Gilberto Silva discusses career highs and Arsenal’s failure to replace him

There was always something of a paradox at the heart of Gilberto Silva’s career.

The better he played, the less you noticed him. The more influence he had on the game, the brighter his team-mates shone, thereby casting his own contribution into the shade.

Joao Saldanha, former manager of the Brazil national team, once said that every great team needs someone to carry the piano. It’s a theory that his fellow countryman subscribes to, and with good reason. He was the practical and unflashy foundation upon which many a stirring performance would be built.

For Arsenal, Thierry Henry, Robert Pires and Dennis Bergkamp were more likely to get the plaudits, but Gilberto made it all possible. He enabled the attacking virtuosos to do their thing. It was the same with Brazil, where a fearsome frontline of Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho led them to their last World Cup success in 2002.

“It’s quite a hard position because you have to be physically in a very good condition to hold your position and cover some parts of the field,” Gilberto tells us.

“You try to be in the best position as much as you can when you defend and when you go forward, to protect the guys up front when they lose the ball. You have to make sure you’re in the right position to try to regain the ball.

“For some people it sounds a little bit hard because you’re quite an unknown person on the field, but, for me, I always enjoyed doing it. I totally understood what my role was to help my team achieve results.”

Gilberto certainly did that. As an Invincible and a World Cup winner, he achieved sporting immortality with two special teams in quick succession. The invisible wall, as he became known for subtly breaking up so many attacks, was a monument to self-sacrifice. His diligent work set the stage for others to perform.

Coming from a poor community in Lagoa da Prata, football offered a way out for Gilberto and his family. He helped America Mineiro into the Brazilian top flight as a centre-back, which benefited his reading of the game, and he subsequently moved to their rivals, where his career truly took off.

At Atletico Mineiro, originally under the guidance of 1994 World Cup-winning coach Carlos Alberto Parreira, Gilberto became one of the country’s foremost defensive midfielders. It was more than he could ever have hoped for, and it was about to get even better.

“When you start you are just a dreamer, and you want to do the best you can to achieve something in…