20 okt 2010

Petr Cech - Back To His Best

Även publicerad på ChelseaVital:

It is time he gets the recognition he deserves. Petr Cech is back as maybe the best goalkeeper in the world. In my mind there is no doubt about the maybe.

I will also claim that it is not a new thing. It has been slowly building since the beginning of last season and he is there again. The Pink Panther might come back many times, the Czech Panther is back on top again.

There are other good goalkeepers out there but very few new names. It is still Iker Casillas, Gianluigi Buffon, Julio Caesar, Petr Cech and van der Sar we talk about. Coming names are Manuel Neuer, De Gea, maybe Joe Hart. Of those names I feel that Petr Cech is the only one today that does not get the credit he deserves. Too many still refuse to see how good he is again. Not that he ever was bad, only not as great. We all know the reason of that, the awful knee challenge from the abominal Stephen Hunt that almost killed him. Considering the severity of his injury it is kind of a miracle that Petr Cech even could play football again. Even more so that he came back to be pure world class.

Petr also very recently won the Player of the Year Award in the Czech Republic, again. It was his fifth win. It is very rare that a goalkeeper ever in any country wins such an award, he has five! And he still should have another maybe ten years at the top ahead of himself.

I have always had an extra soft spot for goalkeepers and that is why I was so exasperated at the beginning of last season when people, surely here at Chelsea Vital gave him a lot of criticism, totally undeserved I thought. I was hence extremely happy when Carlo Ancelotti came out and told people off. It was not Petr`s fault that we conceded a lot of goals on set pieces at the time and that he was caught out on crosses. The fault was the outfielders that did not close down the areas they were supposed to close down in order to help Petr. After all, he is only one guy and his main responsibility is the goal box.

The goalstopper`s function is very different from other player`s. They are often a very different kind of people, quite often a volatile bunch such as the German school of Jens Lehmann and Oliver Kahn. Most of them are very strong individuals, as they have to be as their work is much more harshly judged than any other player`s. One goalkeeping mistake and a career can be destroyed as so many English shotstopper`s have proven the last couple of years. A mistake usually also means a loss of points. A mistake in midfield very rarely does.

Goalkeepers usually keep to themselves, train by themselves, have special theory -tactical classes by themselves, their own trainers and managers. They are a group within the group in modern football and as stated, none in football are treated worse if they should make a mistake.

One can probably argue that no goalkeeper is better than the defence in front of him. But actually many are. There are may cases for goalkeeper`s keeping their defence and clubs out of trouble. These goalkeepers usually ply their trade at less known clubs, but are very valued there despite not being household names. I am thinking about goalkeepers like Jääskeläinen at Bolton, Sørensen at Stoke, Friedel at Villa and others. Shay Given almost singlehandled kept Newcastle up some seasons ago. Still one manager, I will certainly give you his name, Arsene Wenger, does not seem to understand the importance of having a great goalkeeper. And that is not only for the number of goals conceded.

The great goalkeepers are not always the ones stopping the ball the most times. There is much more to the great goalkeepers game, not least the psychologically. It is the great goalkeepers that dominate their defence, even with great dominators like John Terry in front of them. With a goalkeeper like Oliver Kahn it was easy to see how he managed his defence in the games, with a calmer quieter Petr Cech it is harder to see. In Chelsea John Terry is always more noticed than Petr Cech is, that does not mean that JT always hase the last word in organising the defence. Still I have seen Petr biting the head off a defender or two during his Chelsea time.

Petr Cech might not have the flamboyant personality and exuded self-assurance of Oliver Kahn, which I think hurts him when it comes to other`s appreciation of him. His calmness, quietness and unassuming personality does not make him tabloid stuff and it does make people underestimate him I think compared to more headline catching goalkeepers.

Chelsea also have a great defence, almost unrelated to whoever plays as the constant shiftings of centre-backs this season has shown. A goalkeeper behind a defence like Chelsea`s will simply never get the chance to shine as much as a goalkeeper behind a leaking defence, or a weak one. When Chelsea`s defence is rocky (which it rarely has been the last five years) like last September-October Cech had to take the blame despite being put into impossible situations because the timing especially was off in the defence and it`s defending on set pieces was poor especially when it came to marking. I think Petr Cech then got more than his fair share of the blame for conceded goals. Since then the defence has improved, I put it down to Alex coming on instead of Riccy (and I know many will disagree but I actually have the stats on my side in this).

Stll the conclusion is that Petr Cech`s reputation as a great goalie (and he is as Cendrowski statistically proved in another article) suffers from playing behind such a defence. Compare it to why Buffon and Casillas made it to the top places, it was not because playing behind a great defence because they did not.

Had Petr Cech played in another team his reputation would have been even greater.

Van der Sar is, by many, considered better than Petr Cech. I disagree even if he has the record of time without goals conceded now (pinched from Petr). He too plays behind what used to be a great defence, maybe not as much right now. But it makes it possible to compare them both.

Van der Sar`s most often praised ability is his play with his feet and deservedly so. But Petr Cech is not far behind, not at all as he showed yesterday. Petr, I think also kicks the ball further and straighter than van der Sar is able to do. Van der Sar tends to do more so called TV-saves, the kind of spectacular saves when the goalie flies across the goal. Petr rarely does them, simply because he is already in the right place. When it comes to close range play Shay Given is the best in the world as a reaction goalkeeper, but Petr is absolutely top notch there too. Some have critized his play on crosses, but as we see now - that is very much down to the defenders too. But I think Petr is getting back on top there too. He is as good at that as he was before the injury.

We can not deny that Petr has had a few years below his best, but I do claim he is back and heading for new heights now. Also, do remember, his best years are yet to come as history shows when it comes to goalkeepers and their age.

I think the main reason why he does not get the credit he deserves is because his style of play is so unassuming, so he`s not prone to the spectacular saves but for the safe saves. He does not throw himslef around when a couple of steps and a bend down does the job. He is also a big lad which makes him look less agile than he really is. A bit like people saying John Terry has not got footballing techniques while he in reality can a lot of the tricks with a ball more flamboyant players try, he just does not because it is neither necessary nor good for the game. It is showing off and Petr is another player that care not about showing off and putting the spotlight on himself. (There are many stories around what JT really can do with a ball in training and such!)

He is also much quicker than he looks, like he showed against Spartak when Ashley Cole passed a way too loose ball back to Petr who beat the forward to it. The pass can also be interpreted as the trust the defence place in him.

After all, what more can a goalkeeper do more than keep clean sheets and few in top football have ever kept more than Petr Cech? This far this season eight´in eleven games. Not to mention the security he brings to the entire defensive play.
I have no statistical evidence though I am sure it is out there of this: Chelsea plays the ball back to its goalkeepers more than any other team in top football. We, they, do this because of the trust in Petr and as an alternative to get the long ball. Whenever Chelsea plays long balls over the midfield they almost always are played by Petr Cech and he has this year been directly assisting in goals. Like the pass to Drogba which he scored on. More chanses like that are created every game.

Also, if this is Petr`s doing or Cristophe Lollichon as I pointed out in the match day comments yesterday. Look at how Chelsea plays the ball back to our goalkeepers. Chelsea, unlike so many other teams, never ever play the ball in front of the goal mouth. It is always played beside the goal whatever distance the defence plays the ball back . It is a detail but oh so important as it never causes unnecessary own goals because the goalkeeper was taken unaware by the pass, or slipped on the surface or such things. We almost never see own goals in Chelsea apart from the odd ball hitting a player and then into the net. I absolutely love this detail in our-Petr`s game. Maybe because I did do some goalkeeping myself and getting those back passes from unattentive defenders was not fun, because we all knew who would get the blame.

As goalkeepers always get the blame as the last resort and stand. And even if Petr Cech of course makes mistakes, can anyone recall a time he made a howler? Like Van der Sar this Saturday? If he has a weakness it might be penalties, but he has saved a couple of those too lately.

I think there is only one single irreplacable player in Chelsea today. His name is Petr Cech. (And I do not say that only because a certain lack of faith in his back-ups).

I believe Petr Cech easily will go down in history as a Chelsea legend next to Peter "The Cat" Bonetti our other greatest goalkeeper and of a totally different style, and consistency to be honest.