New signing Philippe Senderos ready for ‘massive opportunity’ at Everton

Jan 27 2010 by Ian Doyle, Liverpool Daily Post

THE season starts here. Something of an odd claim for anyone to make in late January, but then Philippe Senderos has a lot of catching up to do.

The Swiss centre-back stepped out of the cold at Arsenal this week by making a loan move to Everton until the end of the season.

For David Moyes, it was the success at the second time of asking after his summer courtship of Senderos ended in frustration with the two clubs failing to agree a fee.

It meant the 24-year-old was sent back to the sidelines at the Emirates, where he has remained for all but two Carling Cup ties this campaign.

Now Senderos is eager to make up for that lost time and prove, if only to himself, that he can be a success in the Premier League.

“I’m not the kind of person that looks back too much,” he says. “I am just happy to be here at Everton and hopefully I can express myself on the pitch. This club has a lot of history and the manager said there would be some opportunities here for me, so hopefully I can grab them.

“It is a massive opportunity for me. I really need to get back to playing week and hopefully I can do that here. When I get my opportunity, it will be down to me to play well and take it.

“Maybe it’s an opportunity for me to come here to Everton and prove who I am. It is more for myself than anyone else.”

Senderos is expected to be on the bench for tonight’s visit of Sunderland, with the player hoping to make his first Premier League appearance since Arsenal travelled to Wearside on May 11 2008.

The centre-back spent last season on loan at AC Milan before returning to the Emirates, but his lack of first-team football at the Emirates during the past two years ultimately pushed him towards the exit.

“It’s not depressing to be out of the side for all that time, but as a player you want to play all the time and if you can’t do that, you aren’t going to be happy,” says Senderos. “I look at it as a test, and I hope it has made me stronger and that I can prove that here. I did not get much chance at Arsenal in the first few months of this season, and hopefully I can start my season now I am here at Everton.

“It could not go on. I had to move. But I haven’t just moved to Everton for an opportunity to play. David Moyes hasn’t guaranteed me anything. I am here because Everton are a massive club and I can grow as a player and as a man here.

“I always liked coming to Goodison to play. It always felt special. When I came here with Arsenal, it always felt as though we were playing against a real team fighting together, and those are some of the values I see in myself.”

Despite accepting his Arsenal career is over, Senderos has no axe to grind with the Londoners and is instead indebted to the opportunity offered by Arsene Wenger when he brought the then 18-year-old to England from Swiss side Servette in 2003.