Arsenal Vs Cardiff City: Is it time to drop Petr Cech?

Petr Cech again struggled with the ball at his feet during Arsenal’s 3-2 win over Cardiff City. With Unai Emery unwavering in his approach, is it time to drop the 36-year-old?

Unai Emery was always going to bring a new style to Arsenal football club. That was the whole point of his hiring: bring change and evolution to a club and team that has declined under the stagnating loyalties of its master. But rarely does change run smoothly.

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Emery wants to implement new strategies and approaches, on and off the pitch. Just this week it was revealed that he has banned juice drinks with high sugar contents. He also brought with him a new coaching staff, new training methods, a revamped transfer policy that is orchestrated by a team of contributors. And he has brought with him the tactic of playing out from the back.

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This tactic has demanded new things of Petr Cech. The 36-year-old, who grew up and flourished in an era when a goalkeeper was told, ‘put your foot through it’, not encouraged to be an eleventh outfield player to provide an extra option to escape opponents’ high pressing strategies. But Emery prioritises the principle over the player. And so, Cech must adapt to Emery. Four games into the new season, it seems as though he is incapable of doing so.

It is not for a want of trying. Cech has acquitted himself admirably in attempting to learn and execute the skills that Emery wants his goalkeeper to have. But, as illustrated in the latest match, Sunday’s 3-2 win over Cardiff City, the jury is very much still out as to whether Cech has the ability to play in such a manner.

There were numerous occasions where Cech looked extremely jittery with the ball at his feet. Early on, he passed the ball straight to Harry Arter, who then should have scored but blazed his shot over the crossbar. Later on, he hesitated in several instances, inviting pressure from a hounding and harrying Cardiff, and routinely put Sokratis and Shkodran Mustafi into difficult positions with slow or slightly inaccurate passes.

The difficulties that Cech is having take on a new element when his potential replacement is considered. This is not just a player struggling to adapt to a new style without a viable alternative in the squad. It was only two months ago that Arsenal decided to invest £20 million in a new goalkeeper precisely because of Emery’s style and his comfort with it.

Bernd Leno provides a very real option as a goalkeeper who can play with his feet. He has grown up with that approach at Bayer Leverkusen. He developed in an era in which a goalkeeper was asked to do more than just stop shots and catch crosses. When Pep Guardiola shipped Joe Hart out because he wasn’t good enough with his feet, many people questioned his logic. Now, it is the norm.

And that norm is not something that Cech is used to. For Cech, it is not normal, but new. And it’s very difficult to teach an old dog new tricks. Perhaps, then, it’s time to change the dog altogether.