the moment, simple as that.
So do we need to get rid of him? That depends. It's clear that Gilberto needs an all-round tough midfielder with skill, someone like PV or Gerrard. But it's obvious that Cesc will never be such player. So Cesc-Gilberto partnership will never work. By sticking with Gilberto we are forced to either sacrificing Cesc' development or playing with three centre midfielder.
And we have not even begin to consider Hleb who I think is playing out of position at the moment. He was forced to play left wing and sometimes right wing. But isn't it obvious by now that he brings most impact when played in the centre? And Hleb is yet an entirely different player compares to Cesc or Gilberto. Dillema indeed.
I used to question his contribution to the team. But when he got injured last season, I was led to believe that his invisible wall was indeed vital to our defense. That would be a big mistake as it turned out that while he does possess a sound positioning sense, he is not good enough for anything other than intercepting pass.
He can't tackle hard enough and he doesn't have enough strength or pace to stop strong and skillful players such as Rooney, Gerrard, or Lampard.
When he does get the ball, his passing would often let him down. What's the point of being able to intercept opponent's pass if the next thing you do is to pass it back to your opponent?
That he was doing well when PV was around is probably because what he needed to do back then was only to intercept passes after all. And that's why he seemed to be invisible during our glorious year. PV would make the tackle and bring the ball forward. Occasionally we would lose the ball or need to pass the ball back and that's when Gilberto's positioning help. He helps us keeping the possession with his simple football.
But that was Arsenal of the past. Opponents would just sit back and let us play in their own half. Today's Arsenal are different. To begin with, we don't have that box to box midfielder who does all the things anymore. We don't intimidate others anymore. On the contrary, teams such as Bolton or Blackburn would come at us and try to intimidate us.
Gilberto can't afford to remain invisible anymore. He has to get involved in the midfield battle and in going forward. That's why he seems much much more visible this season. And that's why we begin to see how bad his passing is. He isn't playing his game at the moment, simple as that.
So do we need to get rid of him? That depends. It's clear that Gilberto needs an all-round tough midfielder with skill, someone like PV or Gerrard. But it's obvious that Cesc will never be such player. So Cesc-Gilberto partnership will never work. By sticking with Gilberto we are forced to either sacrificing Cesc' development or playing with three centre midfielder.
And we have not even begin to consider Hleb who I think is playing out of position at the moment. He was forced to play left wing and sometimes right wing. But isn't it obvious by now that he brings most impact when played in the centre? And Hleb is yet an entirely different player compares to Cesc or Gilberto. Dillema indeed.
posted by phoenix chix at 9:38 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home