Why Cech is more than just a goalkeeper

Arsenal finally have a renowned goalkeeper in Petr Cech, much to the delight of the fans who have been yearning for such a luxury. Arsenal’s back line came into shape in the last half of the season, conceding just 14 goals in 21 games since January 4^th in domestic competitions.

Now with the shrewd capture of Petr Cech, Arsenal will have a world class goalkeeper who will be able to command a back line of such calibre throughout a whole season and permit Arsenal to progress to greater glories.

Winning games when you are not at your best is paramount to winning a league title. That is something Arsenal failed to do so in the first half of our season, conceding plenty of avoidable goals which would have potentially added up to “12 to 15 points” for us, as John Terry says, had Arsenal had someone of Cech’s ability to solidify the defence. That puts The Gunners in a genuine title contending position.

David Ospina and Wojciech Szczesny will certainly be aware of Cech’s likelihood to be the number one goalkeeping choice. It is important that at least one of them sees this as a challenge rather than a hindrance to their Arsenal careers, and that they look to improve and learn from Cech himself.

Ospina’s incredible performance which took Colombia’s tie with Argentina to penalties in the quarter final of the Copa America may just be an indicator that he is positively stimulated by the news. This kind of healthy competition will improve the goalkeeping position for Arsenal, improving our squad depth and quality.

Cech’s resilience to conceding goals will be something that rubs off on the whole defence, strengthening our solidity and solidarity at the back. He boasts the highest save percentage (minimum 50 games played) since the 2004/2005 season, with 76.7% saves completed.

This statistic is influenced by Cech’s winning mentality and the sturdiness which has fired Chelsea to plenty of trophies in the last decade; a privilege which Arsenal will now be able to experience. Last season, Cech made no errors leading to chances, with Ospina making 1 and Szczesny making 6. A reliable keeper such as Cech can resonate the kind of aura to his defenders which allows them to perform with less fear – making them less likely to make a rash decision.

Statistics can give you a good numeric overview of how important Cech will be, but ultimately it’s his experience, winning mentality and control that will push Arsenal’s defence and overall title bids. Cech is a serial winner, winning 13 trophies in his time at Stamford Bridge and is a character who will infuse Arsenal’s squad and fan base with the confidence that they can be a solid title winning unit.

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