A lot of people are going to read this and think I'm trolling or mental (for those who don't already) but before you pass judgement let's consider some of the weakest links in the team.

For me the biggest one is petr Cech playing the ball out. Often when he is under pressure or has a goal kick he will hoof it forward and in years gone by drogba would be at the other end to pick it up. This lead to half the time us winning position and half the time the ball being recycled to the opposition. Now we have Torres and 3 players who are all under 6ft, I have noticed Oscar win a few headers but we don't win many long balls up top. Even with the signing of falcao, he is only 5'10 and whilst stronger than Torres, he is no better at challenging some of the defenders in the prem.

This means we need a keeper who is confident with the ball at his feet and is able to play it short. This would dramatically ease the constant hoofing it forward only to be on the defensive again when the team inevitably wins it back. Make no bones about it, that is the reason why courtois has been sent on loan to Spain where this is the norm for keepers.

This may seem like i am being very harsh on petr, I think the guy is one of the best keepers to have been between the sticks for us. He is as much a reason we won the cl as drogba is. However, he is part of the problem facing the club and as much as nando is taking the flack for his inconsistency, the issue does need to be addressed. He will be another player I would be sorry to leave the club but if we are to change our style then the change needs to be made.

seriously?

Yes, I first noticed it against city in the community shield and as the season has gone on it has become a bigger problem. Think about the losses we have taken this season against the likes of west brom, juventus and their are probably other games I have missed where teams sit back and just wait for us to hit the ball long and win it back

You'd like to get rid of a world-class goalkeeper who has served us brilliantly for 8 years because our current forwards can't head a ball? 

 

I agree that Cech's distribution is his weak point, but honestly that's the least of our problems.

I realise what I'm saying is highly controversial, as you say petr is one of the top 3 goalies in the world but in our current formation, the players we have and the style of play we have his poor distribution is costing us. It is all well and good having mata hazard and Oscar but they are only special when they have the ball. He is too old now to be able to simply adapt his game, I wouldn't say completely get rid of him but would it be such a hurt to give courtois a go before making a decision to send him on loan next season?

That's akin to wanting to sell Makelele because he didn't score enough goals.

A lot of people are going to read this and think I'm trolling or mental (for those who don't already) but before you pass judgement let's consider some of the weakest links in the team.

For me the biggest one is petr Cech playing the ball out. Often when he is under pressure or has a goal kick he will hoof it forward and in years gone by drogba would be at the other end to pick it up. This lead to half the time us winning position and half the time the ball being recycled to the opposition. Now we have Torres and 3 players who are all under 6ft, I have noticed Oscar win a few headers but we don't win many long balls up top. Even with the signing of falcao, he is only 5'10 and whilst stronger than Torres, he is no better at challenging some of the defenders in the prem.

This means we need a keeper who is confident with the ball at his feet and is able to play it short. This would dramatically ease the constant hoofing it forward only to be on the defensive again when the team inevitably wins it back. Make no bones about it, that is the reason why courtois has been sent on loan to Spain where this is the norm for keepers.

This may seem like i am being very harsh on petr, I think the guy is one of the best keepers to have been between the sticks for us. He is as much a reason we won the cl as drogba is. However, he is part of the problem facing the club and as much as nando is taking the flack for his inconsistency, the issue does need to be addressed. He will be another player I would be sorry to leave the club but if we are to change our style then the change needs to be made.

Wat.

I agree Pete needs to stop hoofing it up-field all the time but if none of his defenders or defensive midfielders are making their selves available in a good position (obviously Pete can see whats around them) then what else can he do? The problem isn't with Pete, not entirely anyway. So I see your point.

 

But replacing him? No, you are insane, you've lost me. World class save after world class save for 8 seasons solid, God knows where we would be without him this season. Perhaps he's lost confidence in the back line that used to protect him so well?

Hey I'm all for criticism is that not why we have a forum? But if someone can offer me a better soloution then I'm willing to hear it?

I think it would be much cheaper (and a lot more practical) to just tell him to play the ball short and make our defenders or deep midfielders take care of the rest.

 

Also make Cech practise a bit more on passing the ball.

 

You don't just sell a keeper because we haven't got anyone to head the ball. Besides, Torres has actually won a few headers, so it's not like we lose the ball every time we play it long.

Hey I'm all for criticism is that not why we have a forum? But if someone can offer me a better soloution then I'm willing to hear it?

A better solution than selling Petr Cech?

 

I can probably think of a hundred reasons to keep him, it really is lunacy to suggest selling him, sorry.

Edited December 16, 201213 yr by Gem

Simply Lol.

 

Your following the ball. Watch the location of the Cb's wen he hoof's it forward. See how many options he has to play it short where the chances of the CB's not being closed down immediately? Very few huh? Cb's don't spread wide for the kickouts and the Full backs generally push forward. Next time we play watch how often Ivan gets forward to win the header from the kickout. Now thats a Managers instruction.  Kicking was never Cechs strong point, but to say we need to replace him is absurd, especially when he's only (in my eyes) following instructions.

 

Even if we did play it to the cb's, where can we go? Pass it to Mikel or Ramires? The very two who rarely play a pass more than 10 feet. And then people wonder why Luiz ventures forward. If you want to play it short, the out field players must give Cech options and they're simply not doing it, most probably due to Rafa telling them to play it wide to Ivan and let Moses win the second ball.

 If you want to play it short, the out field players must give Cech options and they're simply not doing it

Nail, head.

Getting rid of Cech because his distribution needs work is like dumping your supermodel girlfriend because she can't cook. Priorities mate.

Pete on his FB:
 

 

 

Petr ÄŒech

There are 2 different groups of people in the world : 

1) the ones who stand up and keep believing in their abilities when knocked down ...
2) the ones who stay on the floor and give up ... 

We call them simply Winners and Losers :-) 

And every individual can choose the group to belong to ... 

For me , there is only one option , so i'll see you again in the finals ;-)

Yes, Cech has been hoofing the ball forward every time he gets it. No, it's not his fault. It's clear that he's been told to hoof it by FSW; he played it short most of the time under AVB, went back to hoofing it when RDM was first manager and then started to gradually play it out more often until some c**t replaced RDM.

 

He's not the problem; FSW is.

 

Our "problem" with goalkeepers isn't where is our replacement, it's what are we going to do with them? We have two world class keepers on the books, neither of whom are anywhere near the end of their careers.

Getting rid of Cech because his distribution needs work is like dumping your supermodel girlfriend because she can't cook. Priorities mate.

who wants a wife that can't cook?!

Cech is actually extremely comfortable with the ball at his feet, more so than the majority of keepers. Despite this we do play the long ball too much which suggests there are other reasons for it.

Here is a crazy idea. Instead of selling Cech and replacing him with an inferior keeper we should tell our outfield players to make themselves more available and tell Cech not to kick it as much. Seems an easier solution to me!

who wants a wife that can't cook?!

 

Homely women need to cook well. Supermodels don't.

 

If Petr Cech were just an average keeper, his distribution would be a bigger deal.

We could ask our f*cking useless manager to stop telling our world class keeper to hoof it up to our f*cking useless striker.

I realise what I'm saying is highly controversial, as you say petr is one of the top 3 goalies in the world but in our current formation, the players we have and the style of play we have his poor distribution is costing us. It is all well and good having mata hazard and Oscar but they are only special when they have the ball. He is too old now to be able to simply adapt his game, I wouldn't say completely get rid of him but would it be such a hurt to give courtois a go before making a decision to send him on loan next season?

 

I think it's a valid issue but, like most problems, there is more than one solution. Getting rid of Cech (like you suggested in your first post) is a fairly drastic solution in my opinion. Like others have suggested, the problem is not solely down to Cech, I don't think it wouldn't really matter who the goalkeeper is if the outfield players are not trying to help him.

TWat.

 

 

Tis the pedantic old woman correcting your spelling!   

Is it April already?

Petr Cech is awesome, I have no idea why we'd consider replacing him when we already have Courtois waiting in the wings (who isn't doing much better than Cech in the kicking stakes to be perfectly honest), and when Cech hasn't really been underperforming. Let's not forget his outrageous form in the Champions League run - and he has plenty more where that came from.

I believe Torres isn't scoring because hes inhibited by Cech's poor distribution, time to bring in Reina.