Petr Cech

[Jase 43,479]

Technical director, translator...and fourth-choice goalkeeper: Petr Cech is Chelsea's man of many talents 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2020/10/21/technical-director-translator-fourth-choice-goalkeeper-petr/

The big goalkeeper news of Tuesday night should have been that Edouard Mendy had been passed fit to make his Champions League debut, but the moment Chelsea’s 25-man Premier League squad list dropped a couple of hours before kick-off there was only one subject on everybody’s lips.

Petr Cech’s inclusion had been kept a secret from the rest of the Chelsea squad, presumably so it did not cause a distraction before their opening Champions League group game against Sevilla.

But it is safe to assume Cech’s phone and the various WhatsApp groups he is a member of exploded with activity as former team-mates and colleagues, friends, business partners, fans and journalists scrambled to find out whether or not a mistake had been made.

It quickly became clear that Cech’s name had not been included in error and Chelsea released a statement to confirm that the 38-year-old has taken up a position as a “non-contract player” which effectively means he will combine his job as technical and performance advisor with being fourth-choice goalkeeper for the rest of the season.

In reality, Cech, who watched the Sevilla game from his usual place in the directors’ box, will only play again if Chelsea are hit by a coronavirus crisis but he will now continue to train on a regular basis with Mendy, Kepa Arrizabalaga and Willy Caballero - all of whom he can speak to in their native languages.

Cech is certainly a man of many talents who has proved before that he can successfully multitask. He managed to teach himself fluent Spanish in a single pre-season in which he also played in a major tournament for the Czech Republic.

His current language count is said to stand at seven, having, over the years, added English, French, Spanish, Italian, Russian and German to his native Czech, and it was in February that his German came in particular use as he and head coach Frank Lampard made a secret trip to meet with Timo Werner and the striker’s agent and family.

Cech helped to act as an interpreter for Lampard and Werner, and the player’s entourage were so impressed with the pair that he ignored interest from Liverpool and Manchester United to sign for Chelsea.

His legendary status at Stamford Bridge was an obvious attraction to owner Roman Abramovich and director Marina Granovskaia in their decision to take Cech back to the club, following his playing retirement at the end of the 2018/19 season, but his ability to successfully turn his hand to a variety of skills was perhaps even more important.

As a player, Cech won every domestic and European club trophy with Chelsea and still holds the record for the most Premier League clean sheets, having kept 202 shut-outs across his career for Chelsea and Arsenal. It may well be a record that is never broken and the achievement was made all the more impressive by the fact he bounced back from the career-threatening injury that meant he played from 2006 in a specially-designed helmet.

Cech’s attention to detail as a player was never better illustrated than in the 2012 Champions League success, when his meticulous preparation for the possibility of penalties paid dividends, as he saved an extra-time spot kick from Bayern Munich’s Arjen Robben before stopping two more in the shootout.

Together with learning languages while he was not training and winning silverware, Cech managed to combine his playing career with learning the drums and completing an MBA in business. Last May, he released a charity single with Queen drummer Roger Taylor and earlier this month his name appeared in the credits on the London Country album by Wills and the Willing.

Cech’s involvement was promoted on the band’s website, with a video of him drumming on the single ‘Iceberg’ and the promise of him being part of a live tour that had to be postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Lampard has credited Cech with playing a key role in this summer’s transfer business that topped £200million and trusted his former team-mate to find the right goalkeeper, at the right price, to take over from Kepa.

It is deemed coincidental that, like Cech did in 2004, Mendy has joined Chelsea from Rennes and yet his connections with his former club can only have helped negotiations.

While moving into an office at Cobham since his return on the administrative side, Cech has displayed an eagerness to remain fit and physically active. It was in October last year that National Ice Hockey Division Two club Guildford Phoenix unveiled him as their new goalkeeper and it came as little surprise that Cech was named man of the match in his debut a few days later, in which he made two penalty shootout saves.

Cech’s return to Chelsea training over the summer was initially for him to keep fit and to try to help Kepa overcome his troubles while also working to provide the right environment for Mendy to join and quickly settle in.

But, as publicly referenced by Lampard, it quickly became apparent that Cech could still be playing at the highest level if he wanted to and when there was a spot left over in Chelsea’s 25-man squad it made perfect sense to give it the club’s man of many talents.

[Tomo 21,733]

25 minutes ago, Jason said:

Unless the Premier League have made adjustments to the emergency signing rule to cover for COVID-19 cases, that rule only applies if all the keepers are out injured at the same time. So, IF Mendy, Kepa and Caballero are all out due to the virus or isolation, then we can't sign any keeper as emergency and will have take someone up from the academy. 

If we're down to 1 senior keeper we'd be allowed to register a new one outside the window, we did with Hedman (2006) and also Amelia (2015). If that was allowed in normal times i can't for the life of me see why it wouldn't be now.

Which makes me think Cech is genuinely being registered as a back up, if not now then next time Kepa/Willy fuck up.

[Jase 43,479]

15 minutes ago, Tomo said:

If we're down to 1 senior keeper we'd be allowed to register a new one outside the window, we did with Hedman (2006) and also Amelia (2015). If that was allowed in normal times i can't for the life of me se why it wouldn't be now.

Which makes me think Cech is genuinely being registered as a back up.

Yes but have the Premier League made adjustments to the rules? Because AFAIK, clubs can only sign an emergency keeper if all the keepers are out due to injury. Nothing has been said whether clubs can do that due to the COVID-19 cases, which is what the club have stated in regards to registering Cech.

In any case, too lazy to sit here and debate whether Cech is the actual back-up or just the emergency cover. At least we don't lose anything from the situation.

As for the two names you mentioned, we signed Hedman because of the head injury to Cech back then and Mourinho wanted a cover to Cudicini and Hilario - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/c/chelsea/6145372.stm while we signed Amelia because Begovic was the only experienced backup to Courtois back in 2015 - https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11668/10021333/chelsea-agree-to-sign-former-ac-milan-keeper-amelia - after Courtois got injured.

[Superblue 6,372]

This decision has to be viewed as basic as this -

If Mendy went down long term with an injury, who would people rather see or feel more secure with in goal - Kepa, Caballero or Cech?

Unfortunately that's where we're at now with Kepa because based on those options until I see anything that suggests an alarming decline since his Arsenal days, Cech would be my choice.

 

[Alabama 1,992]

With Willy and Kepa...it would always end in tears...

[OneMoSalah 8,810]

On 21/10/2020 at 0:16 PM, Jason said:

Yes but have the Premier League made adjustments to the rules? Because AFAIK, clubs can only sign an emergency keeper if all the keepers are out due to injury. Nothing has been said whether clubs can do that due to the COVID-19 cases, which is what the club have stated in regards to registering Cech.

In any case, too lazy to sit here and debate whether Cech is the actual back-up or just the emergency cover. At least we don't lose anything from the situation.

As for the two names you mentioned, we signed Hedman because of the head injury to Cech back then and Mourinho wanted a cover to Cudicini and Hilario - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/c/chelsea/6145372.stm while we signed Amelia because Begovic was the only experienced backup to Courtois back in 2015 - https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11668/10021333/chelsea-agree-to-sign-former-ac-milan-keeper-amelia - after Courtois got injured.

Surely they’d treat COVID the exact same way? You would have thought so. It would look incredibly stupid if they did it for injury and not COVID right now.

Although chances of losing 2 or more GKs at once due to this is still slim for me. 

Regardless of what Frank and Petr has said, still think he will be number 2. As they said hopefully he wont play but doesn’t mean he cant sit on the bench. 

Club gonna try get Kepa out in January I reckon. 

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19 minutes ago, OneMoSalah said:

Surely they’d treat COVID the exact same way? You would have thought so. It would look incredibly stupid if they did it for injury and not COVID right now.

Although chances of losing 2 or more GKs at once due to this is still slim for me. 

Regardless of what Frank and Petr has said, still think he will be number 2. As they said hopefully he wont play but doesn’t mean he cant sit on the bench. 

Club gonna try get Kepa out in January I reckon. 

I don't think we'll see Cech in the matchday squad if the other 3 keepers are available. Putting Cech now as the #2 on the bench ahead of Kepa and Caballero would just create unnecessary drama.

[OneMoSalah 8,810]

9 minutes ago, Jason said:

I don't think we'll see Cech in the matchday squad if the other 3 keepers are available. Putting Cech now as the #2 on the bench ahead of Kepa and Caballero would just create unnecessary drama.

It would and I think we will see it. 

[Tomo 21,733]

2 hours ago, Jason said:

I don't think we'll see Cech in the matchday squad if the other 3 keepers are available. Putting Cech now as the #2 on the bench ahead of Kepa and Caballero would just create unnecessary drama.

 

2 hours ago, OneMoSalah said:

It would and I think we will see it. 

Cech won't be put on the bench right now but If Mendy has another lay off and Frank deems him ready I honestly won't be surprised to see him in then (then on the bench from Mendy's return on).

Like I said the other day Kepa has had far too many chances to avoid this situation so no sympathy with him while I would have a little bit more sympathy for Willy he is basically our present day Hilario, ala third choice standard.

[ZAPHOD2319 4,538]

It does make it so Kepa can be loaned without bringing in another keeper in January. Then it is a matter of who Lampard wants in if necessary. I wonder if Cech wants back in?

[Vesper 29,168]

‘We felt it was a no-brainer’: Why Chelsea added Cech to Premier League squad

https://theathletic.com/2154081/2020/10/23/petr-cech-lampard-chelsea-goalkeeper/

The signs were there a year ago, when Petr Cech made his competitive ice hockey debut for Guildford Phoenix, that retirement had left Chelsea’s greatest-ever goalkeeper feeling less than totally fulfilled.

“For me the hardest part of my new job (as Chelsea’s technical and performance adviser) are the match days,” he admitted in a press conference after taking to the ice. “I’ve been involved directly in every game for 20 years and then suddenly you work the whole week and at the weekend you just sit and hope that the team performs well. The match days are something I was missing and so for me this is absolutely fantastic.”

Chelsea are insistent that the chances of Cech experiencing a Premier League match day on the pitch again are remote, despite his shock inclusion as a non-contract player in the club’s official squad list for the competition earlier this week. But the very fact that he has been registered means the scenario cannot be ruled out entirely. “I don’t expect it, but nobody expected what we have seen in the last six or seven months around the world,” Lampard said after Tuesday’s 0-0 draw with Sevilla in the Champions League.

Edouard Mendy was in goal at Stamford Bridge that night, recording his second clean sheet in three Chelsea appearances. The Senegal international has made a quietly impressive start since arriving from Rennes in a deal worth around £22 million at the explicit recommendation of Cech and Christophe Lollichon, who now occupies a prominent role in the club’s goalkeeper recruitment. But the wheels for Cech’s own involvement in first-team training at Cobham were in motion before that deal was finalised.

Cech first broached the subject with Lampard early in September. He has been a regular observer of Lampard’s sessions at Cobham ever since his appointment as technical and performance director, but both men quickly agreed that he could add value by actively participating with the goalkeepers — particularly club-record signing Kepa Arrizabalaga, whose crisis of confidence showed no sign of abating. It wasn’t long before pictures circulated online of the 38-year-old decked out in his trademark headguard, gloves and full training gear.

“He is fit, very fit, and he is still relatively young,” Lampard said of Cech, who is eight months younger than Willy Caballero. “He finished playing when he possibly could have carried on. He has taken on his role at Chelsea very well and he has been very helpful to me and we work closely together.

“It is something that is really positive for the goalkeepers and Petr enjoys doing it. So why not give back and give that experience to the goalkeepers?”

Once he got involved, it quickly became clear to players and staff at Cobham that Cech — no doubt helped by his regular training with Guildford Phoenix — had not lost his reflexes and agility. During the September and October international breaks, with Kepa and later Mendy representing Spain and Senegal respectively, Lampard did not hesitate to incorporate his former team-mate into team training and bolster the first-team numbers.

As the weeks went by and Cech continued to impress, the conversation shifted to whether he could act as an insurance policy as well as a mentor for the other goalkeepers. Lampard, mindful of the greater potential for squad disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, saw no downside to including him as a fourth goalkeeper in the Premier League squad list. Moreover, Chelsea’s sizeable contingent of first-team players under the age of 21 meant they had more than enough free slots to do it.

“We felt it was a no-brainer to have Petr in the squad for that reason and it helps me training every day,” Lampard said this week. “When he is in such good form it can only help the goalkeepers we have to see one of the world’s best in the modern era amongst us.”

The players weren’t officially informed prior to Cech’s presence on the submitted squad list, but several of them had an inkling that it was a possibility. “The other day I saw him training and asked him why he was training, if it was because he liked it or if he had the chance to be with us,” Thiago Silva told Esporte Interativo after the Sevilla draw. “He said he was really training so if he was needed, any opportunity, he could play.

“I think he’s ready. From the training I saw, he’s well prepared. If he has an opportunity, an incident with the goalkeepers, he’s prepared and I’m sure Frank also trusts him.”

It’s easy to see why Chelsea and Lampard are so keen to stress that Cech is regarded purely as an emergency option. Sources have told The Athletic that he has a good relationship with all three senior goalkeepers, not least because he is capable of communicating with Mendy in French and Kepa and Willy Caballero in Spanish. His elite pedigree and intelligence make him uniquely equipped to give them technical advice and emotional support. That could all change very quickly if they viewed him as a genuine rival for first-team minutes.

Lampard has never used Cech ahead of any of his three senior goalkeepers in training when they have been fit and available, and he is not involved in the sessions preparing for matches. His involvement is primarily in the goalkeeping drills, offering an additional source of knowledge and guidance to Hilario. That shouldn’t be regarded as an indictment of Portuguese’s coaching methods, however; sources have told The Athletic that Chelsea are very happy with the job their former back-up goalkeeper is doing, despite Kepa’s collapse in form.

Cech is not drawing a playing salary, and his main responsibilities continue to fall under the evolving umbrella of “technical and performance adviser”. His facilitating role in some of Chelsea’s more notable recruitment successes in a spectacular transfer window have been well documented, but he has also proved adept at cultivating relationships with Lampard’s squad and those around them. Sources told The Athletic that when the agent of one first-team player was lobbying for a loan move away in January, Cech spoke regularly with him on the phone and offered calm reassurance that his client had a significant role to play at Stamford Bridge.

“His story is very beautiful in football,” Silva added of Cech. “We talk a little, he speaks a little French, so we have a little more dialogue than usual… in our daily lives he’s a very important guy, he talks a lot with each player. His story speaks for itself — we just have him as a reference and do our job.”

Cech is personally invested in Mendy’s success after vouching for his ability, and Chelsea as a club are still committed to giving Kepa every possible opportunity to rebuild his confidence and revive his career. Those two things are always likely to take precedence over giving the club’s greatest-ever goalkeeper one more opportunity to add to his legend.

Even if he has opened the door slightly to that possibility, Lampard is adamant that bringing Cech back into the first-team picture was “definitely not done for the romance”. As far as he and Chelsea are concerned, this is simply the equivalent of taking out the kind of insurance policy simply not available to most clubs.

“I wouldn’t expect it to happen this year,” he reiterated this week. “But I do know with the way he is, and how fit he is, that if we are in crisis times you couldn’t ask for much better than having Petr Cech around.”

[King Kante 1,524]

So, Kepa out of the trip to OT with a 'shoulder' injury. How long before we see Cech make the bench? 

[Yeboii 1,844]

1 hour ago, King Kante said:

So, Kepa out of the trip to OT with a 'shoulder' injury. How long before we see Cech make the bench? 

Doubt it will happen unless all the keepers contract Covid.

[NikkiCFC 8,067]

Thanks to our 4th or 5th goalkeeper we now have amazing first GK. 

Great scout. 

 

[kiwi1691 255]

1 hour ago, NikkiCFC said:

Thanks to our 4th or 5th goalkeeper we now have amazing first GK. 

Great scout. 

 

You mean Christophe Lollichon

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/chelseafc/comments/ieg9ts/christophe_lollichon_chelseas_gk_scout_on_edouard/

 

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[Jase 43,479]

 

[NikkiCFC 8,067]

Petr not happy with new rules...