Arsenal: If nothing else, maybe we can do it for Petr Cech

Petr Cech has asked his Arsenal teammates to leave their disappointment behind and win this last chance at silverware. Could that actually be the key?

Petr Cech has made it clear all year that he is determined to take home the Europa League trophy and retire from Arsenal with silverware in his hands. It’s every player’s dream, to go out with a bang, and it’s been Cech’s outspoken dream all year.

Following the draw to Brighton (I keep accidentally typing “loss” in stead of “draw”), Cech spoke out again, calling on his teammates to leave the disappointment behind them and rise up to help him achieve this dream, which coincidentally also works to get the Gunners into the Champions League.

I don’t know how I feel about the Gunners ability to perform under pressure. Sometimes they seem to thrive in it (FA Cup, for instance), sometimes they seem to break from it (pretty much every other example).

With the top four already out of the picture and a lot of shakiness working its way into the team over the past couple of weeks, it’s understandable that the club may be a bit… weary… going into this crucial second leg against Valencia.

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There is a lot of pressure on this match, especially to avoid any carry-over from the Premier League collapse.

So much pressure, that you may start to lose confidence in the club’s ability to handle the pressure and grind out the result. Even if they do it here, against Valencia, will they also be able to do it in the final when this second leg already feels like a final?

Thinking about it in a big picture sense like this introduces all kinds of concern, but when you think about it from the point of view of “just do it for Petr Cech,” well then it’s something else. Then you’re just going out there in a match and trying to make sure that Cech gets the send-off he deserves. There is far less pressure weighing down on you if you’re trying to win a match or two for a friend and colleague than if you’re trying to win a match so that the whole of your fan base isn’t calling down curses on your family while you wallow in the Europa League for another year.

So maybe Cech’s words can work some magic. Maybe his teammates can look at this in a much simpler way and sidestep the pressure of the sudden death altogether.