Invincible challenges Havertz critics and praises Arsenal for securing dream midfield successor
Arsenal have seen a significant transformation in their midfield prowess in the last couple of years with Mikel Arteta working with the likes of Sporting Director Edu Gaspar to transform the side’s core to reflect that of a team aiming to compete for the biggest honours. The acquisitions of Thomas Partey, Martin Odegaard, Kai Havertz and now Declan Rice have been critical to the club’s evolution and rise.
It is perhaps the greatest group midfielders the club has had since the early 2000s and that of the Invincibles. Arsene Wenger constructed a group of technical yet powerful players who could operate effectively to help beat, or at the very least avoid defeat, against any side in the world.
Part of that team was Gilberto Silva. The Brazilian arrived in 2002 and formed a key partnership with Patrick Vieira to become one of the most underrated and influential pieces of the Invincibles squad.
Fast forward to 2023, and Gilberto’s professional career has taken a different turn whilst continuing his love of both football and Arsenal. Gilberto has been announced as an ambassador for CALM, Campaign Against Living Miserably, a fantastic cause designed to provide support and awareness of mental health with the aim of saving lives.
Gilberto sat down with me at football.london to discuss his passion and attachment to the topic of mental health. We also discussed the success of his eventual successor Declan Rice and the journey Kai Havertz has gone on already including some of the mental challenges he has faced along the way.
His work with the new app Striver is well known, but I was curious about what it was about CALM that stood out and made him want to be a part of the organisation. One that the aforementioned Declan Rice is also a
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