The Premier League campaign has only just begun and Arsenal’s newly landed goalkeeper Petr Cech is already under scrutiny from the fans. And, why wouldn’t he be. A big money move estimated at 11 million pounds from Chelsea has failed to impress in the opening games. Letting away two easy goals at home to West Ham and another one away at Selhurst Park received wide criticism from the fans.
Such performances caused disappointment to the fans, who called him the best (only) summer signing for the Gunners this year so far.
The opening games took advantage of the Czech international’s weak spot, his hesitation to come out of the box for defending his goal. These few poor performances do not prove that Petr Cech has lost his quality in any way. However, signing a player with immense experience in the Premier League, you would expect him to hit the ground running. But, there is no doubt in saying that the former Chelsea keeper has not been able to repeat his heroics thus far.
Moreover, drawing conclusions on the basis of these opening encounters can be highly deceitful. For example, Arsenal’s 2013-14, more than 100 days on top and still barely managed to finish fourth.
In spite of the recent performances of Petr Cech, the Arsenal manager has not criticized the Czech international. That is certainly a positive sign, as the manager certainly hopes for Cech to turn around his fortune and overcome the early disappointments.
Petr Cech displayed his worth against Liverpool, but can he continue?
Arsenal were without their proven Franco-German defending pair of Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny putting immense burden on the inexperienced partnership of Callum Chambers and Gabriel Paulista. That was the trigger for Petr Cech as he kept the Liverpool attackers in control throughout the game.
After the game, Cech received plaudits from his colleagues on twitter and the Liverpool manager too could not resist from congratulating the Arsenal goalkeeper after his stellar display.
The important question now is whether he can continue similar performances week-in and week-out and earn the Gunners 10-15 points single-handedly, as Chelsea captain John Terry exclaimed during the transfer of Petr Cech.
>