Arsene Wenger has praised Petr Cech ahead of Sunday’s showdown with the goalkeepers former club. Wenger thinks Cech offers much more to the team than what meets the eye, describing him as ‘a kind of coach’ between the sticks.
Cech, 33 – joined Arsenal from rivals Chelsea in the summer for around £10million. Since then, the Czech international has excelled, whilst his former club cannot find a way out of the bottom half of the table.
On Cech’s influence since signing, Wenger said: “He has a calming presence, he communicates well, anticipates well, sees what is coming. He is a kind of coach, the best position to be a coach is the goalkeeper because he doesn’t move, and he sees everything. He is the camera behind the team.”
Wenger also shared some concerns he had before signing Cech: “I didn’t know what kind of shape he was in physically because he hadn’t played. When I met him I was quickly reassured of his desire to do well and his motivation,” Wenger said.
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“I didn’t know how much he could still produce physically. He hadn’t played and was battling a drop in physical aptitude. But I knew the potential was exceptional having played against him 11 years in the Premier League. “It was a question of physically can he still do it? It was a very, very difficult decision for me because I rate highly Ospina. I have a high opinion of him. Ospina is a keeper who, in my opinion, is underrated, especially in England. But [signing Cech] was maybe one of the few opportunities to say, ‘OK, this is an obvious [transfer]. If I don’t do this, it would have been a mistake I think’.”
I think it’s fair to say those concerns were warranted, but they have been blown out the water. Cech looks like he’s never missed a minute of football, and I’m sure he has a few more seasons left in him yet.
A lot of the talk before this game against Chelsea has been about Cech, let’s hope he can deliver in Arsenal colours and help us get that three points that we vitally need.