Has Petr Cech’s stock fallen?
Petr Cech rank among the world’s best goalkeepers?” width=”300″ height=”225″ />There was a time some years ago, when Petr Cech was widely regarded as the world’s best goalkeeper. His displays for Chelsea were superb, Cech was big, he dominated his area and he made fantastic reaction saves, but in October 2006 he received a horrific head injury, and there is a feeling that he has never quite been the player he was since the incident. There is no doubt that Petr Cech is still a good goalkeeper, but can he still count himself amongst the world’s best?
Before signing for Chelsea, Petr Cech had made a name for himself at French side Rennes with some excellent performances which did not go unnoticed by then Blues boss Claudio Ranieri. The transfer to Chelsea was made in the summer of 2004, and Cech became one of the first members of the Russian Revolution that would make the club one of the biggest and most successful in Europe. Cech instantly made an impact at Chelsea, and he played a pivotal role in their first league title win for 50 years, setting a Premiership record of going 1,025 minutes without letting a in a goal in his first season in England.
As a result of his performances Petr Cech picked up a host of awards, naming him variously as the Premier League’s top keeper, Europe’s top keeper and the world’s top keeper. In his first two seasons at Chelsea, Cech’s stock was at its highest and he came to be regarded by many as best goalkeeper in the world. That form looked like it would continue unabated, until a horrible misfortune struck Cech in his third season at Chelsea.
The incident is well documented. In an away game at Reading in October 2006, Petr Cech and Stephen Hunt challenged for the ball in the penalty area, Cech got their first but Hunt’s knee struck Cech’s head in sickening fashion. The Chelsea keeper left the field immediately and it became apparent that he faced a career threatening injury after suffering a depressed skull fracture. Cech made a remarkable recovery, and returned a mere three months later in January 2007, but he did not appear to return the same player he was before.
In the next few seasons after his return, Cech began making bad errors that were totally uncharacteristic of his performances leading up to the injury, where he seemed at times impregnable. One of his more high-profile blunders came internationally at Euro 2008, in the Czech Republic’s last group game of the tournament, they looked to be sailing through after taking a two goal lead over Turkey, however, Turkey hit back with three goals in the last 15 minutes, with the equaliser coming about after a howler from Petr Cech. Every goalkeeper makes mistakes, but previously Cech had not seemed like every goalkeeper, and his errors were becoming frequent and costly.
After a tough few years Petr Cech had a good season last term, as Chelsea regained their Premier League crown. But he has still not found the form that made him the world’s or even the Premiership’s best, and you would argue that there are now a number of goalkeepers who are better than Cech. At the age of 28 however, Petr Cech has many years left in him, and if he can regain some of his confidence, he has all the tools at his disposal to re-establish himself amongst the world’s top order.
If you liked this article please follow me on Twitter. Subscribe to my RSS feed.
Football News 24/7
cech’s best season for chelsea was last season. anyone who tells you different either doesn’t watch a lot of chelsea or is looking back on the past with rose tinted specs.
he’s been brilliant so far this season too…as only two goals conceded (& 7 goals shipped in the 2 games he’s missed) should tell you.
Reply
I agree with you notagolfer… Last eyar Petr was absolutely fantastic! And i can think of many mistakes he made befor ehis injury… its just that now people pick up on it more coz he is so popular. Look at Casillas and Cesar, they made at least 3 HORRIBLE blunders in WC2010! But no one was picking up on them. And Cech got voted best keeper of premier league and 2nd best keeper in the world last season so who is better than him in PREM?! No one can get close to him part from Van Der Sar because Hart isnt good enough with comunication or comanding his box at all! He just makes flashy saves that make you go WOW hes mint when in truth some of the saves could ahve been prevented! Cech is easily in the top 3 keepers in the world! Just coz he had 1 horrible season shows that he can come bak to a great form as prooved last season and this year! He has been Emence this year! I go to all games and he just dictates his players so well and comands his box all the time! Not like hart or reina ect.! MOTD annoy me tooo coz they do not show any of his fantastic saves or skill! They ignore it so people then think that he isnt as good when clearly he is and no one can say he isnt! End offf!
Reply
i have to agree with u guys? they said he was never the same? on his return he made 10 consecutive clean sheets. Honestly, there isnt a better allround keeperin the world, there hasnt been for a while, but keepers like cech and schmeical who dont play for big countries are always criticised
Reply