Johan Djourou's #One2Eleven on The Fantasy Football Club
Friday 18 March 2016 16:04, UK
Former Arsenal defender Johan Djourou picks his #One2Eleven on The Fantasy Football Club.
The current Hamburg captain spent ten years with the Gunners - and his 4-4-2 formation is made up entirely of players from his time in North London.
He made 140 appearances for Arsenal in all competitions and spent time on loan with Birmingham City, Hannover and Hamburg before making the move to Germany permanent in 2014.
Djourou also has 59 caps for the Switzerland national team and has scored two goals against San Marino and Japan.
So who features in Djourou's #One2Eleven? Carry on reading to find out...
GOALKEEPER: Jens Lehmann
He was such a big character in the dressing room who would win you a game with the saves, but I think it is more about his personality, which was to always be the best. He was one of the guys that could actually say something and back up his words or put in a performance after what he had said so I have to say that for me, Jens is my goalkeeper.
RIGHT-BACK: Bacary Sanga
I've chosen him because of his consistency. He came from a small team in France and went straight into the team and never actually left unless he was injured. For me, his consistency as a defender was just unbelievable.
CENTRE-BACK: Sol Campbell
It was a pleasure for me to play with such a guy because of the things you could learn on the tactics side and on the mental side as well. It was how I could watch him in training to see his movement, see what he did with the ball and how he moved himself in different situations. It was great to learn around those kind of players.
CENTRE-BACK: Kolo Toure
He's my good friend and another player that I admire as well. He's a very good guy, with a lot of positive energy. Kolo is a funny one because we never knew where his best position was at the beginning. He was sometimes playing upfront, right back, midfield - he was playing everywhere!
He was a guy I looked up to because of the progress that he made. It wasn't easy for him, it wasn't in writing saying 'you are going to play there, you are going to be a great centre-back,' but he really wanted it.
LEFT-BACK: Ashley Cole
First of all, he had a great personality. He was always very fun and a good liaison between the younger guys and older guys. Ash always had this mentality and hunger in him to play well and he delivered. He was a good player firstly with the ball as well as a good defender and I think he got better with time as well. I wouldn't say Ash was beautiful, but he was a good player to see playing.
CENTRE MIDFIELD: Cesc Fabregas
The guy just has too much quality. We played together in the youth teams when he arrived - we came to Arsenal around the same time - and the progress he made was unbelievable. He was such a playmaker. You'd give him the ball and he would play a pass into the foot of the striker and things like that, it was amazing to see. He scored goals as well, but he was just one of the guys that always wanted the ball.
CENTRE MIDFIELD: Patrick Vieira
When I was a young player, I was playing in central midfield so he was always a guy that I saw as my idol because of what he did or what he brought to the team. I have to say, the first time I went to Arsenal, it was a dream come true to just meet him. He was a champion and he delivered so many great games. When he didn't have a good game, he was always fighting and he was always putting a tackle in to win the ball back. A great player doesn't even define what I want to say about him, and for me, he is a legend.
RIGHT MIDFIELD: Alex Hleb
He was always doing some turns with the ball, like taking the ball in a way where you thought he was going to let the ball roll over his body but at the last moment, he would bring it back and the defender would go the other way. It was amazing to see. He was another guy as well who you could just give the ball to him and he will keep it. He was a funny guy, a funny character. He would always have a laugh on the pitch, it was a pleasure to see him play.
LEFT MIDFIELD: Jose Antonio Reyes
Very similar to Hleb in a way, with more speed and a left foot that was just unbelievable. He didn't really speak English but on the pitch, that's where he was talking. It wasn't important what he was saying in the dressing room, but on the pitch he was unbelievable.
STRIKER: Dennis Bergkamp
He was just a joy to watch. Even in training, he would do things that would be impressive. I remember one time where someone played a ball to him and the ball was so high but he jumped with his left foot and controlled the ball with his right and brought it down in such a smooth way and you're thinking 'wow'.
If you stood still and watched him, you wouldn't be playing anymore and that was the problem with Dennis. Sometimes you would actually watch his quality of touch and turns and you would actually stop playing. On the pitch, what can I say. He would always score goals and had an eye for a pass.
STRIKER: Thierry Henry
Another legendary striker. He scored so many goals and he was so quick. He has this killer mentality and he was always about winning and nothing else, even in training. If I'm in his team, I better play well in training. Even on the pitch - it was a normal thing for Arsenal anyway - but he would give you that power to think you could win every game.
When I was younger and dreaming about those kinds of things, if someone would have said to me I'd be playing with Thierry, Vieira, Fabregas or Kolo Toure, I would never have actually believed it. I have to say, I'm very honoured to have shared the pitch with those guys.