After last week’s draw with Stoke City, Theo Walcott praised Petr Cech for the way he rallied Arsene Wenger’s frustrated troops.
With yesterday’s 1-0 defeat to Chelsea taking Arsenal’s winless run to three games, the veteran keeper was a little more matter-of-fact in his analysis, although he still praised his teammates for their organisation after going down to ten men on 18 minutes.
Speaking to Arsenal.com after the game, Cech tackled the thorny issue of Per Mertesacker’s dismissal: “The referee was very close. He had a clear view of the situation and he decided straight away to give a red card.
“There was no hesitation from anyone. We just had to deal with the fact. You just go on. He can’t change the decision anyway by protesting for three minutes.
“We had to regroup, we had to make sure that we reorganised and try to continue with 10 men. Unfortunately we conceded too early after the sending off.”
He added: “We are disappointed because we lost a game at home. We wanted to compete, we wanted to take advantage of playing at home, but unfortunately the decisive moment came quite early on in the game.
“Unfortunately Chelsea took advantage of that and scored. From there, they tried to control the game and playing 11 against 10 for 70 minutes is always an advantage [for Chelsea].
“I thought that, even with 10 men, we came back very strongly in the second half. We could have actually scored the equaliser but we were missing a little bit of the last touch inside the box and around the box. There were always moments where we almost got there, but we didn’t find a real opportunity to put the ball in the net.
“I thought for 70 minutes we were brilliant, in terms of the team effort and the organisation. We were not far from getting something out of the game.”
I just really like this man.
TW praises Cech quite rightly for his attitude.Perhaps he might learn a few things from him because at the moment he is a liability.
TW – The player whose highlight yesterday was putting on the captain’s armband……….the wrong way round !!!
We were well in that game with 11 men on the field, if anything Chelsea looked the more nervous side. Courtois was literally kicking easy clearences out for throw-ins, in an almost Almunia like fashion. They had a few bits of real nervy confusion at the back where passes between Zouma and Terry went a bit loose after we had pressured them high up the field. We had that little moment of quick passing on the edge of the D where Campbell swung and missed a decent chance. We were starting to dictate the match in our favour, we were… Read more »
You know what? If that prick Costa had actually gone one-on-one with this man, I would’ve put money on Cech saving it.
Alas, those wankers somehow take the 3 points. In this respect, I feel this Arsenal team has shades of the season before last (Moyes) with regards to how we weren’t able to beat a weakened Man Utd either home or away.
Let’s hope it changes now!
Who knows what would have happened. Costa being the sly cheat that he is, he could have got Cech sent off instead which would have been worse. As important as Mertesacker is I’d rather go without him than without Cech. Cech is simply undroppable at the moment.
petr cech isnt a sczenchny, he isnt an ospina, petr cech is a rock! on situations where the striker is 1-on-1 against the keeper, cech is the best keeper to have. i’d say the probability of cech saving the goal without fouling on diego costa would be as high as 40%. merte made a bad decision.
Costa knew this too. He was playing for the red all the way. The man advantage was probably more of a priority for him on the day than scoring a goal, that’s the kind of guy he is.
Take it on the chin and on to the next one. City and Leicester have suffered their blips. we just concluded ours. the real charge begins.
I sure hope we have concluded our blip. We haven’t even played that badly over the last two months (since the City game), but we’ve been playing like a top four team rather than like champions.
In principle the next three league games should be slightly easier, so hopefully we can get three confidence-boosting wins and combine some confidence with some returning players to take the business end of the season by storm.
“I sure hope we have concluded our blip”
I’m pretty confident that we have. Sanchez coming back and, even more importantly in my opinion, Coquelin to come back soon as well.
Ahh.. some much needed positivity there. Thanks! It’s sad in its own right how shitty the entire week becomes after a loss like that. Negative comments, negative articles, negative mind-set, and negative aspirations.
More of you Soweto.
I wonder if Wenger will give any thoughts to pairing Coq with a fit again Rosicky? Very similar to Santi, brings back our defensive solidity and possession and passing again.
Yes, I think that makes sense. I would rather see Rosicky next to Coq than Ramsey at the moment, and push Ramsey back to the wing over Walcott. I’m not really convinced a Ram Coq midfield will work as immediately as we need it to. We need someone with very good close control who can get out of tight spaces and pick out a pre-assist playing alongside Coq. I would think that he would fit best with Rosicky, Wilshere and Santi. Ramsey takes a lot of risks, I like him but I think it’s safer to play him in a… Read more »
I’d love to see Rosicky come in and fix our midfield problem, but perhaps Elneny is an even more likely candidate, as he should be a bit fitter and sharper at the moment. I hope Elneny at least gets to start in the FA cup, and that he can give Wenger something to think about for his midfield selection. As for Ramsey taking Walcott’s place: I’m expecting Walcott on the bench as soon as Alexis is ready to start, as Campbell has shown he is the better option on the right. Walcott should go back to competing for places with… Read more »
Interesting idea.
Would be ideal if (big if) Wilshere could get healthy in the absence of Cazorla. He could bring those similar dribbling skills in tight spaces. At least on his day he can and he’s always been a good passer of the ball, at least more consistent passing then Flamini and Ramsey (which isn’t saying a whole lot recently) and has the eye for the occasional spectacular pass
I like this too, hope we get to try it sometime soon! Wilshere and Ramsey never really worked, because they both wanted to make more forward forays and nobody stayed home. But with a positionally more disciplined Coquelin it would be interesting to see.
Then again, Santi may be back close to the same time!
I see an opportunity for Elneny to make his case.
but does rosicky still have it? i wouldnt write off a coq-ramsey partnership without first seeing it. and on the right, i think i’d put my trust on joel campbell ahead of walcott/welbeck. i actually thought campbell was one of our best players yesterday.
Love Cech. You can really see why Chelsea have done well in recent years, this guy really has his head in the right place. So many people bitching about things from as big as the manager being clueless to the little things like the armband being passed off was criminal. People really need to get a grip. Yeah losing was painful, but it’s as if many didn’t see the effort the boys put in and almost got something out the game with 10 men. I really do have sympathy for Arsene on days like this. He put Gabriel on at… Read more »
And you my brother/siz…you are a cech among the fans. am sick and tired of pple whining wenger out after every defeat,this is football for Gods sake.those who want a manager who never looses a game should get a lifeI say go support madrid already(who cant win at Bilbao with the mighty zizuo).We were 10 vs 11 for 70mins and only conceded once..and even put up a fight,am proud of our boys,they put their hearts in it. changing coaches every other day never always works..look at united..look at chelsea too and FYI the last manager known by man to have… Read more »
@ A GUNNER; I WISH I COULD TURN YOU UP A MILLION TIMES… COYG…. WE CAN DO IT
The loss was tough to take but under the circumstances I think Cech has got it spot on. We didn’t capitulate and continued our welcome unity and spirit OFF the ball.
Also hope this result does not kickstart those cunts’ revival because they really are a distasteful bunch. I’m sure Cech would agree.
With a character like Cech one can be confident the team will bounce back.
I can’t wait for the next game to come around soon enough.
Unfortunately we conceded too early after the sending off.
That’s the problem for us. We conceded immediately at the Bridge, too and also when Kosc got sent off against City 3 years ago and that debacle against Newcastle. We showed quality for the remainder of the game right after they scored the goal. If only we showed it right from the minute after the send off, it would’ve been a valuable point.
We were brilliant but not strong. Chelsea were quite weak at least until last fifteen minutes or so. I feel we should have drew. I blame Walcott for not being in the game and having poor positioning at times. You see the energy and determination Chamberlain and sanchez come on with, I wanted that from Walcott. At least for half an hour or so. It was his chance to make something from a strikers position but alas it was not to be, I know it was difficult esp because of Chelsea’s defence, but he should be getting into better positions,… Read more »
So much respect to Cech. He’s always inspiring. Good spirit, good player!
Cech really has been the shining light for us this season. We urgently need some freshness in this side. 2 points from 9 is not good at all. Yes, they were three tough fixtures but not the toughest we’ve ever had, but then the guys do look knackered. We need our midfield back desperately. Having Coq back would be good but then we don’t know if he’ll click with Ramsey either. The last time they played together was the first game of the season. I miss Santi a lot. Walcott is in need of a good kick up the arse.… Read more »
I think Walcott’s days on the wings are over. Early in the season he showed he can be great when he plays through center. He just doesn’t have the trickery or ability on the ball to play on the wing. His best ability is running off the center backs in behind and he has showed he can do it. He just happens to be in a massive dip in form right now…
Why isn’t anybody talking about the fact that Arsenal is always handicapped against physical teams and the fact that wenger is doing nothing to change that? Where was Ozil against stoke & Chelsea? I don’t blame the players much, I blame the manager for not fielding teams to cover our weaknesses. The same thing happens every season it’s ridiculous. We haven’t won Chelsea since 2011 neither have we won stoke away in more 6 meetings. All players have their weaknesses but great players have been able to build on their strengths & adjustn their style to cover their weaknesses. If… Read more »
Ozil was injured against Stoke and was on the field against Chelsea. I stopped reading after that…
you should’ve have continued…..it gets so much funnier ; )
‘Wenger stubbornly refuses to buy world class players’….yeah if only he’d buy, oh I don’t know, maybe a Sanchez or Ozil or Cech or players like that.
I knew Ozil was knicking a living. Didn’t even attempt a tackle against stoke. Pretty sure he didn’t get an assist either…
I will take an unbeaten winning streak of 25 games right about now.
Oh well – on to the next game!
Fuck you Chelsea and may Costa catch a horrible burning STD.
COYG
can STD’s catch STD’s?
Lots of teams in history have been 3 points behind the league leaders at january and gone on to win the league. there’s no need for us arsenal supporters to start acting like we are crashing out of the league already. take the positives from the game (a really good performance that 10 men produced vs our arch enemy) and move on.
I love the positivity from PC, but he is in a team that has insufficient mental strength – despite Wenger saying otherwise – as evidenced by the last minute goal against liverpoo and not being able to overcome the mental blocks we so obviously have with Stoke and chavski!!! I think we also have one with Southampton away, thankfully that game is done and dusted!!!!
Cech get applauded each time he touches d ball by Chelsea fans, I don’t get our fans constant fab boos…
It’s gotten old, can we please move on? Yet we talk about class
I already love Petr Cech: it’s great to finally have a world-class goalkeeper at the club. It’s depressing times, isn’t it? There’s still some optimism on this website but deep down everybody knows what’s coming. We are about to, yet again, throw away a slam-dunk opportunity to win the Premier League. Our arrogant, hard-headed manager is going to somehow fail to win a title which was offered to him on a plate. With Chelsea, City and United all struggling we should already be miles clear; instead we’re stumbling and and bumbling our way through the season and are only third… Read more »
I totally agree. If Arsene doesn’t win it this year. I genuinely don’t think he has it in him to win it ever again. I will give him until the end of the season though, if we win it, I think it will be by the seam of our collective pants. I cant help but think it is slipping through our fingers. 2 points out of 9 in January is a seriously poor return – and lets not forget, every time Arsene has won a title with Arsenal, our form after Christmas has been the difference… so, we are looking… Read more »
Well fat gooner, ut pains me to say it, but I agree with you regarding Wenger – if he doesn’t deliver the title this season, when we should be six or more points clear, then he never will!!! I think he has been a fantastic manager but look back at 1999 when we should have win the league and cup, 2001 when we should have won the FA cup, 2003 when we should have won the league, 2004 when we could and undoubtedly should have added the FA cup and champions league to the unbeaten season, 2006 when we should… Read more »
So its all AW’s fault that Per M had a brain explosion. You are hard headed and arrogant for failing to see that the return of Alexis will save us all. Keep the faith mate.
The worst part is that Flamini has lost his unbeaten streak at the Emirates….
This one cant play with Ramsey,that one cant play with Ramsey maybe the problem is Ramsey.
We are a tecnical team he is not a technical midfielder.
Yes he can run all day but so can Mo Farrow
Now do you mean Mo Farah or Mia Farrow? I hadn’t heard Mia was a long distance runner but you never know
I am assured that all will be fine, simply by seeing how vastly different this team was the second Alexis came on yesterday. He just changes the whole dynamic of this team. You could see Ozil lift the moment he came on – everything just moved quicker. In fact everyone just feeds off him. If he stays fit until the end of the year, we will win the league.
We had that scum staining their shorts the second half with only 10 men.
They know the only way they managed anything against us this season was due to cheating for man advantage.
I only wish I believed they had the capacity to be troubled by their consciences.
Love cech. Wish he hadn’t been smiling so much in his post match interview though!. Been a rock the last two games.
“There was no hesitation from anyone. We just had to deal with the fact. You just go on. He can’t change the decision anyway by protesting for three minutes.
Definitely not a chelsea player anymore
is walcott the new rooney? ineffective or maybe inconsistent but indroppable due to reputation?
Cech is sheds loads better than courtois.
I feel Chelsea will always feel superior to us, no matter how down the table they are. And this is the problem. Do we feel superior to anyone? Even Spurs? We’ve had some good wins against the Manchesters but are we really confident when we play a big team? Does anyone actually fear us? Look at the reactions after a loss against Chelsea. It’s like we’re back in that season where every big team spanked us, although statistically we haven’t done too bad against big team this season. I still think we have the “Arsenal can’t win against top teams”… Read more »
I really hope Chelsea get relegated. It would make me laugh?
When I coached I always told players…this game is a game of mistakes. You are attempting to get 11 players to think together under pressure, you are attempting to control a round ball with your feet. If you allow mistakes to determine your assessment of your ability and the teams ability…..you will not be successful. Offensively use every mistake as an opportunity to improve. Defensively, understand your ability to force a mistake by your opponent… It can be quite easy. We made a mistake, a diving turd took advantage, we lost! Let’s do better next time… COYG!