Arsene Wenger has admitted he deliberated over the signing of Petr Cech last summer, but says that it would have been a mistake not to have brought in a player of that quality when he was available.
The Arsenal manager again praised David Ospina, saying the Colombian stopper was an underrated presence in team, but knew he couldn’t pass up the chance to sign a player he’d first scouted when the Czech international was in his early 20s.
““It was a very, very difficult decision for me because I rate Ospina highly,” he said. “He is a keeper who is underrated, especially in England.
“But signing Cech was maybe one of the few opportunities to say, ‘Okay, this is an obvious transfer’. It was more to say, ‘If I don’t do this, it would be a mistake’.”
The fact he’d spent a season on the bench at Stamford Bridge clearly gave the Frenchman pause for thought.
““He hadn’t played and was battling a drop in physical aptitude but I knew the potential was exceptional having played against him for 11 years in the Premier League. It was a question of physically, can he still do it?
“When I met him I was quickly reassured of his desire to do well and his motivation. I didn’t know how much he could still produce physically.”
The 33 year old has been an outstanding performer for the Gunners this season, and Wenger says his experience on the pitch is invaluable.
“He has a calming presence, he communicates well, anticipates well, sees what is coming,” he said.
“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.”
A HD GO-PRO. Yeah.
It’s a shame that after sharing the golden glove, sczcney and cech have had such differing careers. The difference being their reaction to adversity. I’m so happy that we have a solid keeper in cech but also wish our spurs trolling pile would come back as a deputy / understudy to cech.
Pole not pile
Well some might say you weren’t wrong the first time around as he can be a pain in the arse!
Mind you, I’m a big fan of the Woj.
Freudian
once beaten twice shy…….missed out on him once, glad to have him between the poles in an Arsenal jersey
My money is on ospina leaving and szcz coming back in the summer. Szcz to play cup ties and be taught in cechs finishing school before becoming another arsenal great once cech retires. I am behind that plan…
The cech deal worked out on so many levels. Not just for us, but for him too, and he will leave a legacy as mentioned above.
Now, imagine I’d we hadn’t signed him. Scary
Class all around
It’s is great and assuring that since Seaman’s day, we have now a top notch keeper between the poles
Funny how The Arsenal chanced upon Semen before growing The Coq.
*Hurriedly grabs the coat and bolts.
Is it just me, or does this talk about “top notch keeper between the poles” feel like a subtle double entendre? 😀
He’s so good I’m Considering wearing he’s hat as fashion statement. Imagine that
Yeah it.s nice not to be scared witless anytime the ball comes near our box. I bet our defenders feel the sane (not a typo)
‘Harry the helmet’ has a secret camera in his hat!!
I would love Sczezny to come back next season . The errors he makes at times are more about focus than ability and something im sure Cech could coach him on and despite the errors theres still in my opinion a good goalkeeper waiting to be polished into a great one .
I do miss the Woj but I’m more grateful for having two top quality keepers that, for the most part, stay focused in every match. If Szczesny does return then I feel he will have realised that he can’t overtake Čech without mirroring his stronger qualities.
Petr wears a hat
It doesn’t make him a twat
Because Arsenal is where he’s at
He saves, Giroud scores and Costa is on his back
Go on Chelsea, have THAT!
I still see some arsenal fans believing that Scz will still be a great goalkeeper. You are all deceiving yourselves.
He wont and he would never be
Sir Arsene wenger is right. Ospina is clearly under-rated while Scz is clearly over-rated
Quite telling that Wenger says it was a difficult decision because he rates Ospina and not Woj. I love Woj and would love for him to succeed here at the Arsenal but I’m really beginning to think he’s burnt his bridges now