Philippe Senderos has says Fulham should be targeting another top ten finish under new manager Martin Jol.
The Swiss centre back thinks the Whites can match their exploits of last season and says that the transition from Mark Hughes to Jol, who arrived after the Welshman’s abrupt departure in June, has been straightforward.
We try to play attacking football that is good to watch and is effective. The important thing is to be in top form for the end of the season as well. But what we have here is competition for places and that can only be good. The aim? Another top ten finish and maybe even do better than last year when we finished eighth.
Senderos has been delighted to enjoy an injury-free pre-season after a devastating Achilles injury ruined his first training session with Fulham after a free transfer move from Arsenal.
I ruptured my Achilles, just like David Beckham had done. In fact I had the same surgeon as him.
The Swiss defender spent eight frustrating months on the sidelines, but was impressive on his debut at Sunderland and finished the season strongly in central defence.
Yes, you could say it was a difficult start, but from the very beginning I was determined to keep my head up and put myself in recovery mode. I tried to be as much around the boys as I could. I even travelled when I could with them to away games.
For me, it was important that I stayed part of the group.And towards the end of the season, I trained with them as well. Now, I am just happy to be back and I am looking to enjoy my season and stay fit.
The club were fantastic with me. Thank God I recovered and I was able to play three games towards the end of the season.
I worked so hard to get fit and now hopefully I am getting there. I am just so happy to be playing again. Now I want to fight for my place.
Where Senderos fits in is an interesting question. He played alongside Brede Hangeland when Mark Hughes shifted Aaron Hughes out to right back towards the end of last season, an experiment Jol repeated in the second leg against Crusaders on Thursday. Senderos was outstanding in Switzerland’s European Championship qualifying draw at Wembley last month and, in his most recent outing, showed an eye for a pass with his terrific assist for Damien Duff’s goal against the Northern Irish side last week. You wouldn’t see Senderos disrupting our most effective central defensive partnership at the moment, but he’s a very handy man to have in reserve.
