Former Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech finally made his
long rumored move to Arsenal on June 29, 2015 after weeks of speculation. It
was a transfer rare in the history of English top division, given the
rivalry between Chelsea and Arsenal. Since the ugly swap involving William
Gallas (Chelsea) and £4 million for
left back Ashley Cole (Arsenal), it became
clear that the two clubs may never do any transfer business in the future,
coupled with the problems between French man Arsene Wenger and Portuguese Jose
Mourinho .Even Cesc Fabregas was not spared as he was infamously buoyed by Arsenal fans when the two sides met in the league at the Emirates last season. This is coming after Arsenal declined the right to resign Fabregas from Barcelona in summer of 2014. Cech is a legend in West London after spending 11 illustrious years at the club winning every trophy in Europe and England Including the 'Holy Grail' (Champions League) which had eluded not only Chelsea but every other London club. In moving to Arsenal, Cech risks losing his legendary status even with his emotional letter to Chelsea fans on the day of his transfer to Arsenal.
The capture of Cech who at 33, appears to be the plugging
of the ever looping hole in the Arsenal defence. Arsenal have not had a world
class goal keeper since the departure of Jens Lehmann, who joined Arsenal
from Borussia Dortmund in 2003 at 34 and went on to enjoy five years success
featuring in the 'Invincible Team' that went unbeaten for 49 games in 2004
before leaving for Stuttgart in 2008. Wenger has had more than five goal
keepers since the departure of Lehmann and each goal keeper has time and time
again disappointed (Manuel Almunia, Vito Mannone, Lukasz Fabianski, Wojciech
Szczesny and David Ospina). Evidently there has been a dearth of a quality goal
keeper for Arsenal.
Age is not a mitigating factor in the case of Cech
because as well known goal keepers only get better with age , example of which
includes Gigi Buffon 37, Zino Zoff who captained and won the World Cup with
Italy in Espana '82 aged 40, Edwin Van Der Sar who joined Manchester United at
35 and Julio Ceaser who won the treble with Inter Milan and Jose Mourinho in
2010 at 31. Cech did play only seven matches last season for the blues
after he was upsurged from the starting XI by Belgian Thaibaut Courtois, but he
was still in goal in Wembly when Chelsea thumped Tottenham ( 2-0) to win the
league cup in March. Cech's season statistics shows he had five clean sheets in
seven matches in the league. To judge him better, we look into his 2013/2014
season statistics. That season, he played 34 league matches and had a super
impressive clean sheet in 16 of them. His average saves per game were 1.53 and
his average claim success was 95% with an average punch of 26% showing his
aerial success. Also he had a distance length of 46m with no yellow or red card
in the whole season showing his high disciplinary record.
It is still very difficult to say who is a better goal
Keeper between Courtois and Cech based on performance, but it's clear Chelsea
preferred Courts based on age and long term planning. It is also on record that
Cech dislodged Chelsea first choice goal keeper Carlo Cudicini when he joined
Chelsea in 2004 from Rennes. Cudicini was so good the previous season yet he
was dislodged by Cech based on the same reason Courtois displaced him ( did I
hear you say one good turn deserves another?).
At a goal keeping tender age of 23 , Courtois has won
the Belgian League, Spanish League, Copa del Rey, Europa League, English League
Cup and Premier League and still counting. It is only natural he is given the
chance ahead of Cech, while Cech is allowed his wishful transfer to Arsenal for
his illustrious years of service and labour for Chelsea not minding the rivalry
between the two clubs.
With Cech, Arsenal have finally gotten what they have
craved for years but that should not end there. A top goal keeper isn't the
only thing Arsenal need to challenge for the title come 2015/2016 season. They
need a top goal scorer like Gonzalo Higuin (Napoli), Karim Benzema (Real
Madrid), Klaus Huntelaar (Schalke 04) who can guarantee you at least 20 league
goals per season and also a top defensive midfielder to partner Francis
Coquelin who had an outstanding season. It's only unfortunate that, Wenger
could have signed French man Gianneli Imbula from Marseille before he joined FC
Porto. This is based on the fact that in Imbula, Porto has gotten a young
player with top flight experience and a high resale value. There is also Arturo
Vidal (Juventus), Ever Banega who had a rejuvenated season at Seville and
Morgan Schneiderlin of Southampton bearing in mind fitness and injury, ever
busy Christmas schedule and competition on four fronts (Champions League,
League Cup, FA Cup and Premier League). The defence and wing of Arsenal could
compete with any top team in the world and boasts many world internationals.
Accepted that the signing of Petr Cech is a statement of intent but until a top
striker and defensive midfielder are signed Arsenal should not expect to
challenge for the Premier League and should be contented with a 'Top Four'
finish come the season end.
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