If there is one position where Arsenal has been lightweight, since the departure of Jens Lehman, it is the Goalkeeper Role. Coupled with a young and relatively light weighted defense it has been sometimes a struggle for the Arsenal Premiership title chasing dream.

Arsene Wenger has finally made Petr Cech of the Chelsea fame, put pen on paper for Arsenal and though some dare be skeptical, I feel this could be probably the best transfer Arsenal has made in a decade, outside that of Alexis Sanchez.

The goalkeeper role is one of the most important in a top level winning team. Chelsea has Thibaut Courtois, Barcelona has Ter Stegen, Man. United Has De Gea, and Juventus has Gianlucca Buffon etc. It is no secret that in our modern day football, you are as good as your defence line and the acquisition of Petr Cech should fortify Arsenal’s obvious weak link, the defense.

In Petr Cech Arsenal have acquired a goal keeper that does not take risks or try to be flashy but effective. His height, 1m 96, will prove highly useful defending Corner kicks and set plays.

By signing Cech Arsenal have a goalkeeper who needs no time to adjust to the premier league after over a decade with the blues of Chelsea, neither does his family. In fact he might not need to change home, schools for the kids or shopping malls; the only thing that changes is the route to work and destination.

Arsene Wenger is renowned for spending wisely and by buying Cech, who in my opinion is still one of the best goalkeepers in the world, from a rival at a fee of 10 million pounds is nothing but heaven sent and keeps Arsenal financially disciplined.

Arsenal is brilliant on the ball, but where they have struggled is certainly when they are not in possession. Though just the purchase, I feel, of Cech will not automatically solve this problem, it is in order as regards the search for a solution.

His experience, statue and ability to direct and position his defense would be useful. The question most were worried about was if Petr Cech still has the hunger to play like prior to losing his place to Thibaut Courtois.

First and foremost, Courtois is in my opinion not only younger but the future for Chelsea and definitely by far one of the best goalkeepers in the world at the moment.

Had Cech lost the hunger to play he would have just sat back at Chelsea and continue to pick up his paycheck every week without actively participating in matches .The fact that he has made this transfer and signed a 4 year contract is enough proof that he sees his future as an “active” one for Arsenal.

As a player, one makes loads of errors during a game, wrong passes,fouls,wrong positioning etc. and most times they have little influence on the outcome of the game. This is the total opposite for Goalkeepers. One error off a brilliant match could mean defeat!

The Goalkeeper role is a tricky one and goalkeepers are special people. They train often alone, are confined to a “triangular-like” limited area on the pitch, often wear Jersoies in different colors as their team mates but need to be good otherwise their team will be sick. A good Petr Cech is a Great prescription by the Doctor for Arsenal’s “Premiership title less” Run.

—————–

Sunday Oliseh is the current head-coach of the Nigerian national football team

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.

Oreoluwa Peters