An emotional Petr Cech says his teammates didn’t deserve to end the season empty-handed after Chelsea ruthlessly killed their Europa League hopes with a 4-1 win in Baku.
Playing in the final game of his career, the 37-year-old put speculation about a return to Chelsea to one side to deliver a series of stunning saves that kept the score down.
While Cech found the result difficult to swallow, he was at pains to stress how much hard work has been put in behind the scenes this campaign and that he thinks the Gunners will be stronger next year, even in his absence.
“I’m proud of myself, obviously, I’m as well, proud of the way I played today,” he told BT Sport.
“When you play your career game in a final, there’s a lot of pressure, a lot of speculation and things about Chelsea. I had to perform and I can say I’ve done everything.
“I can look back and have no regrets about today apart from the fact we worked so hard in the whole year and in the end we have nothing.
“It’s something this group of players probably don’t deserve. The people who come every day, the supporters, they can’t see behind the scenes how much work has been done this season.
“It’s easy to say we have finished empty handed, no cup, we lost 4-1 but I can assure everybody that supports Arsenal that the work we have done this season will come [good] next season and this team will be much stronger.”
Cech, ever the professional, also made clear that he was unwilling to comment on his future while still under contract at the Emirates.
“I’ve kept saying to everybody, I want to lift this trophy and then sit down and think. Until the 30th June, I’m still an Arsenal player. People forget that. Until that point, I won’t decide anything.”
He wanted a fairytale ending. But it wasn’t to be. While he’s not been a Gunner for long, everybody can appreciate the contribution Cech has made to football in England over the last 15 years. We wish him all the best with whatever he does next.
Well, if they didn’t deserve it, why did they let it happen?
You know who REALLY didn’t deserve this!?
Every single fan who went to Baku.
If the players had any class, they would pay for every single supporter’s ticket and transportation to and from Baku.
If anyone should pay it’s the club, not the players. The players didn’t meekly roll over and let UEFA get away with this fiasco, that was the the club hierarchy who decided to roll the dice and hope for a payout and now are left having sold out our principles for nothing but embarrassment.
That’s true, however most of our players giving 0 shits about the result is really disgraceful towards the fans who really had to go out of their way to support their team in Baku. Almost everything about the club is rotten and hopefully there’s some spring cleaning on the board, management, and player levels!
I dont think the players give zero carefactor about the result. They would be gutted as much as the next supporter. They wanted to win too I am sure of it. BUT they just arent good enough on a consistent basis, and thats the issue. they lack the skill required to compete over 90 minutes on the big stage away from Emirates.
First goal was vital. I have to blame Kolasinac for taking an extra touch when a simple cross to Auba would have put us 1-0 up.
Maybe I’m being harsh, but does nobody here think Cech should have done better with the first two goals? Getting beat at his near post, then he was extremely slow to get down for the second one. I know it is easy to make this accusation in hindsight. But I think Leno saves at least one of those chances. Regardless — that sums Arsenal up at the moment. Cech should have never started this game. A European Cup final worth over a £100M for the club, you leave nothing to chance and field your best 11, goal keeper included. Spurs… Read more »
I picked up on that too. first and second goal were preventable by a faster keeper. First goal a low header on the post is gauging, too slow to get down. Second goal two rebounds before crossing the line, a younger chicken with spring in his steps would have had a chance to reach it. I like the bloke but we didn’t play our best keeper and this in itself is a tactical mistake. Too bloody nice.
The second goal came from a change of possession where the ref ignored a foul because he was trying to make up for blocking off a chelsea player moments earlier. Should have been a free kick to us, but that official just got somehow worse from the penalty shout in the first half to the final whistle. Their first goal was a great pass and a good header, but Cech was very slow to react. The comments by our now former cup keeper here are pretty condescending- the players did deserve the result, as they were on the pitch and… Read more »
Thought his comments were quite telling. He genuinely was hurt, not just for himself but for the club. He must see how badly we needed CL football and as a professional it must hurt so much when you can deliver, especially in a game where he was powerless to do anything about the goals he conceded. The fact we are losing a character like him, as well as Ramsey, scares the life out of me. Who’s left in that dressing room to pick this club up? Scary times ahead……#kroenkeout
The players deserved a club that would back them when one of their number was literally being threatened by government officials from the country “hosting” the competition. They didn’t get that, so yes, they did deserve better.
Maybe the reason the defence played so poorly was because they were nervous about the secret agent behind them. Leno should have played. Cech will be going back to where he belongs now at least – looking forward to seeing the back of him.
Would be great to see the back of you. Cech was probably the only player who came out of that shit show deserving of praise. He wasn’t the problem. Our lack of midfield and defence, and a coach that can’t improve the players or get the gameplan right when the pressure is on – they are the ones you should be pointing your finger at.
Pardon me for my rudeness, but the players definitely DID deserve this.
Cech didn’t deserve this.
I absolutely hate it when players, managers, pundits say a team didn’t “deserve” a result. Whatever the scoreline is when the final whistle blows is EXACTLY what you deserve
Dignified interview by Cech, refusing to be drawn on speculation over his future straight after the game (however clear it might seem what will happen next), unlike Hazard who couldn’t hold back about his own future. Cech seemed genuinely choked about our collective failure too and it didn’t feel like that had anything to do with wanting to go out on a personal high. Let’s be clear, none of this is on him.
Couldn’t agree more, he was devastated for our club. The fact that a guy who played for our rivals for so long feels it more than some of the other players in our dressing room really shows how lacking we are in characters and personality in the dressing room. He’s been nothing but a class act, one we will miss massively because of his mentality. I accept his best years were well and truly behind him, but he’s been a rock in the dressing room in what has been a dreadful 4 years since he signed, bar the FA Cup… Read more »
Given our budget – maybe we should try to convince him for an additional year…
No, I think we need to get the string of young keepers moving up.
Yes they fucking did.
When you play with 3 attackers, 7 defensive players, and ask the attacking midfielder to man mark a defensive midfielder, what do you expect? If the win over Chelsea at home is the template, then we deserved to lose because they dominated us in every aspect of play then and did so now too.
When you win games where you were not the best team, and you repeat the performance, you will lose. We planned around inferior football and then say we didn’t deserve to lose?
we play losing football.
First, Cech is a class act. He will be missed in the locker room.
However, you can claim they didn’t “deserve” the result if we hit the woodwork a ton, had dodgy PKs called against us and every goal that went in was a complete deflection. But that wasn’t the case. After the first 25 minutes, it was largely one way traffic. It’s hard to say the scoreline flattered the Blues.
So Emery says Arsenal need to strengthen for the cl.Even my 100 yr old grandpa knows that. Its the US owner who doesn’t or cant be bothered. The latter believes in the business model ie self sustaining. If that were the case do you honestly believe MC and Chelsea could have won 8/9 titles ?The same goes for rf whose transfer deals held him win so many trophies. Until Emery is given sufficient funds and not be hamstrung by economies of scale ,Arsenal will continue to cling on to the coattails of the big boys. In time tto come Arsenal… Read more »
The time you refer to came about 10 years ago. The brand has outlasted reality by a large margin, thanks to the size of the supporter base. But that too will dwindle in time.
He must recognise that investment required to ensure maximum revenue achieved?
Bullshit Peter. The players got what they deserved because once again they crumbled when it counted.
On the bright side Ludogorets away is a fun trip.
Ludogrets away was the finest Football TV and camera direction I have ever seen. Any doubts, check the last broadcast of us at their place. Stunning camera work and direction. 100% serious.
Ozil certainly didnt deserve anything from his performance. Remove him from the team. He has lost interest.
I don’t deserve to be taken the piss out of yet again, on whatsapp by my chelsea and liverpool supporting friends
I was pissed because I was stuck in a work meeting and missed the first half. As soon as the meeting ended I checked the score and saw Giroud had just scored. Rushed around trying to find a pub that was showing the game. While walking, checked the score again. 2-0. Crap. Made it to a pub, walked in, found a place sit and saw the PK before I even sat down. Turned around and walked out of the pub. And then still had to go back to work (from where I’m currently typing this). So to summarize. F-ing awful… Read more »
Never crumbled so badly in a final before.
Even though none of the goals was Cech’s fault,the fact the story of becoming Technical Director leaked,He shouldn’t have played….. Arsenal has always been a sentimental club,and until there’s ruthlessness, we’ll continue to choke at this kinda moments….Sad,really sad!!!! Can’t sleep
We deserve exactly what we get. We talk a lot but don’t deliver. that said, Emery has long standing issues in the squad. He has made some mistakes but has largely got most things right. BUT the squad’s inherent lack of capacity all too evident as we threw away opportunity after opportunity over last 5 or 6 matches of the season. To think 3 points (say against Wolves…no Mustafi) would have made the diff in finishing above Chelski. One goal from Auba against BHA would have sealed our spot in 4th. Either without recourse to the riskier option of the… Read more »
And now Cech starts his new role at Chelsea….
Emery is a blithering idiot.
How he can remain at Arsenal after this.
And now a team rebuild after this result and on 40 million including salary and agents fees.
I am sorry but given the competition in the league and the financial strength of teams coming into the transfer window, last night truly was last chance saloon.
Arsenal are done and dusted…
TV renevues increased by tens of millions a year, a few high wage earners are off the wages. But we only have a budget of 40m???
Such bs from the club
If they blame it on wages, then if we get ozil and Miki off the wage bill would we suddenly have an extra 60m to spend.
No.
Kroenke out
The players who aren’t helping the club and should leave this summer are Ozil, Xhaka, Elneny, Kolasinac, Monreal, Mkhitaryan, Mustafi. The players who will leave are probably none since we have zero budget and already need to replace others. Fun times ahead
The team got the result they deserved. Certain players deserved a better send off (Cech being one), sure, but the only people that can feel aggrieved are the fans whose club has been taken by a parasite and let down by a team that has consistently shown no bottle when the going gets not tough but anything less than perfectly ideal. We pay our money for tickets, merchandise, TV subscriptions, we travel to Baku, or get up at 3am, and we get Mesut Ozil and co. in return. I don’t expect to win everything but I expect the club and… Read more »
The situation is utterly simple. A owner whose first and only priority is to maximize his profit will act accordingly and employ management which supports that. With Kroenke we’ll see a further decline into mediocracy,where our likes in PL will be teams ilke West Ham and Everton and top four is a distant dream. If we think last years have been hard for us, worse ordeals lie ahead.
Unfortunately, to quote Clint Eastwood in The Unforgiven: deserves got nothing to do with it
You only deserve it if you actually perform on the day. We weren’t good enough and played like it was a preseason friendly, not a European final, which was also absolutely crucial to the direction the club takes next.
If any players leave because of this they should know they were complicit as should all of them really.
And fuck Olivier Giroud.
Why did our second or maybe third best keeper start? Chelsea started their first string players. Why do we coddle these players?
He started because he was our best player on the night and without him the result would have been even more humiliating!
This is exactly what they deserved, Shite Players, Shite club
We’re talking about a manager and team who couldn’t even get a result against Everton, Palace, Wolves or Brighton when the pressure was on so what chance did we have against Chelsea?
The players bottled it (again) last night and got exactly what they all deserved.
Cech was awful. Looked every one of his 37 years. Horribly slow to get down, let alone across.
To all gunners fans it’s painful we lost but let’s have patience with our coach he tried to change many things for our team the only problem is that we don’t have defenders we don’t have someone one who can win the game by himself for example a player who is scary when he gets the ball like Hazard, Bernadine Silva, Zaha, Sterling and many driddlers we just have normal and aging players. We also have a stingy body that does not want to remove money to buy players. We must put the young stars we have and mix with… Read more »
At what point does our mediocrity start to hurt Kroenke’s fucking wallet? Hopefully soon, cos that’s all the slimey cunt cares about.
I don’t know enough about our finances, but I’m sure sales of merchandise must have suffered the last few years. How many little kids get inspired by The Arsenal?
That’s 3 season tickets for sure going back.
Players and manager, except maybe Cech, got exactly what they deserved for such a spineless 2nd half performance where they crumbled yet again after conceding. I’ll never understand Emery’s decision to start Ozil, and I don’t know if Ozil’s uselessness yesterday from him playing to instructions or just Ozil being Ozil, either way never want to ever see him in an Arsenal shirt.
If anything, those players deserved to lose by more than 4-1, if not for Cech and some poor Chelsea finishing.
Cech has always been a class act. Had wanted this cup victory for him (and of course the CL spot) to go out on.
I don’t care how swell guy Cech is, how professional, experienced, a leader, an example etc…. The moment it came out that he is joining Chelski after his contract is up, it was obvious he should not have started. Even without that, we should have leave the sentiment aside and give Leno a start. Since he settled in, he became our no. 1 goalie. Thing that bugs me the most is that Cech thinks that because it is his final game, he should start. He had a blistering career, won a few PLs plus a CL, so why is nobody… Read more »
First, spot on post by Blogs today over on the main page. Restrained, raw, but honest. Second, right now we are a joke of a club. I don’t mind losing a hard fought, well played game or final for that matter. That’s the nature of football. But this was a total humiliation. And it seems to only happen to Arsenal … and to keep happening. Third, AW has done a remarkable thing to AFC. Revolutionized it in the late 1990s, and English football with it, but hung on so long, courtesy of weak/greedy ownership, that he thereafter torpedoed it, and… Read more »