A little later today should mark the Arsenal debut of our new keeper Petr Cech, as I am fairly sure that Arsene Wenger will hand his only major signing of the summer transfer window so far the role of first choice in the Gunners starting line up.
The boss will want to get his new player settled in as much as possible before we take on Cech´s former club Chelsea in the Community Shield and I am sure that the 33-year old will be keen to impress and prove to his former team mates and employers, as well as the rest of the football world, that there is still a lot to come from him.
I have really enjoyed seeing some of the comments from Chelsea fans on various websites, as many of them seem to think that Cech is a player on the wane and Jose Mourinho has played a blinder in fobbing him off on an unsuspecting rival. Yeah right.
Mikel Arteta got it right yesterday as he explained in a report on the Arsenal website that Cech´s hunger for success is as sharp as ever and that it would have been easy for the keeper to go elsewhere. But he knows that the pressure is on the Gunners to win the title and that his own performances will be heavily scrutinised by the media.
Arteta said, “When you get to know Petr, [the title challenge] is even more serious because of his ambition. Even though he has won everything in England and probably in Europe, he is still ambitious. Those types of signings give the team a lift.
“The decision he made to come here after being a legend at Chelsea is not easy. I don’t think many of them would do it at his age, and he is still hungry, he wants to prove himself at the top level and I think it is a really good decision for us.
“He could have gone to another league and thought, ‘My name is in England forever with Chelsea and it’s only going to be with Chelsea’. He knows he’s going to get some criticism coming here and that the pressure is going to be on him a lot but he just wants to take it. He says, ‘Okay I’ve got another chapter, and challenge and a chance to make Arsenal champions’.
“I have no doubt [he will cope well with the criticism],” added Arteta. “He is very cool, he’s been training really well and that’s what he’s here for. He’s not here just to sit on his back, he wants to compete and he wants to keep winning.”
Cech may have fond memories of his time with Chelsea but I bet he is dying to beat them to the title next season and to beat Courtois to the Golden Glove award at the same time, shutting up those ignorant Chelsea fans who claim he is past it at the same time. Do you really believe he will rest on his laurels at Arsenal?