Loading ...Aug 02 2008
Another Soft Cech Goal - An Epidemic?
This season, there will be no more scrutinized goalie in the world than Chelsea’s Petr Cech. After the goal he gave up at Euro 2008 to Nihat Kahveci that allowed Turkey to tie their final group stage match against the Czech Republic, Cech temporarily knocked himself out of the discussion for world’s best keeper, a debate which now leaves Juventus’s Gianluigi Buffon and Real Madrid’s Iker Casillas as its only candidates. It was not just the Euro 2008-aberration. Others remembered the howler Cech let in against Liverpool towards the end of Chelsea’s Champions League semifinal.
Yesterday in Moscow, Chelsea’s friendly against Lokomotiv in the Russian Railways Cup offered another reason to wonder if Cech will ascend back to the form that had him voted Europe’s best goalkeeper twice.
Chelsea had been protecting an early Michael Essien goal for most of the match when Loko was awarded a direct free kick from just outside the box. There was less than ten minutes remaining in regular time. Cech positioned his wall and looked like he had Ruslan Kambalov’s free kick covered. As the ball came around the wall and towards the lower right-hand corner of Cech’s goal, the keeper curiously pulled his hands back slightly from the save, presumedly to let the ball would go wide. The curving shot hit the inside of the post and went in to tie the match in a true “I can’t believe that just happened” moment.
Lokomotiv would go on to win the match on penalty kicks, with Cech failing to stop any of Loko’s attempts.
It was just a friendly, and of the three goals mentioned here, only one has been truly consequential, but in all three instances, Cech was trying to stop shots and did not do it (for what ever reason). For people trying to assess Petr Cech, trying to determine what he is capable of, these instances matter.
Petr Cech is capable of some of the best goaltending in the world. Last season, his return from injury to Chelsea’s lineup was one of the main reasons the Blues were able to push for both the Premiership and Champions League titles. Still, his tendency to allow goals like these is troublesome, keeping him out of the conversation of best goaltender in the world.
Beyond Petr Cech’s performance, the Loko match exhibited one of Chelsea’s more worrisome tendencies from last season. Chelsea had a knack for playing down to their opponents’ level - of either relaxing once they got a lead or not doing enough to get leads early. Their Champions League loss in Istanbul to Fenerbahçe showed this, as did their final Premiership match against Bolton, to name two of the more obvious examples.
Similarly in this match, Chelsea controlled most of the match but showed an unwillingness to put forth the effort to get that critical second goal. The one player who really stood out in his effort - a possibly rejuvenated Niclas Anelka, who beautifully trapped a cross onto Essien’s left foot for the goal - lacked teammates who matched his intensity. They kept the lead at one, given Loko the opportunity to win in kicks should something like a Cech hiccup happen.
Loko is a very good team, possibly a title threat in the Russian Premier League, but they were clearly not in Chelsea’s league. You do not want to take too much from a friendly, but if Chelsea goes through a second season of leaving points on the pitch like this, they can forget about winning a Premiership where Manchester United will be joined by improved Arsenal and Liverpool sides.
WFP Related Posts
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.