Petr Cech: Retiring at the end of the season

[Gooner Zig]

His start to the season has been overrated imo, all of the saves he's made are regulation ones you'd expect any decent shop stopper to make. Could've done better for West Ham's goal too.

I'm glad someone said this. It's only because Cech was so horrible this year it appears that he's improved.

 

[bingobob]

Also important to note that Cech's passing completion % has improved recently. His current 71% is by far the best of his career but we'll see if he can maintain that. But last season he had 65% which was a career best, while at Chelsea he was mostly in the high 50's.

He's not gonna suddenly turn into Alisson or Ederson, but it's slightly unfair to say he's rubbish with his feet or that he's too old to improve this aspect of his game. It might just be that it's taking time to adapt to the system, or it might just be that he's good but not good enough to cope with the extreme demands of the system.

Simply, you cannot teach an old dog new tricks. The passing stats are not surprising either given how many he is now playing. You would expect an increase overall in total numbers and accuracy given so many are a short distance.

The real difficulty for Cech and keepers of his age is how deeply embedded their ways are. Cech was 10 when the back pass rule was scrapped. From a young age his experience was keepers are defensive. We don't play we pick it up and slow it down. And, certainly even though he was young, all of his coaches would have been formed in an environment in which keepers did not play.

Even as he became older goalkeepers were expected to be commanding and get knocked at free kicks, corners and crosses. Most of the training would be focused on being big, strong and being able to catch a ball whilst being clattered. And even then the rules began to change. Touch a keeper and it's a free. You don't need to catch but punch. You don't need to be big and strong just get there and be fouled with minimal contact. All the things he has trained for are no longer stand out qualities for keepers.

Keepers are now the deepest play makers. Their passing range needs to rival a midfielders and they need the athleticism of a winger . In the future keepers will be like a peak Alonso and Ronaldo combined. In fact that time is probably already here. Cech is giving it a fair go and he needs credit for reinventing himself but Cech is to long in the tooth to really inprove the skills required.

 

[Slartibartfast]

Interesting....

 

[ClubLevel]

I don't think playing Cech is the issue, just the ball playing at feet.

I think Emery has been quite smart in not rushing Leno into the starting line up as imagine how his confidence would be after defeats to City & Chelsea? West Ham (on paper at least) is not easy and Cardiff away is no given and certainly not somewhere you would debut him especially they play more route one/lump ball in the box.

Leno will probably gradually play games after international break (Europa/Cup) and gradually get his first team place. Less pressure that way and also if Cech is making mistakes then a good reason to drop him too.

 

[Slartibartfast]

Simply, you cannot teach an old dog new tricks. The passing stats are not surprising either given how many he is now playing. You would expect an increase overall in total numbers and accuracy given so many are a short distance.

The real difficulty for Cech and keepers of his age is how deeply embedded their ways are. Cech was 10 when the back pass rule was scrapped. From a young age his experience was keepers are defensive. We don't play we pick it up and slow it down. And, certainly even though he was young, all of his coaches would have been formed in an environment in which keepers did not play.

Even as he became older goalkeepers were expected to be commanding and get knocked at free kicks, corners and crosses. Most of the training would be focused on being big, strong and being able to catch a ball whilst being clattered. And even then the rules began to change. Touch a keeper and it's a free. You don't need to catch but punch. You don't need to be big and strong just get there and be fouled with minimal contact. All the things he has trained for are no longer stand out qualities for keepers.

Keepers are now the deepest play makers. Their passing range needs to rival a midfielders and they need the athleticism of a winger . In the future keepers will be like a peak Alonso and Ronaldo combined. In fact that time is probably already here. Cech is giving it a fair go and he needs credit for reinventing himself but Cech is to long in the tooth to really inprove the skills required.

This is an excellent point. Petr Cech is arguably the greatest goalkeeper of the Premier League era (Seaman and Schmeichel the Elder are the only others for whom you could even make a case). Cech is basically the prototype of everything you could possibly want in a goalkeeper of his generation. But how does he relearn everything he has been taught about how a goalkeeper should be handling and distributing the ball at the age of 36? It's an impossible task.

I don't know if Petr has been thinking about retirement after his contract runs out, but this modern trend may push him toward it. I know he wants to stay in London for family reasons. I suppose maybe he could play for Roy Hodgson at Palace. It's kind of a shame, really. His performance fell off last year from the high quality of his first two seasons at Arsenal, but he was still one of the better keepers in the league (despite the venom directed his way by some fans). But this ball playing is making it impossible for him.

 

[YeahBee]

Simply, you cannot teach an old dog new tricks.

Untrue saying imo

Plenty of players have reinvented themselves in new positions or adapted when certain attributes lessened

Passing is a technical skill of course you can train and learn regardless of age

Plenty of world class mma fighters start mma/striking training in their 30s and do more than fine

 

[Rex Stone]

Also important to note that Cech's passing completion % has improved recently. His current 71% is by far the best of his career but we'll see if he can maintain that. But last season he had 65% which was a career best, while at Chelsea he was mostly in the high 50's.

He's not gonna suddenly turn into Alisson or Ederson, but it's slightly unfair to say he's rubbish with his feet or that he's too old to improve this aspect of his game. It might just be that it's taking time to adapt to the system, or it might just be that he's good but not good enough to cope with the extreme demands of the system.

Exactly he’s middle of the pack in terms of distribution. Not the worst as is made out.

I can tell popular opinion on both here and the arsenal subreddit has turned but in terms of stats it’s quite interesting.

So far he’s faced the third highest amount of shots in the league so far behind only Fabianski and Hart and even ahead of Hennessy, McCarthy and Etheridge.

In terms of save percentage he’s currently 7th but ahead of Kepa and miles better than Ederson and De Gea in terms of rivals.

The stats do show that Alisson is far and away the best keeper in the league as of now. I understand why many now want a keeper in that mould but Cech is still a fine defensive keeper. I trust him with crosses in the box, rarely catch him flapping. He’s really underrated at launching counters as well with his throws and he’s still a very good shot stopper.

 

[<<reed>>]

So far he’s faced the third highest amount of shots in the league so far behind only Fabianski and Hart and even ahead of Hennessy, McCarthy and Etheridge.

Maybe he should stop passing the ball to the opposition's strikers then, it might help.

 

[rich 1990]

He should stop passing the ball to the opposition's strikers then, it might help.

If Xhaka stops doing it too, we're golden

 

[dashsnow17]

Simply, you cannot teach an old dog new tricks. The passing stats are not surprising either given how many he is now playing. You would expect an increase overall in total numbers and accuracy given so many are a short distance.

The real difficulty for Cech and keepers of his age is how deeply embedded their ways are. Cech was 10 when the back pass rule was scrapped. From a young age his experience was keepers are defensive. We don't play we pick it up and slow it down. And, certainly even though he was young, all of his coaches would have been formed in an environment in which keepers did not play.

Even as he became older goalkeepers were expected to be commanding and get knocked at free kicks, corners and crosses. Most of the training would be focused on being big, strong and being able to catch a ball whilst being clattered. And even then the rules began to change. Touch a keeper and it's a free. You don't need to catch but punch. You don't need to be big and strong just get there and be fouled with minimal contact. All the things he has trained for are no longer stand out qualities for keepers.

Keepers are now the deepest play makers. Their passing range needs to rival a midfielders and they need the athleticism of a winger . In the future keepers will be like a peak Alonso and Ronaldo combined. In fact that time is probably already here. Cech is giving it a fair go and he needs credit for reinventing himself but Cech is to long in the tooth to really inprove the skills required.

I agree with the argument. It's too fundamental a skill to learn at such an age. I'm just saying Cech is in fact a relatively good passer and he has improved throughout his career. The problem is just that there's this whole new breed of keeper with whom he can't compete.

If Emery's tactics were just a bit more conventional then i'm pretty sure Cech could play for another few years, it's just that Emery's tactics are really quite fundamentalist in this regard.

It's a bit of a shame for Cech, because it's not like these tactics have swept through the game and there's no choice but to follow them. de Gea isn't an amazing passer and neither is Courtois, but their managers don't insist on sticking so closely to such a dogma.

Cech is still a good goalie, not world class anymore, but still good enough for a top team. But certainly this new system will be the end of him.

 

[dashsnow17]

Interesting....

What's interesting is the point made about flawed coaching techniques leading to modern goalies being unable to properly read the flight of the ball and catch it. This is something I fear with Leno to be honest. I've only ever watched compilations on youtube so i'm no expert, but he does look like one of those who just tries to deflect everything away instead of catching it. He seems to have trouble keeping hold of a ball.

I suspect that Leno is better with his feet but not quite as good a goalie as Cech. I don't imagine he's a bad goalie, I think he'll probably put in good performances but make the odd howler now and then, to the point where fans may well be crying out for a world class goalie again. We paid 20m for him, if we want a world class goalie we'll have to either make one or buy one for a small fortune.

The best thing to do is just accept not having a world class goalie and stop getting worked up about it. It's very difficult to find a world class goalie and a lot of top teams go years without one. As long as you have a good goalie it's fine.

 

[bingobob]

Interesting....

Interesting article that mirrors broadly what I said. Modern keepers don't need to learn the same techniques but what they fail to mention is the reason why. Referee changes but also a broad movement away from crosses and in general set pieces at the top level. That necessities a change in keeping to be more agile to close space and predict movement. Although I do agree that a better understanding of the basics are required.

 

[Toby]

Keepers are now the deepest play makers. Their passing range needs to rival a midfielders and they need the athleticism of a winger . In the future keepers will be like a peak Alonso and Ronaldo combined. In fact that time is probably already here. Cech is giving it a fair go and he needs credit for reinventing himself but Cech is to long in the tooth to really inprove the skills required.

Interesting you bring this up and it's a valid observation. I remember a game at the tail end of last season in BL in which Pollersbeck, the HSV goalie, was comfortably operating at the half way line when Hamburg were in possession, basically playing a sort of DLP role between their two CBs. Even was one if their better games.

 

[Tosker]

I think we can see now why Emery didn't want Jens in his coaching set up

 

[Toby]

Referee changes

That's not to underestimate. And you are absolutely right I think that keepers eg punch instead of catch today. A great example is Casteels from Wolfsburg last season coming out of his goal to punch a ball, completely bulldoze Stuttgart captain Gentner in the process breaking his face with the knee causing him to swallow his tongue and almost die on the pitch, without the ref even blowing the whistle. Modern keeping is based on exactly this protection of keepers and allows them sometimes excessive force. Neuer Higuain in the 2014 WC is another such example.

Btw I don't want to get into a discussion about the protection of goalies as they were at the other side of the stick a long time and they do need protection, but it's definitely influenced the modern GK style and sometimes gets too far.

 

[Taylor Gang Gunners]

His start to the season has been overrated imo, all of the saves he's made are regulation ones you'd expect any decent shop stopper to make. Could've done better for West Ham's goal too.

Bang on.

It's been the same old Cech. He's very obviously past it. Yes, he's a good shot stopper, as most keepers are and he probably will be even at 45. But when you need that little bit extra, to save you a goal, Cech can't provide it.

I remember when we drew 2-2 against Citeh a couple of seasons ago;

We actually played well that day and were undone by two near post goals. Cech's attempt to save De Bruyne's shot in particular was shocking. He is a long way from his best.

At home to Citeh this season I maintain he could've done better on Sterling's goal. And Arnautovic's shot was very savable too. Cech is still costing us goals at an alarming rate. The only reason I'm so relaxed on it is because we have Leno in reserve now- a potential new no.1. Unlike Ospina who was only ever going to be decent cover at best.

 

[hyruga2]

Cech used to be my favourite goalkeeper back even in his Chelsea days. He's just too good back in the days. I would say in terms of pure skills, large body size and agility, he's up there with the best like Oliver Kahn and Neuer. This is shown in him getting the most clean sheets in premier league of all time, winning lots of golden gloves and beating Neuer on penalty shootout.

However, he is slower now and also does not seem to exude enough leadership qualities like Peter Schmeichel so he will not be the greatest.

 

[samshere]

All goalkeepers struggle if they're pressed. Liverpool spent 70million on Allison who just conceded a goal. Ederson also made a couple of mistakes in our match against them when he was pressed. No one is infallible.

 

[Camron]

If Petr would've moved to a Juventus or Atletico he'd be named among the best GK's still. At Arsenal with our shaky defense and the way we want to play football he's terribly exposed.

 

[razörist]

If Petr would've moved to a Juventus or Atletico he'd be named among the best GK's still. At Arsenal with our shaky defense and the way we want to play football he's terribly exposed.

No not really. He can't dive down quick enough anymore in an era where most strikers know the best shot is the low driven one.