Arsenal Vs Swansea City: Petr Cech far from the biggest problem

Petr Cech suffered a major blunder in Arsenal’s humiliating 3-1 loss to Swansea City on Tuesday night, leading many to further criticise the ageing goalkeeper. But the former Chelsea shot-stopper is far from the biggest problem at the club. There are many other priorities that need to be addressed first.

The second goal in Tuesday night’s humiliating 3-1 loss to Swansea City was not pretty. At all. Arsenal had re-established at least an element of control through a couple of extended periods of possession and were beginning to build a little pressure as they impressed themselves on the hosts high up the pitch. And then the calamities happened.

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Namely, it was Petr Cech who was at fault. While neither Nacho Monreal nor Shkodran Mustafi helped the situation, the former allowing the ball to roll over the touchline for a throw-in, inviting Swansea to press high up the pitch; the latter playing an unwise and pacy pass back to Cech that was not particularly easy to deal with, it was Cech who should shoulder a large portion of the blame.

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It may have been an avoidable situation. It may have been uncomfortable for Cech to deal with. But he still should have had the ability to make the requisite contact on the ball with his stronger foot for it to avoid a most welcome Jordan Ayew who was merely standing in the penalty area, unattended, with the goal gaping.

And this is not the first mistake that Cech has made this year. He later dropped a simple cross, seemingly affected by the prior error, he has been at fault for several goals, especially shots from distance that a younger, sprier goalkeeper would have saved, and he is yet to gain points for the team through a noticeable or abnormal performance, much like Hugo Lloris, Thibault Courtois and particularly David de Gea have done for their respective teams.

But although Cech may no longer be a strength of this current iteration of the Arsenal team, that is not to say that he is also a shortcoming. It could be argued as such. But he is certainly not the most deprecating issue of the squad. There are many other issues that need to be addressed before Cech’s replacement is found.

There are key weaknesses in defence, especially at centre-half, a true anchoring defensive midfielder is desperately needed, as has been the case for more than a decade, and an out-and-out winger could also perhaps be more beneficial than a Cech replacement.

And then there is the problem of the manager. Arsene Wenger is now a hindrance, not a help and, such is his power and influence at the club, making changes at a lesser level, like in the personnel of the squad, the tactics of the team, or the on-pitch strategies that are implemented, seems somewhat futile knowing that Wenger will still have a major authority over their formation.

Next: Arsenal Vs Swansea City: 5 things we learned

Cech is most certainly not the problem that some fans would have you believe. While he is not playing close to the level that he was at Chelsea, he is still a good goalkeeper. For some, that is not good enough, but given the extent of the other problems at the club, for now, it may just have to do.