Arsenal Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread Summer 2015

Royale with Cheese

Mmmm cech, fúcking delighted with that. I'd have him as no. 3 in England, and de gea is about to leave for spain anyway. Really fortunate for arsenal that two of the best keepers in the league play for the same club. Somebody had to benefit from this, glad its arse. Just hope he hasn't regressed much after a year on the bench.

Also nice to see a change in transfer policy. 5 years ago and Cech wouldn't have been signed because that would "kill" Szczesny. Now I always suspected that was more about budget than anything else, but glad to see those days are long gone.

wonga77

kronsington

12gauge dave wrote: »

People getting excited about an unwanted Chelsea player, shows were still a second tier club In England

this kind of nonsense is what i was referring to in my post a few pages back. what an utterly ridulous post

Pepe LeFrits

Ospina conceded quite a few headers I think. Would hope that Cech can improve us there.

Think it'd be Szczesny on his bike ordinarily, sounds like Ospina doesn't want to go back to the bench though and Szczesny being homegrown probably helps his case too.

Jaafa

This is how wenger will unveil Cech:

https://vine.co/v/e5KlWKnUbIq

I'm fine with signing Cech but it's like one of the recent summers, it's not one of our weakspots and if they're not addressed then "But look, Cech!" isn't a valid refutation to that.

Jaafa

Deleted User wrote: »

I'm fine with signing Cech but it's like one of the recent summers, it's not one of our weakspots and if they're not addressed then "But look, Cech!" isn't a valid refutation to that.

I disagree, a goalie is the one player that can make or break a game on the basis of a spilt second decision. Yes the likes of Ospina does the job 90% of time very well, but the 10% he doesn't it costs us points. Ospina is an international standard goalie, however Cech is obviously better and maybe not by a massive amount but that amount will add up to 10+ points over the course of a season, which has been the difference between us and 1st more than once these last few years.

I know it's been said to death but we're really not that far from really competing for first now, we need to improve on every position we can even if it only means a few points difference over a season, because that's all we've been behind by these last few, 10/12 points.

Besides if the newspapers are to be believed he's costing us ~10mil and with Ospina leaving it'll cost us almost nothing in terms of money and won't take away a squad space. Hardly enough to affect other potential transfers this summer.

Bobby Baccala

Currently sitting in Los Angeles in 28 degree heat knocking back bottles of corona while reading all the talk of cech coming our way. Bliss!

If we spent 16 mil or so on Welbeck then Petr Cech for 10 million is absolutely incredible business, we'll get 2-4 seasons out of him at the minimum. The man could walk into nearly any team in the world we'll be blessed if we sign him.

Kirby

Listen I dont think many are "having a moan". Cech is a good keeper. It's a very good signing and its great to see Arsenal go out and get the players they need. It's just a small word of caution for those getting carried away with the excitement. He isnt Neuer.

There is a stark contrast between "Jaysus what a crap signing. He's rubbish. We are crap!" to "Z0mg hes going to end world hunger and win the treble single handedly!" I am of the opinion that he isnt as good as many think he is. And when the "That was a bit soft, wasnt it?" type comments start to proliferate through the match threads over the course of the season, I expect people will start to agree with me.

It's stil a good signing at a good price but in my opinion, Cech isnt the best piece of business Arsenal will do this summer.

greendom

Kirby wrote: »

Listen I dont think many are "having a moan". Cech is a good keeper. It's a very good signing and its great to see Arsenal go out and get the players they need. It's just a small word of caution for those getting carried away with the excitement. He isnt Neuer.

There is a stark contrast between "Jaysus what a crap signing. He's rubbish. We are crap!" to "Z0mg hes going to end world hunger and win the treble single handedly!" I am of the opinion that he isnt as good as many think he is. And when the "That was a bit soft, wasnt it?" type comments start to proliferate through the match threads over the course of the season, I expect people will start to agree with me.

It's stil a good signing at a good price but in my opinion, Cech isnt the best piece of business Arsenal will do this summer.

He isn't Neuer ok. But where do you rate him in the league? As far as the EPL goes for me he's in the same category as Courtois and DeGea. Perhaps he's third in this elite circle, especially bearing in mind his age, but he's ahead of the rest of EPL keepers as far as I'm concerned

Hyzepher

The great thing about a keeper of Cech's class is that it boosts the confidence of the defense as a whole - especially from set pieces, corners in particular.

Remember years ago when teams hated getting corners against us - as we used to break out on the counter-attack. Well having a great keeper is the catalyst to that. Players feel that we are less vulnerable at corners, keeper comes and collects and before this even happens players are pealing away ready for the attack.

Over the last few years players were more focused on trying not to be caught out at the back. Breaking away was a secondary thought.

slingerz

the he isnt neuer thing is a load of balls, Cech is clearly one of the top keepers in the world imo.

For those knocking Lloris, he is also a top keeper and will probably replace De Gea at United if he leaves for Madrid

GavRedKing

One of word caution, Cech in the last 2 or 3 years has a tendecy to stay on his line for set pieces and it seen Chelsea leave in a few goals from set pieces where the ball was in his area and he never came out for it.

Its not his weakest attribute but he could do with commanding his box a bit better, Courtois trumps him here but Cech is an excellent organiser of those ahead of him and that can only add confidence to the back four and he trump Courtois in that regard IMO.

Ken Shamrock

GavRedKing wrote: »

One of word caution, Cech in the last 2 or 3 years has a tendecy to stay on his line for set pieces and it seen Chelsea leave in a few goals from set pieces where the ball was in his area and he never came out for it.

Its not his weakest attribute but he could do with commanding his box a bit better, Courtois trumps him here but Cech is an excellent organiser of those ahead of him and that can only add confidence to the back four and he trump Courtois in that regard IMO.

I'll make sure to tell him to work on that :pac:

In all honesty he's a mile or two ahead of what we have right now, with Opsina and Szc costing us a few goals from missed punches and bad decisions It might be a good thing to have a more intelligent keeper in the goal at corners, If he stays on his line at least he'll be able to attempt a save.

GavRedKing

Bob.Carcass wrote: »

I'll make sure to tell him to work on that :pac:

In all honesty he's a mile or two ahead of what we have right now, with Opsina and Szc costing us a few goals from missed punches and bad decisions It might be a good thing to have a more intelligent keeper in the goal at corners, If he stays on his line at least he'll be able to attempt a save.

Its not a serious flaw by any means, hes still probably the 3rd best GK in the league at the moment, depending on what De Gea does and he'll also break the EPL clean sheet record within 4 or 5 games with Arsenal.

ronjo

GavRedKing wrote: »

Its not a serious flaw by any means, hes still probably the 3rd best GK in the league at the moment, depending on what De Gea does and he'll also break the EPL clean sheet record within 4 or 5 games with Arsenal.

What do you think Mourihnos opinion is on the transfer, assuming it happens?

Kirby

He wont be happy. Strengthening a rival is never a good thing.

GavRedKing

ronjo wrote: »

What do you think Mourihnos opinion is on the transfer, assuming it happens?

In a sentence? Seriously pi**ed off with the club heirarchy.

Although you have to respect Cechs decision to want to stay in London and not uproot his family after 11 years.

eagle eye

GavRedKing wrote: »

One of word caution, Cech in the last 2 or 3 years has a tendecy to stay on his line for set pieces and it seen Chelsea leave in a few goals from set pieces where the ball was in his area and he never came out for it.

Its not his weakest attribute but he could do with commanding his box a bit better, Courtois trumps him here but Cech is an excellent organiser of those ahead of him and that can only add confidence to the back four and he trump Courtois in that regard IMO.

I'm not sure that Courtois is better than Cech, they are much of a muchness in that both are world class keepers.

Thing is that Courtois has been outstanding for the last couple of years and is so young. He is a much more valuable asset given his age.

GavRedKing

eagle eye wrote: »

I'm not sure that Courtois is better than Cech, they are much of a muchness in that both are world class keepers.

Thing is that Courtois has been outstanding for the last couple of years and is so young. He is a much more valuable asset given his age.

Theres things Courtois are better at and others hes not far off Cech, on the other hand I think Cech organises the defence better and thats a huge bonus from a GK. Given Courtois is 10 years younger and as good as Cech, hopefully he'll push on and surpass him and all signs suggest he will.

I think both GKs have fairly poor distribution actually and its probably both of their weakest skills.

However, if we didnt have Courtois, I'd have no issue keeping Cech for another 3-5 years, its understandable Cech wants first team football too, cant expect him to wait it out on the bench and play maybe 10 games a year.

Arghus

GavRedKing wrote: »

Theres things Courtois are better at and others hes not far off Cech, on the other hand I think Cech organises the defence better and thats a huge bonus from a GK. Given Courtois is 10 years younger and as good as Cech, hopefully he'll push on and surpass him and all signs suggest he will.

I think both GKs have fairly poor distribution actually and its probably both of their weakest skills.

However, if we didnt have Courtois, I'd have no issue keeping Cech for another 3-5 years, its understandable Cech wants first team football too, cant expect him to wait it out on the bench and play maybe 10 games a year.

As I'm someone who doesn't watch Chelsea with a forensic eye, I was wondering could you maybe set me straight on some possible misconceptions I might have concerning Cech.

In the two or three years immediately after his head injury, it looked to me as if Cech was about 80% of the keeper he once was. He sometimes seemed fearful to put himself in harms way. It looked to me, a non-expert on all things Chelsea, that he was a bit of a liability.

He seemed to improve in recent years, you would hear him talked about once again in terms of great keepers, instead of "the Cech of 2004-06 would have saved that".

Is there any truth in that? Did he go through a period of jittery performances, but came through it. Or was he consistently solid throughout ,and it was only the pundit groupthink that put the idea out there that he was in decline? Or - what worries me the most from an Arsenal perspective - does he still have a few fundamental flaws in his game? I just worry that Arsenals default setting of headless chicken defending could potentially reduce any solid goalkeeper to chucking the ball into the net from time to time.

eagle eye

GavRedKing wrote: »

Theres things Courtois are better at and others hes not far off Cech, on the other hand I think Cech organises the defence better and thats a huge bonus from a GK. Given Courtois is 10 years younger and as good as Cech, hopefully he'll push on and surpass him and all signs suggest he will.

I think both GKs have fairly poor distribution actually and its probably both of their weakest skills.

However, if we didnt have Courtois, I'd have no issue keeping Cech for another 3-5 years, its understandable Cech wants first team football too, cant expect him to wait it out on the bench and play maybe 10 games a year.

Nail on head, now I understand why Wenger was so eager to get him. That is something they have been missing for a long, long time. As good as Ospina is I think he falls down in that department.

GavRedKing

Arghus wrote: »

As I'm someone who doesn't watch Chelsea with a forensic eye, I was wondering could you maybe set me straight on some possible misconceptions I might have concerning Cech.

In the two or three years immediately after his head injury, it looked to me as if Cech was about 80% of the keeper he once was. He sometimes seemed fearful to put himself in harms way. It looked to me, a non-expert on all things Chelsea, that he was a bit of a liability.

He seemed to improve in recent years, you would hear him talked about once again in terms of great keepers, instead of "the Cech of 2004-06 would have saved that".

Is there any truth in that? Did he go through a period of jittery performances, but came through it. Or was he consistently solid throughout ,and it was only the pundit groupthink that put the idea out there that he was in decline? Or - what worries me the most from an Arsenal perspective - does he still have a few fundamental flaws in his game? I just worry that Arsenals default setting of headless chicken defending could potentially reduce any solid goalkeeper to chucking the ball into the net from time to time.

I think the truth lies between the both, certainly when he came back first he looked nervous, thats to be understood after the injury he suffered but I think at times hes been back to the levels pre-injury, maybe not as consistently but too a more than acceptable level, he was our MOTM in the UCL final for example and his big game experience as well as communication to the back four is exactly what Arsenal need.

It shows how good a GK is when you question nearly every shot that goes past him and wonder could he have saved it, of course not every GK will stop every shot, its impossible but through the years a lesser GK wouldnt have made the saves Cech has and not many would do better with the shots that have beat him.

He did get flack in one of the major tournaments after his injury, I think it might have been Euro 2008 when he made 2 clangers but for out and out errors where a goal is directly scored from a f**k up, he rarely commits those type of errors.

My only 2 concerns with Cech is under the high ball or set pieces hes less likely to come for htem, hes not as aggressive as Courtois but sometimes that can be a good thing as hes less likely to drop it or screw up a punch, his other flaw is his distribution, must of Chelseas long balls either from the ground or out of the GKs hands are aimed at Ivanovic who wins his fair share of headers but I think both Chelsea GKs could have better distributions. Cech may not be as quick to 1 on 1's either but hes no liability, nor his it effected his reflexes, fantastic saves against Chico and Lukaku in years gone by are testament to his ability.

If Arsenal manage to get our GK coach, Christophe Lollichon as well as Cech they'll have done some fantastic business as I've seen some of the drills Lollichon sets up and theyre fantastic for the GKs and really pushes them.

In the medium term 3-5 years as long as Cech stays fit and apart from his tricky shoulder, he hasnt really had many injuries, Arsenal will have had a good investment as his experience is nearly invaluable to the other GKs at the club and will push the rest to perform better. Jose this year only told the GKs who was playing the afternoon before the match and dropped both of them when neither should have been dropped, it kept both on their toes IMO and will help Syczesny too.

ronjo

GavRedKing wrote: »

In a sentence? Seriously pi**ed off with the club heirarchy.

Although you have to respect Cechs decision to want to stay in London and not uproot his family after 11 years.

P*ssed off enough to sour a relationship with Abramovic?

I am sure they are best of buddies after how he left before.

Jaafa

Jaafa wrote: »

I disagree, a goalie is the one player that can make or break a game on the basis of a spilt second decision. Yes the likes of Ospina does the job 90% of time very well, but the 10% he doesn't it costs us points. Ospina is an international standard goalie, however Cech is obviously better and maybe not by a massive amount but that amount will add up to 10+ points over the course of a season, which has been the difference between us and 1st more than once these last few years.

I know it's been said to death but we're really not that far from really competing for first now, we need to improve on every position we can even if it only means a few points difference over a season, because that's all we've been behind by these last few, 10/12 points.

Besides if the newspapers are to be believed he's costing us ~10mil and with Ospina leaving it'll cost us almost nothing in terms of money and won't take away a squad space. Hardly enough to affect other potential transfers this summer.

The bolded bit is important. This bit of business wouldn't have been at the top of many fans' lists a month or more ago so if we fail to get what we were after then pointing at Cech to say we did well isn't a good argument. I'm just getting that in there because if we sign no-one of note then it's what always gets tossed in. And I'm not loving that he played 15 matches all last season.

I'd be interested though in how many points we lost due to goalkeeping errors last season. I can think of a few matches were good saves stopped us conceding first and we went on to win, can't think of many howlers that cost us.

eagle eye wrote: »

Nail on head, now I understand why Wenger was so eager to get him. That is something they have been missing for a long, long time. As good as Ospina is I think he falls down in that department.

Not able to find stats but were Arsenal not the best last year when it came to goals conceded from set-pieces?

GavRedKing

ronjo wrote: »

P*ssed off enough to sour a relationship with Abramovic?

I am sure they are best of buddies after how he left before.

Probably not to that level, there was way too much happening over his head at the time with Avram Grant and Shevchenko too.

The quickly made up after Joses exit though, I erckon bought realised they made a stupid call, they were on speaking terms within months, so much so that Roman bought him a rare enough Ferrari as a gift few years back.

However, if Jose doesnt sign an extension soon the papers will start printing headlines alright about feuds and busts ups. Word is theres an extension waiting to be signed this summer, so the next few weeks will be interesting enough.

brianregan09

can't think of many howlers that cost us.

That goal Gomis scored against us when we lost at home to Swansea , A world class keeper would have been positioned better to not let it go over the line terrible goal to concede

Fuzzy_Dunlop

Deleted User wrote: »

Not able to find stats but were Arsenal not the best last year when it came to goals conceded from set-pieces?

I'm pretty sure we were the worst actually.

I think we were one of the best for goals scored from them though, or maybe that was headers I'm thinking of for that.

Alfred Borden

Such a good player to watch

Kirby

brianregan09 wrote: »

That goal Gomis scored against us when we lost at home to Swansea , A world class keeper would have been positioned better to not let it go over the line terrible goal to concede

I remember that one well and I think you are being overly harsh.

Ken Shamrock

Alfred Borden wrote: »

Such a good player to watch

Those floated balls over the top would be so much more effective If we actually played wingers on the wings :pac:

greendom

We conceded 10 set piece goals last season. Only QPR and Palace conceded more. Stoke & West Brom also conceded 10.

brianregan09

brianregan09 wrote: »

That goal Gomis scored against us when we lost at home to Swansea , A world class keeper would have been positioned better to not let it go over the line terrible goal to concede

That's one. Are we expecting 0 mistakes from Cech? :P

Fuzzy_Dunlop wrote: »

I'm pretty sure we were the worst actually.

I think we were one of the best for goals scored from them though, or maybe that was headers I'm thinking of for that.

Greendom seems to have the answer above. Hopefully there'll be some improvement in that so.

cson

Kirby wrote: »

I remember that one well and I think you are being overly harsh.

He's not.

A top goalie keeps it out.

Kirby

cson wrote: »

He's not.

A top goalie keeps it out.

Top goalies make mistakes. It wasnt exactly a terrible one either. We've all seen worse.

Godge

GavRedKing wrote: »

Theres things Courtois are better at and others hes not far off Cech, on the other hand I think Cech organises the defence better and thats a huge bonus from a GK. Given Courtois is 10 years younger and as good as Cech, hopefully he'll push on and surpass him and all signs suggest he will.

I think both GKs have fairly poor distribution actually and its probably both of their weakest skills.

However, if we didnt have Courtois, I'd have no issue keeping Cech for another 3-5 years, its understandable Cech wants first team football too, cant expect him to wait it out on the bench and play maybe 10 games a year.

And the bit in bold is what Arsenal need.

Szczesny isn't a bad goalkeeper but he lacks that organisation and he lacks a bit of judgment on when to come for the ball. The only shaky bit in the F.A. Cup Final was when he came for a cross and didn't make it. He can learn a lot from Cech and Cech can teach the defence a lot.

Courtois is a better keeper than Cech for Chelsea because he gives them what they need. Cech is a better keeper at this point in time for Arsenal.

Drexel

Cech is an improvement on what we have. A huge improvement I think. Others may disagree but we all agree he is an improvement I think.

Bringing in better than what you have is what we need to be doing so im very happy with this.

Plus he is a winner. He has a couple of PL titles and a CL. Hugely experienced.

Ken Shamrock

jonny666 wrote: »

Cech is an improvement on what we have. A huge improvement I think. Others may disagree but we all agree he is an improvement I think.

Bringing in better than what you have is what we need to be doing so im very happy with this.

Plus he is a winner. He has a couple of PL titles and a CL. Hugely experienced.

I'm still not convinced in fact I'm very much doubting that Cech is coming

Mr Blobby

Bob.Carcass wrote: »

I'm still not convinced in fact I'm very much doubting that Cech is coming

Oh he's 100% coming.
Just wait till the weekend and it'll be all done.

brianregan09

Theres the 2 Woj did against Southampton, Gomis one, that alone is 6 points right there

Ospina made a balls of West Brom's goal final day of the season aswell it didn't matter but there ya go

gosplan

Bob.Carcass wrote: »

I'm still not convinced in fact I'm very much doubting that Cech is coming

We agree on something.

Now I'm worried

cson

brianregan09 wrote: »

Theres the 2 Woj did against Southampton, Gomis one, that alone is 6 points right there

Ospina made a balls of West Brom's goal final day of the season aswell it didn't matter but there ya go

He was pretty poor for a couple of the Monaco goals too.

brianregan09

At the end of the day its an oppurtunity to hurt a rival and upgrade a position in our own squad

I say hurt a rival because imagine day 1 of the premier Courtois could get injured and there left with who ever is there 3rd choice

MonsterCookie

brianregan09 wrote: »

At the end of the day its an oppurtunity to hurt a rival and upgrade a position in our own squad

I say hurt a rival because imagine day 1 of the premier Courtois could get injured and there left with who ever is there 3rd choice

Let's not count our cech-ins before they hatch...get it? Cech-ins? Anybody?

ronjo

Skysports breaking that a 10.9m deal has been agreed.

Fantastic if true.

MonsterCookie

ronjo wrote: »

Skysports breaking that a 10.9m deal has been agreed.

Fantastic if true.

Dailymail seems fairly sure too

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3134744/Petr-Cech-signs-Arsenal-Chelsea-goalkeeper-leaves-Stamford-Bridge.html

Topbike77

Hopefully he will do well for us. Keepers usually perform the same when they move clubs, don't they? He will have a point to prove to Chelsea too, he'll want to finish above them.

MonsterCookie

Ronan14 wrote: »

Hopefully he will do well for us. Keepers usually perform the same when they move clubs, don't they? He will have a point to prove to Chelsea too, he'll want to finish above them.

Yeah, agree fully. He is reported to be bringing his coach as well, and as he's not moving family etc he doesn't have the distractions that might come with a major move say to a new city country or league. Seems like a really smart move by arsenal.

Topbike77

It might sound silly but as regards who should go Ospina or Szczesny, I think both. We could sign a young up and coming keeper with potential, to be an understudy to Cech, then he take over in a few seasons when Cech retires.
Sczesny is 25 and Ospina is 26 and I don't think that either of them are or will be good enough for a title contending team.

emmetlego

MonsterCookie wrote: »

Let's not count our cech-ins before they hatch...get it? Cech-ins? Anybody?

Go on so, have a thumbs up!

Looks like a done deal all right, but as usual, let's see him with the jersey before we explode in happiness. I'd be sorry t see Scez go to be honest, Ospina has been excellent though. I'll trust AW's decision... It's tough as both are potentially great 'keepers and Martinez will be chasing them too!