Petr Cech saved his first ever penalty for Arsenal in the win over Brighton last week, and in doing so he reached the milestone record of 200 Premier League clean sheets which he had been waiting for since December.
Now we all know that Arsene Wenger had made an agreement with David Ospina at the beginning of the campaign that he would play in all the Europa League and Caraboa Cup games, neither of which was a priority at that moment in time.
But now we are through to the last eight of European competition maybe it is time for a rethink? Cech himself has admitted on Match of the Day that he doesn’t like the idea of missing big games. “At Chelsea we never decided which competition you play, it was a game by game process.
“If you kept playing well then you were fit and you didn’t need rest then the manager had his choice to pick the goalkeeper for the competitions.
“Sometimes I would sit a game out or be on the bench but it would not be decided, ‘You play this competition, you play this competition’.
“I enjoyed that because I love this competition for example, to be involved and play FA Cup games. Any other competition makes it a bit more spicy and special.”
So does that make him frustrated? Cech continued: “Well, you have to respect the way your manager sets up the team or what he plans for the season.
“I had known prior to the season that David would play the FA Cup games. Obviously I would love to play the competition as well but you have to respect the manager’s decisions.
“I ended up playing the quarter-final and semi-final [last season], but then I didn’t play the final so I had some part in the process.
“It’s about respecting your colleague and your coach’s decision. Obviously you can tell you would prefer the other way but it’s the decision of the coach.”
So just imagine we got all the way to the Final, and are about to face Atletico madrid for our only chance of a trophy this season. Who would you put in goal?
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