http://www.chelseafc.com/news/latest-news/2015/07/mourinho-and-cech-discuss-big-decision.html

 

Mourinho and Cech discuss big decision

NEWS2 MINUTES

With today (Wednesday 1 July) representing the formal opening of the transfer window for Premier League clubs, Petr Cech’s move from Chelsea to Arsenal can be officially ratified. Both Jose Mourinho and the player have spoken about the goalkeeper’s departure after 11 historic years at Stamford Bridge.

Mourinho confirmed his ideal outcome would have been for Cech to remain in the Chelsea squad for the coming season but with the player no longer being number one choice in goal and wanting to move on, supports the decision. He also expressed his gratitude for the part Cech played in so much success.  

‘Petr has been a great servant for Chelsea for 11 years and helped this club to win almost everything there is to win,’ praised Mourinho.

‘I always said I wanted him to stay but I understand Petr needed to move on to play first team football every week. Sometimes you have to respect the wishes of someone who has earned so much respect with his service and actions for your club. I support the owner’s decision to honour the player in this way.

‘It is very rare in football to make a decision like this and for that reason I am proud of my club for making it. There are not many clubs in the world big enough to be able to make that decision.

‘Petr’s success at this club will always to be remembered and we thank him for everything he did.’

Cech, who was handed his Chelsea debut by Mourinho in August 2004 and won three league titles under his management as well as the FA Cup and League Cups, described the unshakeable respect they hold for each other.

‘He [ Mourinho] had to make his decision at the start of last season, I had to make my decision at the start of this season but I will always keep the best regards for him because I believe that we had so much success and so much respect for each other.

‘He is one of the best managers in the world. Now, we will be opponents but it will not change our relationship, I believe.

‘I learned a lot from him and one of those things was that if you have to make a hard decision, you need to make sure that you do it if you believe it is the right choice.’

It's a tough pill to swallow, but what were we going to do, make him rot on the bench?

 

 

Sounds like he had a personal conversation with Roman, was aware that his place in the squad had changed, and he wanted to - due to his desire as a top footballer - continue playing in a competitive league without uprooting his entire family.  

 

I don't begrudge him one bit.  In fact, I probably felt a little worse when Carlo went to Spuds.  I actually think it shows the club in a positive light, and we were able to do a bit of business out of the deal.

 

Thank you for everything, Petr.  Legend, and always will be.

Edited July 1, 201511 yr by mad_mac

Does Cech even live in London? I thought most of the Chelsea players lived in leafy Cobham. Trying getting from there to Islington in less than four hours on a weekday!

I have literally driven across London starting at pm on a friday a few years back. First time ever driving that far across London instead of just taking a train. Since that day, I have never complained about traffic again regardless of the it I am driving again. 30 min to go one block at one point and there was not even construction or an accident to blame it on....

I have literally driven across London starting at 230pm on a friday a few years back. First time ever driving that far across London instead of just taking a train. Since that day, I have never complained about traffic again regardless of the city I am driving in. 30 min to go one block at one point and there was not even construction or an accident to blame it on....

I hate the auto spell on this tablet. It will replace correctly spelt words with other words or break it into multiple smaller words. Yet if a word is off by 1 letter, it can't suss it out.

What did he mean by " I didn't miss much"? Was he actually trolling them? If so., can't imagine Arsenal fans liking that.

What did he mean by " I didn't miss much"? Was he actually trolling them? If so., can't imagine Arsenal fans liking that.

He was taking a step towards regaining undisputed/unbesmirched Chelsea legend status again lol

I wounder what we going to do when we get a penalty against Arsenal this time around ....especially our next match in the community shield and this time is Cech on goal vs Eden

Thanks for exposing your ignorance via ad hominem tactics, the sure sign of a brilliant mind with a valid point.

You seem to imply the club and fans owe Cech repayment for his service. You are aware he made no sacrifices to come to Chelsea, right? You are aware he didn't sacrifice any ambitions to stay here, right? You are aware that this fantastic "servant" was being paid a fantastic sum, right? Over 5 million a year for the grueling task of playing football for one of the most competitive clubs in the world.

As for not getting football, sorry soccer, care to explain how that pertains to how loyalty should only be a one way street? Try as you might, there's not a feasible connection unless you feel football is all about treating a rich young man better than others, but in that case you're welcome to that. To me, it's about far more.

Well i'll think of your sacrifices when you have to change the batteries on your remote control. Ottawa Fury rock dude i'm so like such a fan.

Edited July 2, 201511 yr by Wrote For Luck

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/brian-reade-column-petr-cech-5983300

Good article ... may well cause another rift between Roman and Jose if this backfires as the season concludes?

If Wenger breaks his duck against Jose this season, we will all look back the Cech sell. I'm sure Jose wasn't happy about this, but thankfully he didn't say anything, or we will see the start of the rift. Wasn't Cech in his last year of contract, nothing we could do to stop him going to Arsenal next year. The best we could do is to bench him for another year, he deserved to be treated better after a decade serving CFC.

I don't think Cech going to Arsenal is suddenly going to give Wenger the upper hand on Jose.  Jesus, give Jose a BIT more credit than that

I wounder what we going to do when we get a penalty against Arsenal this time around ....especially our next match in the community shield and this time is Cech on goal vs Eden

Been thinking the exact same thing tbh

I have no idea the full story or indeed if the club have played the press and come to that Arsenal in this whole transfer

For many of us who are too close to the matter we look at Petr and see a goalkeeper in his prime whereas others who look at the simple facts and figures will probably see a whole different picture and I suspect that had Petr been at Man Utd in SAF time and Courtois had emerged as a real talent then the transfer would likewise have happened after all sentiment has very little part to play in managing at the top level

Very few players over the age of 30 are sold for over a £10 million indeed Petrs fee we are told in the top ten ever paid and if you look further he is the most expensive keeper of that age ever.

There are reasons why clubs very very rarely grant players over the age of 30 contracts over 1 or 2 years in the EPL namely their performance levels are inevitably in decline and their past injuries tend to catch up on them and without doubt the time taken from yet to be suffered and more likely injuries take longer to recover from. When players reach 33 I suspect that that number of players granted these longer contracts even in relation to keepers is counted on the fingers of one hand. Arsenal like us just don't break that practise yet in the case of Petr they not only have gone against that rule but blown it out the water

I had quite a conversation with a very good mate of mine who is an Arsenal supporter and he feels they have got a very good deal but the more I think about things I wonder

Ok we all know about how Seaman, Lehmann, Scmichel and Van Der Sar played on at the very top level till their late thirties but when you have a look at the squads at their respective clubs post these keepers 33rd birthday the thing that stood out was just how strong the defensive unit at each of the respective keepers club were

I don't think at this point in time anyone would call Arsenals defensive unit top drawer

At Arsenal in Seamans time they had for instance the likes of Dixon, Winterburn, ,Bould,Adams and Viera and these were replaced by the likes of Kewon,Cole & Campbell who in turn were the bedrock of the defence that played in front of Lehnmann

Over at Man Utd Schmichell had the likes of Bruce, Pallister,Neville, Japp Stamm and Irwin and in van DerSars tenure the likes of Evra, Ferdinand, Neville and Vidic were added

Ok I know the keeper is very much part of the defensive unit and we know that Petr has been a very good keeper but what became clear the more I looked at things is that very few keepers in English football do indeed play past the mid 30s

Everyone, it seems talks about the longevity of keepers but the vast majority who are at PL clubs past the age of 34 are no more than experienced back up who will feature in the likes of the FA cup but rarely ,unless an injury has occurred to the clubs number 1, will they play too many league games.

This is where I struggle in that I really don't want Arsenal to do well but he has gone to Arsenal with a reported big 4 year contract so he is going to be first choice and I can't but help feel his performance levels and the style of play that Arsenal are intent on playing naming emptying the back line and the higher line will expose him

Ok time will tell but I just wonder just how this will all turn out and whilst I have no doubt things will be wonderful to start with but for me I think the acid test will be in about 12 months time

Edited July 2, 201511 yr by terraloon

If you think, giving the team that finished the season second only to us & finished the season extremely strongly a world class player in a position they've struggled in for years does not make them contenders, then I'm sorry you need to take your blue tinted specs off because you're in denial.

If you think, giving the team that finished the season second only to us & finished the season extremely strongly a world class player in a position they've struggled in for years does not make them contenders, then I'm sorry you need to take your blue tinted specs off because you're in denial.

Man City finished second to us irrespective would they been able to finnish stronger than they did last year and if you look where they dropped points other than Southampton away I don't think you were looking at many keeper errors.

The point about my post is not through blue tinted specs it is the exact opposite its trying to look at things from a non Chelsea supporters point of view which is clear in your post

If you watched the Copa America you will have seen what a good keeper Ospina actually is and, and this is a very important fact ,he plays in synergy with the way Arsenals defensive unit play in that he will advace with real speed from his line as they have to play high and that's not howCech plays nor indeed any of the keepers I mention earlier were required to play in the later years of their careers

Edited July 2, 201511 yr by terraloon

If you think, giving the team that finished the season second only to us & finished the season extremely strongly a world class player in a position they've struggled in for years does not make them contenders, then I'm sorry you need to take your blue tinted specs off because you're in denial.

 

Total bollox. Arsenal will not win another title with Wenger in charge, I don't care if they sign Lionel Messi. They are sh*t. And Petr can't change that.

Edited July 2, 201511 yr by Blueblur

Man City finished second to us irrespective would they been able to finnish stronger than they did last year and if you look where they dropped points other than Southampton away I don't think you were looking at many keeper errors.

The point about my post is not through blue tinted specs it is the exact opposite its trying to look at things from a non Chelsea supporters point of view which is clear in your post

If you watched the Copa America you will have seen what a good keeper Ospina actually is and, and this is a very important fact ,he plays in synergy with the way Arsenals defensive unit play in that he will advace with real speed from his line as they have to play high and that's not howCech plays nor indeed any of the keepers I mention earlier were required to play in the later years of their careers

 

Apologies you're right, I'm not sure where I got them coming second from! I agree he is a good keeper, but he's not Petr Cech who is one of the best 3 GK's in the world. 

Total bollox. Arsenal will not win another title with Wenger in charge, I don't care if they sign Lionel Messi. They are sh*t. And Petr can't change that.

Exactly the kind of post I was talking about, they're sh*t? Ridiculous comment.

With all the banter aside Arsenal are clearly a dangerous side and last season they were not too far behind us and they have unlike us this season strengthened so to suggest they have no chance is rather daft tbh.

Of course we are still the benchmark but another player or two of high quality (Vidal is strongly expected to arrive this summer) then it’s going to be pretty tight between 3 or 4 teams at the top.

I question Wengers ability to get a side to be consistent enough to win a title but with players like Sanchez, Cech, Ozil (who on his day is still quality..even if those days are rare) and maybe Vidal soon then you can’t write them off completely.

Hopefully we improve our team in the following weeks.

With all the banter aside Arsenal are clearly a dangerous side and last season they were not too far behind us and they have unlike us this season strengthened so to suggest they have no chance is rather daft tbh.

Of course we are still the benchmark but another player or two of high quality (Vidal is strongly expected to arrive this summer) then it’s going to be pretty tight between 3 or 4 teams at the top.

I question Wengers ability to get a side to be consistent enough to win a title but with players like Sanchez, Cech, Ozil (who on his day is still quality..even if those days are rare) and maybe Vidal soon then you can’t write them off completely.

Hopefully we improve our team in the following weeks.

 

All reports say that's not happening anymore FWIW.

so if we win the league by 3 points because Le arse have beaten aqnd taken points off a host of teams below us do we thank Cech ..................

All reports say that's not happening anymore FWIW.

Hope so but the guy who broke the Sanchez story was saying he expects Vidal to join Arsenal after the Copa.

Apologies you're right, I'm not sure where I got them coming second from! I agree he is a good keeper, but he's not Petr Cech who is one of the best 3 GK's in the world

There is no doubt that he was in the top three but in my opinion there are four, including Courtois who are clearly better than him and a couple of others even in the PL like Lloris and who are debatably better but fast forward as I say in my op and let's take a view then when had he not already left would be available on a free or being offered a one year deal

Arsenal are committing in excess of £30 million in respect of transfer fee and wages so they clearly think they have got it right but as I suggest in my opening post I am not sure they are getting what they think they are.

Edited July 2, 201511 yr by terraloon

With all the banter aside Arsenal are clearly a dangerous side and last season they were not too far behind us and they have unlike us this season strengthened so to suggest they have no chance is rather daft tbh.

Of course we are still the benchmark but another player or two of high quality (Vidal is strongly expected to arrive this summer) then it’s going to be pretty tight between 3 or 4 teams at the top.

I question Wengers ability to get a side to be consistent enough to win a title but with players like Sanchez, Cech, Ozil (who on his day is still quality..even if those days are rare) and maybe Vidal soon then you can’t write them off completely.

Hopefully we improve our team in the following weeks.

I think a major reason that we haven't as yet signed players or should I say not announced their arrival is quite simply down to commercial reasons in that without exception sponsors want the new signing to have the obligatory photo taken with the clubs shirt with the main sponsors name emblazoned on the front and as we all know our new super sponsorship deal was only wef from 1/7 and as yet we haven't got the new shirt out there

Edited July 2, 201511 yr by terraloon

Writing articles about every little thing causing a rift between Jose and Roman is the laziest and easiest thing of all time. No one at the club will dispute it and the masses would LOVE for it to happen so they eat that sh*t up.

I have no idea the full story or indeed if the club have played the press and come to that Arsenal in this whole transfer

For many of us who are too close to the matter we look at Petr and see a goalkeeper in his prime whereas others who look at the simple facts and figures will probably see a whole different picture and I suspect that had Petr been at Man Utd in SAF time and Courtois had emerged as a real talent then the transfer would likewise have happened after all sentiment has very little part to play in managing at the top level

Very few players over the age of 30 are sold for over a £10 million indeed Petrs fee we are told in the top ten ever paid and if you look further he is the most expensive keeper of that age ever.

There are reasons why clubs very very rarely grant players over the age of 30 contracts over 1 or 2 years in the EPL namely their performance levels are inevitably in decline and their past injuries tend to catch up on them and without doubt the time taken from yet to be suffered and more likely injuries take longer to recover from. When players reach 33 I suspect that that number of players granted these longer contracts even in relation to keepers is counted on the fingers of one hand. Arsenal like us just don't break that practise yet in the case of Petr they not only have gone against that rule but blown it out the water

I had quite a conversation with a very good mate of mine who is an Arsenal supporter and he feels they have got a very good deal but the more I think about things I wonder

Ok we all know about how Seaman, Lehmann, Scmichel and Van Der Sar played on at the very top level till their late thirties but when you have a look at the squads at their respective clubs post these keepers 33rd birthday the thing that stood out was just how strong the defensive unit at each of the respective keepers club were

I don't think at this point in time anyone would call Arsenals defensive unit top drawer

At Arsenal in Seamans time they had for instance the likes of Dixon, Winterburn, ,Bould,Adams and Viera and these were replaced by the likes of Kewon,Cole & Campbell who in turn were the bedrock of the defence that played in front of Lehnmann

Over at Man Utd Schmichell had the likes of Bruce, Pallister,Neville, Japp Stamm and Irwin and in van DerSars tenure the likes of Evra, Ferdinand, Neville and Vidic were added

Ok I know the keeper is very much part of the defensive unit and we know that Petr has been a very good keeper but what became clear the more I looked at things is that very few keepers in English football do indeed play past the mid 30s

Everyone, it seems talks about the longevity of keepers but the vast majority who are at PL clubs past the age of 34 are no more than experienced back up who will feature in the likes of the FA cup but rarely ,unless an injury has occurred to the clubs number 1, will they play too many league games.

This is where I struggle in that I really don't want Arsenal to do well but he has gone to Arsenal with a reported big 4 year contract so he is going to be first choice and I can't but help feel his performance levels and the style of play that Arsenal are intent on playing naming emptying the back line and the higher line will expose him

Ok time will tell but I just wonder just how this will all turn out and whilst I have no doubt things will be wonderful to start with but for me I think the acid test will be in about 12 months time

Good post and some interesting posts made. Courtious made comments about how Cech can't play on until his late 30's because of back and knee problems. Not sure how much truth is in that but it will be interesting.

Cech is also used to playing with a low defensive line. He will be more exposed at Arsenal.