Flop or not: Philippe Senderos

From	To	Fee	League/Goals	FA Cup/Goals	LGE Cup/Goals	Other/Goals
01/07/2003	08/06/2010	£2.5 m	54 (10) / 4	14 (1) / 0	18 (0) / 0	19 (1) / 0

When armed with the task of putting together an article on former Gunner Philippe Senderos, it bewildered me as how despite spending 7 years in North London, 'Swiss Tony' doesn't appear to have a great deal to show for it. This is by no means a criticism of Philippe, however, as it should be stated that while he only made 64 appearances, when called upon the Swiss defender always did his job quietly and professionally.

But despite having the attitude of a player who deserved to be on the pitch week-after-week, ultimately it was down to persistent injuries and a lack of form which saw him lose his place at the club.

Loan moves to Italian giants AC Milan and Merseyside outfit Everton couldn't revive the career of a man who has and still does struggle badly with injuries and consistency. It may even come as a surprise to know that Philippe is still just 26 years of age, and with a fair few years still ahead of him, he hoping that he can find the form and the resilience which made him such a prospect in his early career.

Philippe's career hasn't been all doom and gloom, however, as during his stay in N5 he managed to earn himself over 50 international caps for a nation who even triumphed over World Champions Spain in South Africa last summer.

As far as his Arsenal career is concerned, though, Senderos never really quite lived up to the early potential he showed and eventually fell out of Arsene Wenger's first-team plans. Whatever you think about him though, Philippe is a player who fully deserves to be playing first-team football and I'm sure there isn't anyone who  could begrudge him of that.

So was Philippe 'Swiss Tony' Senderos a flop, or was he not? You decide.

WTTGT Writer: Jay James-Waller

Comments

[Richard Calland]

I was thinking about Senderos only yesterday, during a daydream musing about the 'what ifs' of the recent Wenger years. I am great fan of Wenger's youth policy. And, one has to accept that with some you win and with others you lose. I had high hopes of Senderos and Bendtner. I thought that one would be the leader at the back, and the other the leader at the front; both were real Arsenal men - gooners through and through (well, certainly I believe Senderos was). But, in the end, both were not quite good enough; in each case, it was a performance in a champions' league knock out game that finally convinced me: with Senderos, it was his failure to mark Torres in the quarter final game at Anfield, with Torres twice turning too quickly for Senderos in the penalty area. With Bendtner, it was away to Barca last year - with a few minutes to go he had a chance, which would have won us the game. But he fluffed it; got his feet in the wrong position, which allowed the Argentinian to make a 'great saving tackle'. Great strikers take chances like that; Bendtner is not one. And nor, alas, was Senderos a great defender.