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Gallas: Senderos had panic attacks before Arsenal matches

The French defender has made a stark revelation about the Switzerland international, with whom he played at the Gunners.

WILLIAM GALLAS CLAIMS that former Arsenal team-mate Philippe Senderos had panic attacks before matches.

Senderos spent seven years at the club, winning the FA Cup and the Community Shield, and currently plays for Houston Dynamo in MLS. He has also won 57 caps for Switzerland.

The ex-Swiss international was often seen as a personification of Arsene Wenger’s poor transfer record, and Gallas has now stuck the boot in, insisting that he often struggled to compose himself before games.

“I knew Philippe Senderos, before a match he would need to speak a lot, you could see that he was sweating, that he did not feel good,” he told Le Vestiaire.

“Especially against certain players. I saw him against Chelsea, against Didier Drogba, where he would genuinely panic, like he was going through his match before playing it.

“And unfortunately, when you saw him on the pitch, he lost his playing abilities, he didn’t play well. But against his own team-mates, he played better.”

Gallas, of course, was prone to his own meltdowns, famously refusing to leave the pitch after a particularly damaging defeat to Birmingham City, during which striker Eduardo suffered a horrific ankle break.

The 41-year-old ended his playing career in 2014, after making a handful of appearances for A-League side Perth Glory. He featured for the Gunners, Chelsea and Tottenham throughout his career, and also won 84 caps for France.

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