Cech pinpoints what has changed in Arsenal training under Emery
Petr Cech has revealed the post-Arsene Wenger era at Arsenal is now a lot more demanding.
The former Chelsea keeper put in an impressive display to help the Gunners to a gritty 2-0 win over Everton at The Emirates on Sunday and then announced the spirit they showed in victory has been missing in recent years.
It’s safe to say Cech is not a fan of the “arsenal way” – the obsession with playing attractive football and often losing site of the end result.
The 36-year-old goalkeeper, who is the club’s No. 1 despite the arrival of Bernd Leno, though says new boss Unai Emery is changing the mentality and demands more from his players.
“What we lacked in the past – I would say the ‘Arsenal way’ was more important than getting the points sometimes, and this is not how you win the league,” said Cech. “Sometimes you need to make sure you win an ugly game, when you are not playing completely well but you just dig deep, close the back door and win 1-0 no matter how.
“I think this is what we lacked over the last three years, since I arrived [in 2015]. Against Everton, we went through difficult moments in the game but we managed to get the win and with the clean sheet, so this is very positive.”
Cech has suggested that training now is more intense under Emery and believes the competition for places is driving the team on.
“It comes from the preparation, the everyday work and from the manager’s way of playing the game as well,” added Cech.
“We work very hard every day to give ourselves the chance to compete with everybody and hopefully it will be working even better than it has been for the last four games.
“He is very demanding and this is how you improve. I think the place has become much more demanding in every way so this is great to see because this is what initially drives everybody forward and gives you the kind of kick that ‘I’m not doing enough to start the game’, or ‘I’m not doing enough to keep my spot in the game’, because the manager asked for precision and hard work every day.
“This is how it should be. We have very healthy competition and we are actually taking the benefit of it.”
“When a club win titles, it means you have a team with the knowhow to finish it off and you can see it in any sport,” Cech said. “I take Tiger Woods. It’s been some years since he won a major tournament and the longer it goes on the harder it becomes.
“This club hasn’t won the league for over 10 years so obviously you need to get back to knowing how to do it. We started with the new manager from scratch basically, and we try to get this mentality of winning every game, progressing every game, working every day and, hopefully, we can build this up and win the title sooner rather than later.”