Arsenal seem to be a team in decline, having gone from a respectable 2nd place finish in the 2015/16 season to an appalling 5th place finish just one year later. Goalkeeper Petr Cech must come under closer scrutiny as part of a defence that conceded a whopping 44 goals and missed out on Champions League qualification for the first time in 19 years.
Czech Republic international Petr Cech will turn 36 years old this year and the veteran keeper who has made over 400 appearances in the Premier League, had one of his more disappointing seasons this time around. Signed by Chelsea in 2004 for 7M, he has won the Champions League, Europa League, four Premier League titles and picked up his fifth FA Cup winners medal at the weekend with a 2-1 victory over his old club.
Although the season ended on a high-point with Arsenal’s FA Cup win, it certainly didn’t start that way as Arsenal crashed on opening day and conceded 4 goals at home against Liverpool. They have been on the end of some heavy defeats this season although how much of that could be attributed to Petr Cech is debatable. They conceded 10 goals in two matches against Bayern Munich, and although that was a masterclass in attacking football from the Bundesliga champions, no team should be conceded ten goals over two legs.
In total, he played 35 matches for Arsenal in the Premier League and conceded 39 goals and kept 12 clean sheets. This gave him a fantasy football points total of 50, however, considering he is valued at 10.5M and his price/performance ratio is 5.4, there is much better value to be had in the Premier League should his below-par performances continue into the next season.
Whilst it’s not exactly a priority position to be filled in the transfer window, with Petr Cech reaching the twilight of his career, it seems madness to have Wojciech Szczesny out on loan. The Polish keeper has spent the season in Serie A with AS Roma and helped them to a 2nd place finish, just 4 points behind Juventus. He was reportedly fined 20k by after being caught smoking by Arsene Wenger and there seems no way back even though he has been ordered to report back to the Emirates Stadium for pre-season training. there is strong interest in him from Juventus and Napoli and should he command a decent transfer fee, Arsenal should invest any transfer received on a replacement for Petr Cech as David Ospina looks unlikely to command a first team berth.
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