Cech-Mate!
- Jul 1, 2015
- 2 min read
After weeks of speculation, Arsenal have unveiled their first offseason signing; Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech. The 33 year old joined Arsenal for roughly £10m after a quiet season for The Blues, appearing a disappointing 10 times across all competitions. This is primarily due to the return of Thibaut Courtois from Atletico Madrid and the incredible form of the young Belgian stopper.
Speaking to Arsenal.com, coach Arsene Wenger had this to say:
"Petr Cech is a player that I have admired for a long time and I am very pleased that he has decided to join us. He has proven over many seasons that he is one of the outstanding keepers in the world and he will add great strength to our squad."
With Chelsea, Cech won four Premier League titles, four FA Cups, three League Cups and the Premier League Golden Glove on three separate occasions. He was crucial in their 2012 Champions League win as he saved three penalties against Bayern Munich in the final. Additionally, he won the Europa League in 2013.
With his arrival comes quite the log-jam at the goalkeeping position with David Ospina and Wojciech Szczesny already on the roster. It is expected that Cech will take on first team duties and Ospina will be used throughout the year in both the Champions League and domestic cups. On the fringe is Szczesny who has been marginalised for his misconduct and apathetic attitude towards his health and public image.
Following his horrendous game against Southampton, it was alleged that Szczesny started smoking in the showers after the game. He was also seen smoking a few weeks after the FA Cup Final win against Aston Villa. It was reported that he has lost motivation and enthusiasm for the club and was dropped soon after the Southampton smoking incident. This coincided with Arsenal becoming one of the in-form teams of 2015, finishing strongly with David Ospina between the sticks. While the defence was much more organised and settled when Ospina took over, it became evident that he comands the defence much better than Szczesny had over the season. Ospina's ability to come out and collect crosses with confidence was also something that the young Polish keeper lacked, and it seems that he was only chosen for the FA Cup run out of fairness.
Arsenal players all seem to be welcoming Cech with open arms, and who wouldn't when a goalkeeper with such class and experienced has been brought in. John Terry himself said that Cech would give Arsenal "an extra 12 to 15 points per season." Those goals that may have slipped past Opsina and Szczesny will likely (hopefully) be stopped by Cech and Arsenal can legitimately contend for the title for a full year as opposed to the final three months of the season.
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