In the summer of 2002 Arsenal snapped up two promising Swiss defenders in the form of Philippe Senderos and Johan Djourou. Now seven years later the Gunners have repeated that feat with the additions of Martin Angha and Sead Hajrovic.
Senderos arrived among interest from several big clubs, with Arsenal edging a bidding war for the then youngster – in a similar way to Martin Angha. Djourou however, was a relative unknown. He slipped into the Academy much like Hajrovic with the pair both representing Switzerland despite being born in a different country.
As both Philippe and Johan reach cross roads in their careers, Arsène Wenger welcomes his second batch of Swiss stoppers. Angha arrives from FC Zürich where he skippered their Under 16’s to Nike Cup success, and Hajrovic from FC Zürich’s fierce rivals Grasshoppers.
The pair have settled quickly in London and struck up a good friendship. Both are current Under 17 internationals for Switzerland, although the future may see Sead represent his native Bosnia. Martin won’t link up with the squad on a full time basis until the new year, but the 16-year-old’s represent an exciting central defensive partnership for the future.
Hajrovic provides the rugged and aggressive approach. He’s a physical and no nonsense central defender who is a monster in the air. Angha offers a calm and classy approach. Blessed with blistering pace, he is a solid tackler and can pick a good pass out from the back.
Arsenal fans should get a chance to check out the pair in action in the latter stages of next season’s F.A Youth Cup, where they will begin the fight for silverware with the club. It promises to be an exciting campaign with these two on board and with Senderos and Djourou as role models, they have been shown the route to the first-team.
Article By – J.Sanderson
Wasn’t it summer of 2003 Senderos and Djourou were signed?
please no not more swiss players i’ve had enough of the first two,do these arsenal scouts not take the hint that the majority swiss players are not very good…
arsene seems to building a nice selection of young defenders to choose from when the time comes. This is what he’s been doing for a while now, u can also see it with the midfielders and attackers. So when a player does leave someones there to always take his place
Well done arsene
What’s happening with Veljko Batrović, Wellington and Louis Gustavo Conte? Are the trials over? Is any of them joining? Any news J?
Comment above – you are a fool!
Senderos will be a decent player for someone, he’s just not godd enough for us like many before him.
Djouroo in my opinion has the ability to be world class – big, strong, quick & technically superb.
Whats going to happen with Daniel Boateng? His he going to play more as a full back now? Man why is it that the youth team have got aggressive no nonense defenders and first team havent. Apart from vermaelen and maybe toure the rest are not agressive
How tall are they?
Are we getting the better Swiss nationals? We haven’t seen anything better from the earlier two who’ve been here for almost seven seasons.
http://www.newsnow.co.uk/A/360194747?-11203
boy better know what are you simple? it doesn’t matter if 99.999% of players from somewhere are shit, if we sign the 0.001% who are good.
who cares if the swiss aren’t good, maybe these two kids are. jesus christ, people with a low enough iq shouldn’t be allowed the internet
Agree with monk – djourou will be a monster and senderos can make it with a pretty good club.
Some players have the talent but it doesnt work out for other reasons and I think senderos just cant handle the pressure of big matches. Hes played a ton of great matches for us though and we’ve kept a huge number of clean sheets with him in the side.
I cant understand for the life of me how people dont rate djourou. Hes got all the attributes to be a truly great player. I wouldnt be surprised at all if he went on to be arsenal captain in a few years to be honest.
And just cos hes been here 7 seasons or w/e doesnt mean anything. Hes 22, still very young for a CB, and he plays as our backup. I think its ideal for our squad to have young up-and-comers playing backup to more experienced internationals.
Remember as well he’s had to convert from a DM to a CB. Its not an easy thing to do at PL and ECL level. But hes done well so far.
Davi: Djourou and Senderos are both conondrums. Both obviously have immense talent and potential, that’s a given. But they are both prone to youthful mistakes and taking their eye off the ball, so to speak. We see something in them that the world has seen in yr Cannavaros and Nestas and Adams but quite frankly, Adams was Arsenal captain by their age; Nesta was Lazio captain at 22. Hell, Vermaelan stepped into the shoes of greats captaining Ajax at such an age bracket. Toure was an invincible. This is the standard we hold our players with world class potential to live up to and anything less seems problematic for the squad. If we want to be the best, they have to drop the doe eyed look and scare the shit out of forwards. They are obviously going to be good (Senderos) and imo, great (Djourou) and with Toure and Gallas not extending their contracts past next summer yet, Wenger may be looking at them to make them step now – which when they really have to.
I really think djourou can make that step now. Last season he was superb when paired with gallas. He looked less comfortable next to toure, and Im not sure of the reason. It could be that he had to switch sides or gallas organised the defence better, or it could be that he got tired over the season (Hope not and dont really think so tbh).
Just because some players have managed to make the step earlier doesnt mean that players like senderos and djourou never will.
It took vidic a few of years longer to gain recognition and hangelaand took longer than that for example. Nesta, Canavaro and Adams were exceptional cases. There have been others of course, but generally players dont peak until later. Nonetheless I really believe djourou is ready to make the step now if needed, but while we have the luxury of toure and gallas, might as well bring him through a bit more gradually. He should be ready to be a starter at the start of next season really.
Arsenal have way too many young and inexperienced players.
Nesta, Adams et al are exceptional cases but it’s the standard we now hold at Arsenal, especially with years of sacrifice towards an end we were told would have come two or three seasons back! Quite frankly, we are in a very odd position where players are berated for not hitting that potential as quickly as Cesc or Gael did. I’m not saying this a good thing (I believe it is terrible practise and I presume 99% of young guns readers are more leniant on youngsters in the first team) but there does have to be a very definite article in cases like this for how and when POTENTIAL turns to CLASS. Bendtner had an interview when he set out a 3 or 4 year plan to being as good as Ibrahimovic (his, and tbh mine, ideal of the best striker in the world) and on the peripheries of the first team, I think there should be more of an understanding between boss, player and fans about how a Djourou turns to a Cannavaro.
I do understand your points and I pretty much agree with them and think our thinking can work in tandem. We are in a very special position where for every Johan we already have a Toure but can also buy a Vermaelan while we wait (all without hindering his progression in the game.) Or for those names read: Bendtner, RVP, Eduardo. Or Theo, Rosicky, Arshavin etc. And we’d all prefer, when it comes to individual cases, that if we have to buy instead of see 1 player go through (and unfortunately play somewhere else) for the sake of success and showmanship then so be it. But that’s not we dealing with here. In fact, I’ve gone a bit far from my topic which was originally detailing why some Arsenal fans (other than me, I like him) feel frustrated with Johan!
Hmmm, I think it would be wrong to assume that wenger doesnt have a plan for djourou that isnt something discussed between the two. I dont think it is necessarily something that needs to be shared with the fans though.
I just think fans are frustrated with johan for more simplistic reasons. For whatever reason there are some players who fans take to and some who they dont. Its like how fabregas and adebayor both had similarly poor seasons, both have said things which may be considered “flirting” with other clubs and yet the fans still love cesc but chased ade out the door.
I just dont see why people would be frustrated with djourou. I really believe his talent has become class or it is close to. He always looks so calm. The only way it can really be known though is if he is playing games regularly. He seems to perform pretty bloody well when he does play imo. Id have to check this but our defence cant have let in as many goals last season when he played. Particularly when he was paired with gallas we looked so steady. Toure shouldnt really have gotten back into the team before gallas’ injury
A couple points:
“both have said things which may be considered “flirting” with other clubs and yet the fans still love cesc but chased ade out the door.” Cesc never flirted. Ade was talking about ‘Beyonce’ and all that crap, Cesc always had a statement the next day to every Marca rumour.
“He always looks so calm.” This is the one thing regarding Djourou I don’t agree with. Often he looks flustered and can be caught of position (his very good pace means this often can be sorted- think of the goalline clearances he’s been involved with!) but this will (hopefully) change with experience.
Its true fabregas did come out afterwards, but still some quotes have been attributed to him. I think its just a given that he will eventually leave to join barca or real, but I never thought adebayor was that bad. It definitely gets more blown up about some players. Maybe a better example would be the treatment eboue, song or denilson got and still get as opposed to walcott whose contributions in matches are imo lesser than those of the three i mentioned. But its only more recently people have started to notice. he does do amazing things at times sure, but u got to contribute something in every game to be considered a starter. Dont meant to pick on him as well, its just for comparison. All 4 of them make mistakes but imo the other 3 contribute more in more matches
You are right actually about djourou he does look flustered at times and has been caught out positionally, Im thinking of the games he played with gallas, and even song. He rarely got caught out next to gallas. My theory is that hes very much adapted to playing on the right-hand side of defence, but yes he does have to iron out some defensive issues. His strength in the air was a real plus for us I thnk.He is however extremely calm on the ball
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Sounds like these two will strike up a similar partnership to Ayling and Bartley. Sound like similar type of players to those two.
The patience,loyalty and professionalism should speak highly for their countrymen. Sidwell,cole,pennant,bentley,upson are examples of otherwise while i believe walcott can deal with the saviour complex put on great english talent. Senderos is a great cb,remember 04/05, like cygan it is those few deciding moments.about adams also remember the change from smith and campbell up front to bergkamp and henry, the level has changed.and otherwise the legendary grahams youth policy otherwise was nothing as wenger
Anymore news on wellington Jay ?
How tall are they? Michael Jackson
amusing, how youngsters appease fans. to support a club is to demand results. with the ticket prices we pay, we should demand more. Team is weak period. sry, denilson will never be a mascherano
Any truth in arsenal after Lee Catermole?
Nice one.
The only problem is Djourou and Sendoros have not been the great success story Arsenal fans hoped….yet!
where did u hear that john?
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/116569/Wenger-ready-to-splash-out-on-Huntelaar-and-Cattermole
I can’t see this happening tbh. He is nowhere as good as Song and the same age as Song and Denilson. If Wenger were to buy a DM he will buy an experienced one. Cattermole is clearly not the answer and not better than what we’ve already got. As for Huntelaar, I don’t think we need him but he is a great player that could help us. Can’t see it happening either as we have our fox in the box in Eduardo.
According to arsenal.com, Djourou and Senderos joined in the summer of 2003, which incidentally is the same as when a certain Cesc Fabregas joined as well as Gael Clichy. So two 16 year olds and two 18 year olds joined in the same summer who have all contributed to the club in a significant way. Djourou is the only one who is yet to be a starter for extensive period but that will happen soon. So to all you doubters of the youth policy, look at that great success. They probably cost 2-3 millions combined but how much is Cesc alone worth now? Add 15-20 millions for Clichy, and at least 15 for Djourou and Senderos together. This is what it’s all about and I am sure that the batch of players coming through now can do the same.
To the argument of the age and Djourou having achieved too little at this age. Look at Cesc. He was 17 when he played 50 games or so for the first team. And now look at Frank Lampard. When he was 20 he was shite (okay he is still shite but look at his stats and you will see why Inter and Barca have tried to sign him). He was never thought to be anything special and didn’t really do anything noteworthy until few years after the twentieth. It’s not a question about our high standards but about how different players are. Merida, for example, is still not in the first team, although maybe he would be in Austria if it wasn’t for the U-19 championship. Has Wenger given up on him? No, because he knows he isn’t physically there although his technical ability is above anything that Fat Frank has ever shown.
Anyway, those two look exciting. So a look at the young CBs would look like this:
’90 – Nordveit, Hoyte
’91 – Bartley, Ayling, (Cruise)
’92 – Miguel
’93 – Boateng, Angha, Hajrovic
I might have left someone out or messed up the birth year but the point is that we have a lot of centre backs. Hoyte and Nordveit to be loaned, Ayling, Bartley and Cruise (LB) for the reserves. Miguel and Boateng for the U-18 while Hajrovic starts the season in the U-16. That’s almost too many players but I think at least one of them must make the big grade.
angha is ’94…
Stone: A great post. A couple things: I think THIS set of youngsters bubbling under (yr Djourous, Bendtners et al) have to deal with a certain hype that the next lot won’t have to. They were bought as eventual replacements of the invincibles (that summer of 2003 date implies as much) and the fans are holding them to that standard (wrongly in how they do it, although I think that is the standard we should aim for with every single player). The invincibles had an average age of 28, if you add up the ages of these players (excluding yr Gallas’ and Arshavins’ etc. – I mean the Diabys, Velas, Songs, Cescs etc.) – we are still about 6 years of experience short! Which is fine in many respects, I bet we all can’t wait to see these talented players peak but if we have to wait 6 years, they are gonna be absolutely killer waiting for success. (I’m not sure if any of that made sense, it was real stream of concsiousness.)
I don’t think the price tag concerning these players matter. Ok, 1 or 2 may change but this is largely the squad we will have for the next 6 or 7 years – at least. When Xavi retires and we get 70m for Cesc, that’ll keep us covered for any other transfer activity (and we’ll have 5m Ramsey and a free Lansbury and Wilshere etc. ready to step up) but that’s something we’ll wait for. I expect Djourou will be with the club 10 ol’ years, hopefully with a successful Vermaelan next to him. Cattermole just seems like agent bullshit, Huntelaar just looks annoyed he is stuck with the yids and wants away. If Toure does go to Middle Eastlands, I think it’s essential that Micah is added to the 15m (he may have had a bad season, but he certainly is the future of British defending alongside Rodwell and imagine what Wenger could do for him like he did for Sol.)
I don’t know enough about the young CBs but being trained by Bouldy has to have them in good stead! None of them will be given the weight of expectation that Djourou and Senderos have when they hit the first team squad though, so it should be easier for them. And picking from London (and Europe’s) finest with the best coaching, we should be able to get at least 2 or 3 classy players out of that list, but only when time permits.
J: Seriously, you ever gonna do a Merida opinion piece? Or are you waiting to hear about possible loans or whatever?
I yhink they have yo be taken to wings
where did u hear that john?
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