Arsenal: Bernd Leno has triggered Petr Cech’s reincarnation

Arsenal’s defensive problems last season were numerous, and Petr Cech was a major offender. But now that Bernd Leno is here, the reincarnation begins.

Petr Cech‘s 2017/18 season was an absolute fluke. A consummate professional like him does not make five, six errors on a regular basis. It has never happened before and, in all likelihood, it will never happen again. No matter where he ends up, with or without Arsenal, the errors will stop.

And they may stop immediately, now that the 36-year-old has been thrown on the defensive with the arrival of Bernd Leno.

We talk about internal competition and awful lot, but it’s so easy to explain why – because it works. If you won’t challenge a player, they fall into a sense of comfort and stability and, whether they like it or not, they can often lose track of their own best self.

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Internal competition works across the board, on young teenagers, and on living legends like Petr Cech. And naturally, Cech has enough common sense to know what Leno means to him. It means he has to step up or fall behind.

He pointed out as much, as quoted by the Metro:

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"My contract with Arsenal still has a year to run. The only thing I’m preparing for is the fight for the No.1 spot in goal. Napoli were interested but my future is at Arsenal. I didn’t think of changing clubs."

One thing we know for sure – Cech has a ton of talent. He is a commander at the back, a leader and a difference maker. Last year was the anomaly.

Triggering the best form of Cech would work just as well as signing a new keeper. However, since the Gunners have already signed their new keeper, the best form of Cech should conceivably be triggered as well. Meaning that if everything pans out the way it is supposed to pan out, the Gunners could be the proud owners of two demonstratively No. 1 keepers.

Leno can learn a lot from Cech, but vice versa applies as well. Cech can learn what it is to be reliable again. He can find that reincarnation into his younger self. Keepers tend to last loner than outfield players anyway, meaning that Cech absolutely still has a lot to give.

Next: Arsenal Complete 2017/18 Player Ratings

It will be a wonderful feeling having two reliable keepers battling for the starting role. Now if only it can actually pan out that well when the season commences.