'Only time will tell' whether Arteta will be a success says Gilberto Silva
Cameron Smith
- 26 Sept 2021 11:05 BST
- 4 min read
Former Arsenal midfielder Gilberto Silva believes "only time will tell" whether Mikel Arteta is the right man for the job at the Emirates.
Gilberto, who was a crucial part of Arsenal's 2003/04 Invincibles team, spoke to Goal about the current affairs at the club he joined back in 2002 after winning the World Cup with Brazil.
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The Brazilian formed a formidable partnership with Patrick Vieira at Arsenal, building a solid foundation for the club's flair players to do their thing in the final third. Those days, however, are long gone, and Arsenal have been fighting just above mid-table, rather than for titles, for a number of years now.
What has Gilberto said?
It's been a steep decline, but Gilberto is keen to stress that time is needed to build a project. “Only time will tell us,” he said. “Mikel is young, but he is brave and confident in what he says and that confidence is very important.
“He is the main leader of the team, of the squad. It starts from him. If he doesn’t trust what he thinks, he does not give the confidence to the players.
“I’m sure the way he speaks, the way he delivers his message, is because he knows what he’s doing because he trusts what he thinks."
Unlike many Arsenal fans, Gilberto is actually a fan of technical director Edu, and the direction the club is heading into. He added: "I’m glad that Edu came back to the game and I hope he is successful at Arsenal, as he was in Brazil with Corinthians and the national team.
“It’s a massive job and because he played for the club it becomes even harder because sometimes people look back at what he did as a player and expect the same success in this position. I hope that will come.
“I think the hardest thing nowadays is to find the right balance to reinforce your squad," Gilberto said.
“You can bring in the best player in the world and spend a lot of money, but what about the other positions? Not only for the moment, but for the future.
“If you look back at our time with Arsene [Wenger], he always recruited younger players because at that time he had a squad that gave him this opportunity because he had a foundation.
“What I see now is they are recruiting players for the future as well. Not only for the moment. They need results of course, but they are thinking medium to long term.
“Of course it is important to worry about what we need to do now to keep going and to get the best results, but there are no guarantees.
“Even if they change their policy and bring in two or three top players. What guarantee is there of results? You never know.”
This past summer, Arsenal missed out on Sergio Ramos, Manuel Locatelli, and Emiliano Buendia, but they did manage to bring in the likes of Ben White and Martin Odegaard. The club currently sit 13th in the Premier League ahead of the North London derby.
Gilberto on Partey:
Gilberto also added a few lines of Arsenal's Thomas Partey. The midfielder was signed from Atletico Madrid last summer, and the Arsenal legend believes he could play a big role this season.
“Everyone knows how important he can be for the team,” said the Brazilian.
“Having this calibre of player is always good for the players because they trust him, especially in that position where many things are decided.
“I hope that he is going to be 100 per cent fit to play 90/95 minutes and help the team. This is what we expect from big players. In this kind of game, they increase their level of quality to push others.
“He is somebody who makes a difference on the field. This is what we expect from a player like Partey.”
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