Thursday, March 06, 2008
Philippe Senderos
As the footballing world waits excitedly for Arsenal's 'blip' which we assured will come one day, shocking domestic cup performances at Old Trafford and White Hart Lane, notwithstanding, fingers are often pointed at Swiss defender Philippe Senderos as being our achilles heel. We are told, frequently, he just isn't good enough and is a risk. He's clumsy, lacks intelligence, that sort of stuff.
While he may lack the silky ball skills of an Alan Hansen he surely possesses all the qualities of a traditional English style stopper centre half. Big, strong, rugged.
Sitting here as a run of the mill punter who has seen centre backs come and go at the Arsenal, Caeser, Howard, Stepanovs spring to mind, I agree that Senderos is prone to making mistakes. Most players do from time to time. I do in my day job.
But it's worth remembering the role the 23 year old played during our run to the Champions League Final in 2006 when he was part of the defence that went 10 games without conceding a goal. Then, just turned 21, his importance was so vital that he missed the final and of course we lost. If he was as bad as some people would have it then...well, it doesn't need spelling out does it?
Senderos is a confidence player. He needs game time and he needs it regularly. Dropping him after one mistake gets to him and effects his play. Give him a run and you get controlled, measured performances like we saw in both legs against Milan.
With Kolo Toure soon to return from injury it will be interesting to see whether Arsene keeps faith with the Swiss international
While he may lack the silky ball skills of an Alan Hansen he surely possesses all the qualities of a traditional English style stopper centre half. Big, strong, rugged.
Sitting here as a run of the mill punter who has seen centre backs come and go at the Arsenal, Caeser, Howard, Stepanovs spring to mind, I agree that Senderos is prone to making mistakes. Most players do from time to time. I do in my day job.
But it's worth remembering the role the 23 year old played during our run to the Champions League Final in 2006 when he was part of the defence that went 10 games without conceding a goal. Then, just turned 21, his importance was so vital that he missed the final and of course we lost. If he was as bad as some people would have it then...well, it doesn't need spelling out does it?
Senderos is a confidence player. He needs game time and he needs it regularly. Dropping him after one mistake gets to him and effects his play. Give him a run and you get controlled, measured performances like we saw in both legs against Milan.
With Kolo Toure soon to return from injury it will be interesting to see whether Arsene keeps faith with the Swiss international
Labels: Philippe Senderos Arsenal
# posted by Me @ 12:09 PM 
