Former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger managed some of the best players to have ever played in the Premier League.
Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Ashley Cole — the list goes on as Wenger had the chance to work with players at Highbury as well at the Emirates Stadium who went on to be recognised as all-time greats universally.
Especially during the early years of the Frenchman’s reign at Arsenal, some of the talent at his disposal was simply outstanding.
As a result, Arsene Wenger won three Premier League titles in his first eight years in North London.
One of the legendary figures Wenger had a chance to work with who perhaps does not get the credit he deserves is Gilberto Silva.
Arsene Wenger picked Gilberto Silva was the most underrated player he managed at Arsenal
Alongside Patrick Vieira, Gilberto Silva formed one of the most impregnable midfield pairings in Premier League history.
The Brazilian helped to elevate Vieira’s game as well, allowing the World Cup winner to push forward as he anchored Arsenal’s back four.
Cesc Fabregas compared Declan Rice to Gilberto Silva, a compliment that the Englishman would happily accept as the veteran was a world-class defensive midfielder.
A testament to Gilberto Silva’s brilliance is that Arsene Wenger did not think for long before naming him as the most underrated player he ever managed at Arsenal in an interview with SPORTbible in 2021: “He was naturally discreet and I remember when I bought him in 2002, he was in Japan at the World Cup and I looked at him, I thought, ‘He doesn’t make special’ and to think, who did win the ball, ah, it was Gilberto Silva, who played this ball, Gilberto Silva. I tried to buy him and after that, I would say he was in the ‘Invincibles’, nobody speaks about Gilberto Silva.”
“But he’s the kind of player, you see how much you miss them when they don’t play. When they play, you find it all natural.”
Gilberto Silva revealed how Arsene Wenger changed his game
Speaking to Daily Mail in 2017, Gilberto Silva heaped praise on Arsene Wenger for how he transformed his game from being a destroyer to being an all-rounder at the base of midfield.
“In Brazil, a central midfielder gets the ball and sometimes plays it to the side. In England, that’s not very useful. You have to play it forward. It was important for me to adapt.”
Gilberto Silva also disclosed that Arsene Wenger privately told him to make tweaks to his game rather than doing so publicly, a gesture he appreciated.
“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.”
