Kieran Gibbs - Underrated Kieran James Ricardo Gibbs (born 26 September 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays for Arsenal and the England national team as a left-back. He made his debut for England in a friendly against Hungary at Wembley Stadium on 11 August 2010 Club career Gibbs began his career at the Wimbledon academy but moved to Arsenal along with Abu Ogogo and James Dunne when Wimbledon disbanded in 2004 and became Milton Keynes Dons. He played as a left wing and also in the centre midfield position. He has featured regularly for Arsenals U18 and reserves teams and also played in pre-season friendlies against Barnet and Inter Milan. 2007–08 season In September 2007, Gibbs signed a professional contract with Arsenal,[3] and was named in the clubs 2007–08 UEFA Champions League squad and given squad number 34.[4] He made his first-team debut for the club when he started a League Cup match against Sheffield United on 31 October 2007,[5] and made his second appearance coming on as a substitute for Eduardo da Silva in Arsenals quarter-final against Blackburn Rovers on 18 December 2007. On 31 January 2008, he agreed to go on loan to Norwich City until the end of the 2007–08 season.[8] He returned to Arsenal a match early on 29 April 2008 and retook his place in the Arsenal reserve squad.[9] He went on to make the substitutes bench for Arsenals first team match against Everton on 4 May 2008 but did not play. 2008–09 season He featured in Arsenal pre-season games for the 2008–09 season, mostly as a left-back, and was an unused substitute in Arsenals 1–0 Premier League loss to Fulham on 24 August 2008,[11] and a 3–1 victory over Bolton Wanderers on September. Gibbs continued to play in Arsenals League Cup campaign and played the full 90 minutes in Arsenals 6–0 win over Sheffield United in the third round, on 23 September 2008. He also played in the 3–0 win over Wigan Athletic as well as starting in the defeat to Burnley at the quarter final stage.[12][13][14] He made UEFA Champions League debut on 10 December 2008, against FC Porto in Portugal, replacing Abou Diaby.[15] Gibbs made his Premier League debut against Tottenham Hotspur on 8 February 2009, coming on as a substitute for the injured Gaël Clichy. Gibbs had already been considered as the next man in line for England by then to take up the coveted left back position from Ashley Cole. With Clichy injured, Gibbs made his first Champions League start for Arsenal in the quarter-final second leg against Villarreal CF on 15 April 2009, which Arsenal won 3–0.[16] Gibbs started a FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea and set up Theo Walcotts goal.[17] He was also involved when Arsenal drew with Liverpool on 21 April at Anfield, where he cleared the ball off the line.[18] After an extended run in the first team in Clichys absence, Gibbs made an appearance in the Champions League semi-final first leg away at Manchester United, which Arsenal lost 1–0. In the second leg, Gibbs made a costly slip when attempting to defend a cross and allowed Park Ji-Sung to score a crucial away goal for United after only seven minutes. 2009–10 season He started in Arsenals opening home match of the 2009–10 season against Portsmouth and featured for the whole 90 minutes.[20] With Clichy injured and out for several weeks, Wenger entrusted the left back spot to the youngster. However, on 24 November, Gibbs broke a metatarsal in his right foot in Arsenals 2–0 Champions League victory over Standard Liége as a result of a lunge from Eliaquim Mangala, sidelining him for the rest of the season. 2010–11 season Gibbs was used quite frequently in pre-season for Arsenal. He made his first start of the season and completed 90 minutes when he replaced Gaël Clichy at left back against Bolton on 11 September 2010. In a League Cup match at Tottenham, Gibbs started the match, deputising Gaël Clichy at left back. During the extra time, he suffered a suspected broken metatarsal to his left foot and he was replaced by Clichy. Wenger later said that it was a metatarsal injury again but the one next to the one he had broken last season and Gibbs required a further check. A day later, the club confirmed via their official website that Gibbs had only suffered severe bruising to his left foot and would hopefully only be missing from first-team action for the short term.[22] He made his comeback a week later in a Champions League 3–1 away win against FK Partizan. He conceded a penalty in the second half which was well saved by Łukasz Fabiański. 2011–12 season Gibbs playing for Arsenal in 2011 Following the departure of Gaël Clichy to Manchester City,[23] Wenger confirmed that Gibbs would be replacing Clichy as first-choice left-back. On 20 September 2011, Gibbs scored his first goal for Arsenal in the 33rd minute of a League Cup match against Shrewsbury Town. On 16 October 2011 in the 2–1 victory over Sunderland, Gibbs suffered a stomach problem five minutes into the second half and was replaced by André Santos.[ On 17 November, Gibbs underwent hernia surgery and was expected to be out for up to six weeks Gibbs returned to training on 31 January 2012.[28] Gibbs made his first start since October against A.C. Milan in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16, although he played a fine game, Arsenal lost 4–0 Gibbs made his first start since October in the Premier League in the North London derby against Spurs which Arsenal won 5–2.[31] He scored his first league goal for Arsenal on 24 March 2012 in a 3–0 win against Aston Villa at the Emirates.[32] On 13 May 2012 against West Bromwich Albion, the last match of the season, Gibbs came on as a substitute for Gervinho in the 67th minute and made a crucial sliding tackle to prevent Billy Jones from scoring an equaliser in the dying minutes. The match ended 3–2 to Arsenal which secured Arsenals 3rd place finish ahead of rivals Tottenham Hotspur. 2012–13 season Gibbs started the new season as Arsenals first choice left back and his impressive run of early season form led to praise from the manager and international recognition.[34] On 19 December 2012, it was announced that Gibbs, along with teammates Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Carl Jenkinson, Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere, signed a new long term contract with Arsenal.[35] He scored his first goal of the season on 6 January against Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium in the FA Cup with a spectacular volley inside the penalty area.[36] On 30 January 2013, Gibbs picked up a thigh injury during a game against Liverpool and was ruled out for six weeks.[37] Gibbs had to wait for his next Premier League start due to his injury and due to the signing of Nacho Monreal from Malaga CF on the last day of the January transfer window.[38] He did come on for substitute appearances against Reading and West Brom, and he did start the second leg of their Champions League last 16 tie with Bayern Munich, with Arsenal winning 0-2.However, his first start Premier League since Monreals arrival came on 13 April against Norwich City, with Arsenal winning 3-1. 2013–14 season On 21 August, Gibbs scored the opening goal of a 3–0 win away to Fenerbahce in UEFA Champions League play-off round, from a Theo Walcott cross.[39] On 22 March against Chelsea, Gibbs was incorrectly shown a red card after referee Andre Marriner misidentified him for Oxlade-Chamberlain, who committed a handball in an attempt to prevent a Chelsea scoring opportunity.[40] On 17 May, Gibbs started in the 2014 FA Cup Final as Arsenal beat Hull City 3–2 at Wembley Stadium.[41] 2014–15 season[edit] Prior to the start of the 2014–15 season, Gibbs changed his squad number from 28 to 3, which was vacated due to Bacary Sagnas departure to Manchester City. International career Gibbs making his debut for England against Hungary, 11 August 2010 Gibbs was part of England U19 squad that was knocked out in the group stages of 2008 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship but qualified for 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Egypt as a result finishing third in their group Gibbs was called up for the England U21 squad along with Arsenal team-mate Theo Walcott for the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Sweden. He scored two goals in a pre-tournament friendly victory over Azerbaijan in a 7–0 rout at stadium:mk on 8 June 2009[46] and converted his penalty in the tournament semifinal against Sweden. Stuart Pearce recalled Gibbs to the squad for the 2011 European Championship qualifiers. He scored the opening goal in a 6–3 thrashing of Macedonia on 9 October. On 7 August 2010, Gibbs was called up by Fabio Capello to the Senior squad for the first time for their friendly against Hungary on 11 August.[48] He came on as a half-time substitute for Ashley Cole. After two injury affected seasons, Gibbs was rewarded for his good form and again called up to the England squad on 8 October 2013 by new manager Roy Hodgson Career statistics As of match played 20 September 2014 Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Europe Total Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Arsenal 2007–08 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 2008–09 8 0 6 0 3 0 4 0 21 0 2009–10 3 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 7 0 2010–11 7 0 6 0 4 0 3 0 20 0 2011–12 16 1 2 0 1 1 5 0 22 2 2012–13 27 0 3 1 1 0 3 0 34 1 2013–14 28 0 5 0 0 0 8 1 41 1 2014–15 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 Total 91 1 20 1 13 1 26 1 150 4 Norwich City (loan) 2007–08 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 Career total 98 1 20 1 13 1 26 1 157 4 Honours Arsenal FA Cup: 2013–14 FA Community Shield: 2014 International[ UEFA European Under-21 Championship runner-up: 2009
Posted on: Sat, 27 Sep 2014 07:42:22 +0000
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