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Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech has returned to his best form following the club's capture of Bernd Leno in the summer, according to Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher via The Daily Express.
What's the word?
Unai Emery's Arsenal side extended their winning run across all competitions to five matches on Sunday after defeating Everton 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium, keeping their first clean sheet of the season in the process.
The Gunners did not perform to their best against the Toffees and needed Petr Cech to make a number of saves to quell Everton's attacking play, with the veteran stopper maintaining his spot in the ranks for Emery's side.
Bernd Leno, signed in the summer from Bayer Leverkusen, made his competitive debut in the Europa League clash with Vorskla last Thursday but still awaits his first appearance in the Premier League as Cech stands ahead of him.
According to Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher, Leno faces a huge test to establish himself as first-choice as Cech has returned to his best form following the capture of the Germany international in post-match comments that have been picked up by The Daily Express.
What was said?
"I actually think Petr Cech, in these first five or six games, looks like the Petr Cech I remember at Chelsea, in terms of the saves he makes, starting positions, coming out at people’s feet.
"Now, the criticism he’s got in terms of with his feet, and I’ve been critical of that, my criticism is not for the goalkeeper, it’s maybe more for the manager for asking them to do those type of things.
"It’s like a manager on the wing, you can’t do it. He’s never going to be good with his feet and again there were problems today when they were playing out from the back, losing it in their own half, Everton pressing.
"You think at some stage it may hurt them, but they seem to be getting through these games. In terms of his performances, I think the signing of the other goalkeeper has actually lifted his performance.
"The saves he’s made, if you think of the game here against West Ham as well, imagine that didn’t go well, or that didn’t go well today, maybe you take one point instead of six points. It makes a massive difference."
Is he right?
Cech's ball-playing abilities have rightly been criticised this season and Carragher was correct with his praise of the veteran stopper's performance against Everton, although he is still a long way off the form that saw him star at Chelsea.
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Emery's decision to stick with Cech continues to raise eyebrows as the 36-year-old sees his contract in North London expire at the end of the season, with it being clear that Leno, ten years younger than Cech, is Arsenal's long-term first-choice.
However, rather than allowing Leno to build experience of English football, Emery has opted to stick with Cech and, while he made a number of decent saves against Everton, he was not really truly tested by a Toffees attack that failed to take their chances.
On top of this, it is also worth remembering that the clean-sheet was Arsenal's first of the season and the Gunners defence, with Cech between the sticks, was also extremely leaky in Arsene Wenger's last couple of years in charge.