Jump to content

Petr Cech's Penalty Saves

Kev123

By Kev123
in General Chelsea FC

 Share
Eton Blue at the Chelsea Megastore

Recommended Posts

Kev123

Kev123

Posted
Posted (edited)

http://www.dailymail...-saves-day.html

Only when listening to Petr Cech at Munich’s Mandarin Oriental Hotel on Sunday morning did it become clear just how brilliant a performance he delivered on Saturday night.

Only then did it become clear that Chelsea’s victory was a victory for intelligence and logic as well as courage, determination and athleticism; for meticulous preparation on the part of Roberto Di Matteo as well as guts and guile and the finishing of the irrepressible Didier Drogba.

Cech sat with a small gathering of invited journalists, his winner’s medal hanging from his neck and the European Cup positioned on the carpet in front of him, and explained how he made the first of three penalty saves.

It was perhaps the most crucial, awarded to Bayern Munich in the fifth minute of extra time after Drogba had foolishly felled Franck Ribery. John Mikel Obi played his part, mischievously informing Arjen Robben that his former Chelsea colleague would know exactly what he intended to do; that Cech would make the save.

Cech, it turns out, was not quite that confident, but the thought process that led to him choosing the right way — a thought process built on a study of the Holland winger’s technique — remains incredibly impressive.

‘Robben always shoots different ways,’ said Cech. ‘There’s no pattern in his penalties. So I didn’t know what to do with him. Half he shoots to the right, half to the left. No pattern whatsoever. He even runs up the same way to the ball.

But when you’re tired, when you’ve played for 95 minutes, players choose power rather than technique, rather than placing it. I thought he’d smash it somewhere near the corner and hope it would go through. He’s left-footed. I’m left-footed, and I thought if it was me I’d shoot across, left to right. Which is why I went to my left.’

This is a guy who mastered Spanish in a month, his fourth language. For this Champions League final he mastered Bayern’s penalty takers in two hours, destroying the myth that the Germans always win these shootouts.

Even on the eve of the game Jupp Heynckes was pointing to the superior mental strength of his compatriots when it comes to scoring from 12 yards. Cech and Chelsea’s penalty takers took a sledgehammer to that theory. Not least with the saves to deny Ivica Olic and Bastian Schweinsteiger.

How much did Cech know about Bayern’s chosen five on Saturday night? ‘Quite a bit because I went six times the right way for the six penalties,’ he said with a wry smile. ‘I either guessed pretty well or I was ready to guess pretty well. I’d seen all the Bayern penalties since 2007. It took me about two hours to go through them all on a DVD, on the flight over. The coaching staff studied them too and we took notes. When it came to the shootout I then said, “Guys, the notes?†But Hilario said, “You don’t need the notes, you’ll save everythingâ€.

‘Mario Gomez hit the best penalty. I got close to Manuel Neuer’s. But I’d gone the right way each time and it would have been impossible to have kept guessing right and not saved one. That’s what happened. I got a touch on Schweinsteiger’s, too.’

It was astonishing, not least the way Bayern contrived to lose the initiative three times. They tossed it away when they allowed Drogba to cancel out Thomas Muller’s 83rd-minute opener with a thumping header of his own two minutes from time; again when Robben missed his penalty and lastly when the shootout was 3-1 in their favour.

They also squandered the considerable advantage that came with being at home. A neutral venue? Try telling that to Chelsea when three-quarters of the ground was a sea of red. In every respect it was like a home game for Bayern, even down to the tactics of the teams. Bayern attacked and for the most part dominated, unleashing 35 attempts to Chelsea’s nine and earning 20 corners to Chelsea’s one. But it was from that one corner, delivered by Juan Mata, that Drogba equalised.

In midfield, in particular, Bayern were excellent, especially Toni Kroos and Schweinsteiger. What a player Kroos is. But Schweinsteiger could not watch when Robben took that 95th-minute penalty and the fear of losing a third title this season clearly got the better of him when it came to taking Bayern’s final spot-kick.

Under the guidance of Di Matteo, super cool until he needed to deliver a stirring speech to his shattered players at the end of normal time, Chelsea displayed no such nerves.

Frank Lampard and Mikel worked tirelessly in midfield, while David Luiz and Gary Cahill were magnificent for two centre halves returning from injury, keeping Gomez quiet with impressive ease.

Luiz not only confirmed he had suffered a setback with his hamstring injury on the Thursday but revealed it went again after 20 minutes of this game. ‘I told myself I’d play with the heart rather than the body,’ he said afterwards.

In Cech’s words, ‘Cahill and Luiz were amazing’, and never more so than when Luiz took that huge run- up before thumping home his shootout penalty following Mata’s opening miss.

Ashley Cole was also immense, at left back and when it came to burying his penalty at a Bayern end that became a wall of sound designed to intimidate the Chelsea players who had to make that lonely walk from the halfway line.

To beat Bayern in the manner they did, to exorcise the ghosts of Chelsea’s Champions League past, to heal the scars of Moscow, was a credit to all those involved. From Di Matteo to the Champions League debutant, Ryan Bertrand.

In Drogba, though, they had their big-match winner; the scorer of nine goals in nine cup finals and someone, surely, Roman Abramovich has to keep at Stamford Bridge.

Where John Terry had failed in 2008, Drogba succeeded. ‘I was confident,’ he said as he recalled the thoughts passing through his mind as he marched towards the penalty spot. ‘I wanted to score for Petr Cech, for my team-mates, I just wanted to make Chelsea smile.’

He certainly succeeded

Ps. Apparently Cech was drug tested immediately after the match by UEFA officials. Can't say I blame them for thinking after that performance he must be using something :)

Edited by Kev123
Link to comment
Share on other sites


chelseablueboy

chelseablueboy

Posted
Posted

He's regained his place as one of the best keepers in the world.

Petr has many years at Chelsea ahead of him (i don't see him moving anywhere else soon) and i reckon he will have 'Legend' status bestowed upon him when he does hang up his boots.

Oh and what a nice fella he seems too.

Alan

Link to comment
Share on other sites


oldbloke

oldbloke

Posted
Posted

He was amazing. His penalty saving was truly first class - it sounds like he had studied every Bayern penalty since 2007, according to a press article I read in one of the tabloids. I remember when he first came to us, he was a brilliant keeper at virtually every other aspect of his game but he wasn't great at penalties - that has changed a lot over the years - he is top notch at those now (even if some people argue his overall game isn't as good as it was pre getting whacked on the head by Hunt).

Link to comment
Share on other sites
HisDogSpot

HisDogSpot

Posted
Posted

He was amazing. His penalty saving was truly first class - it sounds like he had studied every Bayern penalty since 2007, according to a press article I read in one of the tabloids. I remember when he first came to us, he was a brilliant keeper at virtually every other aspect of his game but he wasn't great at penalties - that has changed a lot over the years - he is top notch at those now (even if some people argue his overall game isn't as good as it was pre getting whacked on the head by Hunt).

Maybe overall game has never been the same but his preparation is outstanding maybe the blow to his head made his brain work differently is that possible?

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Phillip

Phillip

Posted
Posted (edited)

Did you notice how the referee made Neuer stop bouncing up and down prior to our players taking our PKs? I guess the rules don't allow that, I don't know, but perhaps it threw Neuer off somewhat.

Edited by Phillip
Link to comment
Share on other sites
BLUENUT

BLUENUT

Posted
Posted

To the tune of 'flying high'

The greatest save you'll ever see

Was Petr Cech at Wemberley

And then he saved 3 penalties

To lift the cup in Germany

Me and my brother was singing it on Saturday night/Sunday morning - we've got to get this one going next season!

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Katon

Katon

Posted
Posted

Did you notice how the referee made Neuer stop bouncing up and down prior to our players taking our PKs? I guess the rules don't allow that, I don't know, but perhaps it through Neuer off somewhat.

Maybe. Didn't make that much difference, though - we only had two remotely savable penalties, he saved one and went the wrong way for the other. Lamps, Luiz, and Ashley all would have scored if Neuer had had a pogo stick.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
TomW

TomW

Posted
Posted

Did you notice how the referee made Neuer stop bouncing up and down prior to our players taking our PKs? I guess the rules don't allow that, I don't know, but perhaps it through Neuer off somewhat.

It did look like Cech was having a word with the ref after one of the penalties.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Ruh Buh Juh

Ruh Buh Juh

Posted
Posted

I remember being furious with Drogs' run up, but thinking about it, it was actually a really smart move. A shorter run up means the keeper has less of an idea what direction you're going, and Drogs sent Neuer the wrong way.

But on topic, Cech was absolutely unbelievable on Saturday. Saving half of the penalties he faced that night is nothing short of magnificent. What a hero.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Celery1989

Celery1989

Posted
Posted

To the tune of 'flying high'

The greatest save you'll ever see

Was Petr Cech at Wemberley

And then he saved 3 penalties

To lift the cup in Germany

I sincerely hope this one sticks. Petr is a legend in the same vein as the other stalwarts in the Old Guard. Bout time we had a chant for him! The Media have naturally gone crazy on Drogba's heroics but Petr was a match-winner in his own right. Its a shame that many in the public seem to have not noticed that Petr saved 3 penalties on the night and guessed the right way every time. Given that he'd not saved many penalties for us before, guess he was saving it all up for when it really mattered!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...
Please Sign In or Sign Up

Well, this is awkward!

Happy Sunny Days GIF by Atlassian

The Shed End Forum relies on revenue to pay for hosting and upgrades. While we try to keep adverts as unobtrusive as possible, we need to show these to make sure we can stay online and continue to keep the forum running. Over the years costs have become very high.

Could you please allow adverts on this domain by switching it off and whitelisting the website? Some of the advert banners can actually be closed to avoid interference with your experience on The Shed End.

If you don't want to view any adverts while logged in and using your account, consider using the Ad-Free Subscription which is renewable every year. To buy a subscription, log in to your account and click the link under the Newbies forum on the home page.

Cheers now!

Sure, let me in!