By his own admission it has been
quite a season for Johan Djourou.
The 20-year-old defender has made 29 appearances for Arsène
Wengers first team so far a total he thought unlikely back in
September.
Injuries to Philippe Senderos and William Gallas presented a chance
to the Swiss international and its one he grasped with both
hands.
Djourou scored the winner for the Reserves in their 1-0 win at
Fulham on Tuesday and afterwards he expressed his delight at having
stepped up a level this term. The youngster is unsure whether he
will be called upon again in the coming weeks but immediately set
his sights on the future.
Ive definitely played more games than I expected this season,
Djourou told Arsenal.com. When youre a young player youre
expecting to be more on the bench and going through a learning
process. But this season the boss [Wenger] has shown he has
confidence in me, which is great for young players. Its been an
amazing season to be playing at a level you dont expect to play at
so much when youre so young.
Im always ready to play but maybe at the moment the situation is
harder because William [Gallas] and others are back. I think its
all part of the learning process. Im still young and I can learn a
lot from those players and its good to watch them play. Of course
when youre young you want to play every game but I think I have to
wait my turn. Ive got time to come.
As an observer in recent weeks Djourou believes Arsenals failure
to convert chances into goals has cost them dear. The 20-year-old
said it could all be a knock-on effect of the Champions League exit
to PSV but warned that dwelling on it for too long could ultimately
cost the Gunners a place in next years competition.
I think the Champions League was a big blow because we were really
expected to do well in that competition. I think we have to get
ourselves going again and catch the points to be safe for the
Champions League next year.
The atmosphere in the dressing room is very good. All the players
know what we have to do. We must try to get the team togetherness
again and try to do as well as we did [this time] last year. Were
not pointing fingers. Were all together in this.
Recent results mean the game against Bolton on Saturday has become
arguably the most important of the season. Victory would all but
secure Arsenals place in the top four and, according to Djourou,
defeat is not an option.
Its important we get the three points, he said. Everyone knows
how tough it is to play Bolton, be it at home or there [at the
Reebok]. Theyre a really, really hard team to break down. Theyre
very aggressive. They play long balls but they also have attacking,
technical players in the side.
Theyre a very difficult team to play, we have to be ready for
that, but I think we can handle them and win on
Saturday."