Arsene Wenger has played up Petr Cech as one of the ‘outstanding’ goalkeepers in world football after finally landing the Czech international following a 13-year pursuit.
The 33-year-old completed his £11 million move to the Emirates on Monday after Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich sanctioned the cross-city deal as a reward for his hard work and loyalty over the course of 11 years at Stamford Bridge.
Speaking to Arsenal.com about the signing, Wenger said: “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.”
The boss has long admired Cech, revealing in 2005 that the Plzen-born stopper had slipped through his fingers while still on the books at Sparta Prague.
Unable to secure the necessary paperwork to join the Gunners in 2002, Cech instead moved to Ligue 1 side Rennes before switching to Chelsea two years later.
Speaking a decade ago, Wenger lamented: “We wanted to take him before he went to Rennes but we could not get a work permit. At the time he had not played the necessary amount of games for his national team.
“Yes, we missed out – but these things happen. He is not the only player we have missed out on. And when he moved to France we still had David Seaman and we had Jens Lehmann. But Cech is doing well and he is developing well. He has what you need to play in England. He has the size and that is vital.
“People don’t realise how important that is. You get offered a goalkeeper of six feet-plus who is doing well in a Latin country. He comes here and he gets slaughtered. Therefore I feel Cech has the ingredients you need to be successful in England. Then last year, Chelsea did well. They bought him very early.”
Elsewhere, legendary Gunners keeper David Seaman rates Cech so highly that he believes the new boy’s acquisition could make the difference as Arsenal seek a first league title since 2004.
Speaking to BreatheSport, the 51-year-old noted: “Chelsea’s loss could, and likely will, be Arsenal’s gain. In my opinion this signing could genuinely be the difference between who will come first and who will come second next season.”
Seaman added in an interview on talkSPORT: “When somebody of that stature comes in it steadies the defence down. They’ll enjoy playing in front of Cech because he is a talker and he’s an organiser as well. I’m so happy he’s an Arsenal keeper.”
Cech is expected to start pre-season training in the coming days and will compete with Wojciech Szczesny for the right to start the season in goal against Chelsea in the Community Shield on 2 August. It remains to be seen what happens to David Ospina who is now on holiday following Colombia’s exit from the Copa America.
Do wonder what will happen to the physical number 1 shirt.
We all know Cech will be number 1. But is it a thing where the standing 1, still at the club gets demoted in a clear and obvious way?
You’ve said it yourself: everyone knows Cech will be number 1. So it doesn’t really matter who gets the shirt, because giving the shirt to Cech won’t make the message to the number 2 (most likely Szczesny) any more or less clear: they’ll still know Cech will be number 1, and they’ll still know that they will get the chance to take that place from him in a couple of years if they work hard and do well in the cups.
I’d be surprised if Cech didn’t already know the position on shirt numbers, and equally surprised if he hadn’t requested #1. I’m very much convinced the club would have gone out of their way to accomodate, and so they should. This guy is fucking excellent.
“People don’t realise how important that is. You get offered a goalkeeper of six feet-plus who is doing well in a Latin country. He comes here and he gets slaughtered. ”
Is mr.wenger refering to Almunia?
It sounds to me like an Ospina reference…
Given that he said it a decade ago, I highly doubt it.
Almunia
when did Almunia play in a Latin country?
ahhh my north American brain assumed south America, but Spain is European Latin.
you know you have latin country in europe right? spain,portugal.italia,france,roumania are latin country as well not just south american and central america
Nope
Is there anyone that genuinely thinks it is a bad signing? – not John Terry, Wenger, Seaman, the players, anyone I’ve spoken to etc.
Would be interested to hear…
Ospina maybe
Mourinho
I really really hope Moaninho thinks that this is very bad signing that makes him loses sleep over this and cries a lot then enters the realm of deep depressesion.
And while I would never EVER wish injury upon a footballer (with a handful of exceptions), how funny would it be if Courteouoaouoauies was out for an extended period of the season?!
One more crucial position taken care of!
Wenger is on a fantasy football mode, I say. All those signings he has wanted to have for long, ozil, cech, but couldn’t make due to the financial constraints are coming true now. 🙂
Messi in 2 yeara, I believe.
Looooool
Tired of….title contenders! !!! We are now champions league favourites bit****
Clearly Cech is an incredible keeper and I’m happy he’s joined but I can’t help feel sorry for Ospina. He played well for us last season. I hope he gets the move he wants (in other word, playing regularly for a competitive club) because he deserves it.
Ospina is an excellent keeper for the CL but we aren’t Barca and can’t have a League keeper and a CL keeper like they do. Ospina couldn’t have done what Szczesny did in the cup final, which is to let the opposition CF know that he’s winning nothing in the air unless he wants a punch to the head for his troubles. That isn’t his game. He’s a marginally better shot stopper and his distribution is better. He isn’t a commanding keeper like Neuer (or Cech for that matter) and he never will be.
Me too. Hope he doesn’t have to go to Turkey. If PSG are in the market for Cech, hope they try Ospina. He will get to play Champions League and also in a league he’s familiar with.
Was really struggling to get excited about this signing, but I suppose it can’t be a bad one. I still think it’s a stop gap for 2 years odd. He’s barely played last year, but shared the golden gloves with schez 2013/14. Will be good for schez and and the gk coaching etc.
I struggle to argue that it doesn’t make us stronger though…
I think 90% of people would want him in goals over ospina or schez
you’re wasting your energy if you’re struggling even the slightest. this is a massive coup.
I don’t agree it is only a stop gap because goalkeepers don’t rely on fitness. This is why many great goalkeepers have gone on to play into their late 30’s and sometimes into their 40’s at a very high level.
Cech is 33 and could be with us for a while. Just look at Buffon at 37, still pulling off save after save and made it to the CL final.
I’d sa
^This phone app is really pissing me off today.
Anyway, I was trying to say 99.9% of gooners would be happy with Cech in goals. You Ringo being the other 0.1%.
I was less bothered until it happened, then I still got that little transfer tingle and as you say, it makes us stronger if he replaces Ospinam so edging closer to a complete squad is pretty exciting.
He was on the bench at lot last season but he still played seven premier league games and won all seven of them. He only let in two goals in that time. That would suggest to me he’s still got it.
I think most of us agree that he is going to be the first choice keeper going forward. But what an opportunity this would be for the likes of Szcz to learn from him. I still see Szcz as the long term keeper for us over Ospina and with Cech on board, this could be the point where we finally see him fulfil the potential we all know he has and occasionally shows.
Ideally Ospina stays as #2 and Szcz goes out on loan. Ospina has proved himself a better keeper, and although I understand that some/most people think Szcz can develop to be better than Ospina, he is not going to get there by sitting on the bench. Send Szcz out on loan where he can play week in week out, then we’ll see if he can develop into a goalkeeper good enough for Arsenal, because at the moment I don’t think he is good enough.
Obviously, I’m delighted we signed Cech
The argument for keeping Szcz is that he’s never had a world class keeper to look up to and learn from. Almunia and Fabianski doesn’t really cut it. Szczesny was already better than them both. If he is to learn what makes a keeper truly great then who better to learn from than Cech?
If he goes out on loan he’ll just keep on making the same mistakes over and over again.
Agreed and it’s more likely that Ospina will be loaned, probably to a La Liga team where he will be the undoubted number 1.
You might be right that he’s not good enough to be arsenals first keeper at the moment (although those golden gloves of his from 13/14 says he might), but he’s certainly good enough to be second. Also, one of the big points of getting Cech (besides him being world class of course) is that he’ll provide a tremendous learning opportunity for Szczesny. The pole already has plenty of experience of being a first choice keeper in a top premier league side, I can’t see what he could possibly learn from being one in a lesser, but I certainly CAN see… Read more »
It’s logical that our incumbent No.1 stays. This isn’t Goalkeeping Academy for Szczesny season, we have to equip ourselves with a world-class squad to do it, and yes, keep at least 2 of our best keepers with us. The home-grown rule argument I get. And if you feel Szcz is better, then that’s fair enough. But once you accept that Ospina is our current No.1, he has to stay and become No.2 even if he doesn’t play a SINGLE game. And then when the title is won, we can sanction a move anywhere he wants. The current champions kept Courtois… Read more »
Cech my Arse.
Cech signed and check signed. Finally.
Is it possible that Cech arrival at arsenal is bad management by JOSE MOURINHO..he failed to tie Cech down when he was already no.1 keeper long before Coutois demand to be no.1 as a condition for 5yrs contract extension.
Whichever way you look at it. ..it is bad management from Jose…and I love it.
Nah, players have the majority of power when it comes to contracts and transfers, much as I’d love to criticise Mourinho on it, I don’t think he can take too much blame.
Of course, it might well be that Cech simply couldn’t stand another season having to work with such a ginormous John Terry, then I guess Muorinho is fundamentally at fault for that.
Not really. No amount of good management could keep two goalkeepers of that level happy at the same team. In the end one of them was always going to request a transfer, and it ended up being the one Abramovich felt he owed a transfer of his own choice.
Cheque, no?
What’s the deal exactly for next season? We’d like to defend the community shield and the Fa cup. Win The title with 5-4 games to spare, run another bout of undefeated in the epl and make it to the champions league final.
Rubbish. This is no time to give up our proud heritage of crashing and burning spectacularly in the first leg of Champions League round of 16, only to mount a plucky but insufficient fight in the second leg. Szczesny as the CL keeper it is, then.
One more thing, European or Fifa player of the year for next season to be a gunner.
I am just very disappointed for Ospina. He is a very good GK. Just look at his performances at Copa America. Almost everyone is saying like he is not….which is very unfair to him.
I just hope that Cech still got it and will produce what many of the fans say he will. But I have my doubts really.
Mourinho is a better manager than what we think he is….when letting go of Cech to his arch rival. I just got a feeling there is more to it.
Sometimes I worry about that knock he took to his head, brain injuries have a way developing over time.
I had a bad head injury many years ago, and I’m completely fine now penguin marmalade suspension bridge.
And the Che£$ki fans show their class with a fond farewell…………..
Welcome to Arsenal Petr, may your stay be succesful. There’s only one (classy) team in London!!!
Cech now ‘checked-in’. Next must be Carvalho and Lacazette!
good for us, finally a “world class” keeper. Still think we should keep Ospina over the pole, why talking about some kind of potential than the pole have when Ospina is already the better keeper? height is an issue, sure, but even at szczesny height he still missed some clearances and punches, ospina is only one year older than the pole, so what make ppl think the pole will get something from cech but the colombian wont? some untapped potential we’ve been waiting for years now yet he hasnt move forward? (and dont bring the golden glove think, cuz simply… Read more »
Because, the main thing Ospina has going for him over Szzcesny is his consistency, and that is something that can, and often does, develop as you mature, whereas Ospina is unlikely to grow 5 inches.
so would you guys rather let go someone who is consistent and a great keeper NOW over someone who MIGHT BE or MIGHT NOT BE consistent in the future? how many years the pole has been our number 1 and how many times he has show any glimpse of getting any consistency?
Two years ago, won the Golden Gloves (jointly, admittedly) and no-one was disputing him as No. 1 at all, he had the odd moment but aside from that it looked like we were sorted, maybe I remember it wrong and he was a disaster that season but I don’t think I’m THAT deluded. He was helped by solid defence though, that’s worth remembering. Obviously, I’d rather have a great keeper now, hence why I’d rather have Cech than Ospina or Szczesny in goal next season, but if it’s a choice between relying on someone developing a little more consistency or… Read more »
http://www.squawka.com/players/wojciech-szczesny/stats#performance-score#arsenal-(current)#english-barclays-premier-league#8#season-2013/2014#64#all-matches#1-38#by-match The pole stats when “he” won the golden glove, he was still letting goals in every 1.95 shoots, so yeah, that golden glove was mostly thanks to our defense. http://www.squawka.com/players/david-ospina/stats#performance-score#nice#french-ligue-1#24#season-2013/2014#58#all-matches#1-37#by-match This are Ospina stats that year, in a team that was battling for relegation, note the lower ammount of goals conceded and how he have a higher average saves per goal with a defense that wasnt near as good as Arsenals that year, in a relegation battling team. http://www.squawka.com/players/petr-cech/stats#performance-score#chelsea-(current)#english-barclays-premier-league#8#season-2013/2014#64#all-matches#1-38#by-match Cech numbers that year. And now: http://www.squawka.com/players/david-ospina/stats#performance-score#arsenal-(current)#english-barclays-premier-league#8#season-2014/2015#126#all-matches#1-38#by-match Ospina stats last year vs http://www.squawka.com/players/wojciech-szczesny/stats#performance-score#arsenal-(current)#english-barclays-premier-league#8#season-2014/2015#126#all-matches#1-38#by-match the pole stats last year, even with… Read more »
great stuff. I’ve never understood why people are so eager to give Szcz all the credit for playing behind a stable back four in 13/14 and give ospina zero credit for his performances behind a stable back four in 2015. The pole is clearly favoured by some without having done much on the pitch to justify it.
Fair enough, if the stats say Szczesny wasn’t that great then that’s what they say, I don’t think pure goals per shots tells the whole story, as not all shots are equal, but it’s something to consider. I’m not going to go hunting for them, as I’m lazy, but I seem to remember reading a stat that most of our goals conceded with Ospina in goal were headers, and I remember a few sailing past him to the backpost that could have been dealt with. Take it with a pinch of salt as it’s mostly qualiative analysis, but aerial domination… Read more »
No way David. I refuse to go to four seperate outside links to compare keeper stats from past years. You automatically lose the “discussion” for over-clunking your reply. It’s really clunky. Wenger will be making the decision and it will be based entirely on what he thinks is best for the team over the next 5-8 years. Stats on previous seasons at different clubs in different countries aren’t the same as his hands on experience. Wenger will not make a decision based on old stats and nor will personal factors come into it. “Deserving” doesn’t win prizes when Wenger is… Read more »
Thank you David.
Dont allow this site to cloud your judgement people. (e.g..Szcz good, too bad Ospina gotta go, wilshere should start more over everyone else and all that nonsense, overly critical of certain players compared to others..).
Theres a common theme if you read the opinions here long enough.
But than again , i have less cause for concern now that most of our deadwood are released.
Here’s to hoping AW chooses the right team and tactics next season, so we can stay in the race long enough.
Yes, that’s exactly what I’d like us to do. With Cech signing we don’t need Scz to be great NOW, we can let him improve for a couple of years. Years, during which, Ospina won’t get any taller.
David thanks for the research on this. The “he cannot grow 5 inches” thing is the stupidest argument tactic ever in relation to goalkeepers.
Ignoring the other strengths that Ospina has because of his height is the kind of logic that would have killed Leo Messi’s football career as a kid.
It would if he wanted to be a goalkeeper!
Yes, because children grow just as much as men in ther mid-20s.
Or Casillas
Personally, I think it’s as simple as Szczesny being passionate about the club, and being ‘home-grown’. All this talk about potential and the better keeper blah blah blah is better left to experts, in my opinion, people like Bob Wilson and Gerry Peyton.
Totally agree R. Rozario. COYG!
Pity we didn.t get Imbula tho…i really rate him
Who is cech?
He is a former Chelsea goal keeper who now ply his trade in the red side of London. He is the hero of 2015/2016 UCL final where he makes sum outstanding saves to clinch the prestigious title with the red army after winning the EPL with 23 clean sheets and a record of unbeaten.
who say dreams don’t come to pass.
I’d like to think that Szczesny will eventually mature into a better keeper than Courtois under the tutelage of Cech.
I don’t understand this excuse for szcz not being very good because he’s never had a great keeper to mentor him? did courtious, de gea, loris, neuer all develop under the tutelage of a great goalie or is this something blogs has made up in defence of the pole? why are all these other keepers already great and szcz has been benched twice in the past three years, never had a good World Cup or euro, and now demoted to number 2?
Plot twist: Cech is our new number 9!
Great business! He’s one of the few goalies that used to make me nervous in the past when Arsenal was facing Chelsea, he was so hard to beat. Now other teams will get nervous playing against us!! But to be honest, I’m still slightly suspicious as to how that deal happened, so un-chelsea like, just like Arseblog said.
They can get in a homegrown goalie to replace him. It gets a probably-unhappy player off their books, reduces the wage bill in all probability, and makes their Club, and Abramovic in particular, look like kind, caring people. Win! Win! Win! Win! for them.
Win! for us too, but they don’t care that we are strengthened as they are arrogant.
Glad it looks like we are keeping Szcz, Ospina is a good keeper but doesn’t have the physical attributes required to be great plus he has no neck and always looks constipated.
Cech’s will be amazing for us. We’re extremely close now, we just need to nail this transfer window. Pay Lyon whatever they are asking for Lacazette – he’s the complete package. Also, sign either Schneiderlin or Carvalho. Should be 70 million tops including Cech’s deal, which is definitely doable.
If we get these players, we will have a squad worthy of winning the league. All that will remain is executing on the field.
Yes it’s sad to see Ospina go, but I’m sure he’ll end up as first choice at a bigger club than Nice. And why are some people so bothered that Szczesny is staying? He’s certainly good enough to be second choice, he’s ‘home-grown’, he’s part of the furniture now, and if he’s not good enough to take over from Cech when he steps aside, then we’ll simply buy another Almunia, cross our fingers and take our heart medication. Wait, no, I mean we’ll simply buy a better keeper. What’s the fuss?
This is Wenger’s way of saying to the “Wenger out brigade” “now I have signed Ozil, Sanchez, Cech, with more to come, do you now believe I didn’t have the fucking money before”!!!!
In Arsene I trust….
I think Wenger has grabbed at an opportunity in the market and won. 1) There are other teams who will pay for a keeper. The De Gea haggling at United has caught them flat footed with Cech. Lloris is also possibly moving but Spurs is an unlikely destination for Cech without a huge sum dangled and Hugo has not made his move yet. 2) Cech wants to be in London if possible. He will also likely want CL footy. That rules Spurs out. 3) At 10m quid, it is an absolute deal for a consistent and mature keeper with at… Read more »
effing hell arseblog i was being sarcastic when i wrote wenger out. the name shoulda helped if the context didnt. it being good times i fear the day the guy goes. and even in the “bad” times it was scary ti think he would go
This move will not only have a good impact on Arsenal players, but it will also intimidate the opposition. Remember how we knew that we would have to come up with something special to beat VDS, Cech, De Gea, Neuer? Other forwards were happy to play against Fabianski and Almunia. Even a good keeper like Ospina doesn’t have impact. The real top class goalkeepers are worth many points, it’s not just the lower amount of clangers they make in a season, it’s saving the 50-50 shots, not getting beaten at the near post, etc that really make a keeper stand… Read more »
I remember him fumbled a corner and the ball slipped from his catch onto Gallas’s head. Gallas scored. -random-
I strongly believe that Wenger will keep Ospina & let Szczesny go….either on loan or permanent….most likely permanent.
Seaman, Lehmann, Szczesny and Cech – sounds like a two Ronnies sketch…
I don’t know why?