Philippe Christanval

Philippe Christanval

Personal information
Full name	Philippe Charles Lucien Christanval
Date of birth	31 August 1978 (1978-08-31) (age 33)
Place of birth	Paris, France
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Centre back
Youth career
0000–1995	Clairefontaine[1]
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1999–2001	Monaco	81	(1)
2001–2003	Barcelona	32	(0)
2003–2005	Marseille	13	(0)
2005–2008	Fulham	36	(1)
Total		162	(2)
National team
2000–2002	France	5	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Philippe Charles Lucien Christanval (born 31 August 1978 in Paris) is a retired French footballer of Guadeloupian origin who most recently played for Fulham as a centre back.

Club career

His career began at AS Monaco in 1999, where he made 81 appearances, scoring one goal. Here he also won the French title in the 1999/00 season and made several UEFA Champions League appearances.

He was then snapped up by Barcelona for a £6.5million fee in June 2001. He had a terrible time from then on attempting to cope with various injuries, particularly following his 2003 move to Marseille.

Having spent two weeks on trial at Arsenal, Gunners manager Arsène Wenger opted not to sign him. He then joined rival London team, Fulham. Upon his signing, Chris Coleman stated:

"Philippe is a player I have been looking at since I have been Fulham manager. I have always admired him. He was excellent at Barcelona but then had problems with injury and fell out of favour with the last few managers he has had."

"His quality is there – you can see that. He makes the right decisions. For me the best defenders make the right decisions more often than not and he fits into that category."

In his first appearances at Fulham, he found himself playing in defensive midfield. He was quite successful with an enforcement partnership with Papa Bouba Diop. His qualities were obvious; despite being a centre back, he had good vision and passing ability. More recently he has found himself back in the centre half role. His first Premiership goal was a late equaliser in a 3–3 draw with West Ham United on 13 January 2006.^[2] He has since struggled with injuries, and in the 2007/08 season has only made a single appearance coming on as sub.

At the end of the 2007–08 season, Christanval was released by Fulham and was offered a trial with Premier League club Blackburn Rovers as Christanval was a free agent he would be allowed to join any other club outside the FIFA regulated transfer window. He was however released from Fulham having had an injury plagued 2007/2008 season. He has since been linked with a move to MLS club Toronto FC. On 9 April 2009, Christanval retired from football, having been unable to find a new club.^[3]

International

Christanval was a part of the France side in the 2002 FIFA World Cup and 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship.

References

1. ^ "INF, formateur de talents" (in French). FFF. http://www.fff.fr/presentationfff/actualite/418646.shtml. Retrieved 21 July 2009. 
2. ^ "West Ham 3–3 Fulham". BBC. 13 January 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/6236745.stm. Retrieved 1 September 2009. 
3. ^ Christanval beendet Karriere

External links

• Philippe Christanval career stats at Soccerbase

Persondata
Name	Christanval, Philippe
Alternative names
Short description	Footballer
Date of birth	31 August 1978
Place of birth	Paris, France
Date of death
Place of death