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"Cech will win us 12-15 pts"?

This is a nice little soundbite. John Terry, not the brightest of men tbf, feels Arsenal signing Cech would move us into serious contenders for the title.

However, it is a bit of an ambiguous statement.

On the face of it, you could take it to mean Arsenal will get 15 extra points compared to this season. That would mean 90 points, a realistic title winning amount.

But that would discount the fact that Szczesny and Ospina both helped win Arsenal points over the season. Are these being disounted, or are Cech's match winning points added to the ones won by our 14/15 keepers?

Then you have to look at where we lost points and question how Cech would have won us more. This is especially noteworthy in the second half of the season with Ospina in goal. We only saw 2 defeats and 3 draws in that time. Two draws were 0-0, so unless Cech develops a goal scoring knack he couldn't change those. The 1-1 with United was hardly down to the keeper either.
So you look at the defeats. Ospina was our best player v Spurs, although some harsh critics still laid the blame at his door for the defeat. Knowing Cech, though, I cannot see him making a match winning difference in that game. Maybe he could have won us one point (albeit very harsh on Ospina's performance).
The Swansea defeat is definitely one I would let anyone say Cech could have won us a point.

So one, maybe two, points that we should have won that arguably the keeper cost us. Not a lot, is it.

Let's be fair. Our PL defensive record was not at all bad. 36 conceded, the 3rd best in the league and only 4 more than champions Chelsea.

Szczesny, it could be argued, cost us more points in his half of the season, but would it really add up to the 10-13 points that Cech will allegedly win us? Probably half of that imo, without gioing into detail.

Also, you have to look at our weaknesses in defence. Would Cech help solve them? Well we are pretty poor at corners, and Cech is very much a stay at home keeper. I cannot see Cech necessarily improve our defence in this aspect. He is also not great at racing off his line, something Ospina and Szczesny saved us a few times doing last season.

Cech is a good keeper, a very good keeper at his best. But at Chelsea he had a very big and powerful defence ahead of him, plus a solid team set up. He has also had a year of a fair bit of inactivity. It remains to be seen if he will be a success with Arsenal, let alone gain us an extra 15 points to put us in with a shout of the title.

posted on 27/6/15

Ospina is not some 12-year old who will only mature in 15 years' time. He had a very good start with us by any standards, and statistically one of the best in the PL by any keeper, so your "here and now" argument is completely pointless..
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How is it pointless? You are the one who has said that we should keep Ospina and 'develop' him. Well that is admittance that he is not developed enough now to win the title!

So how long do we wait? One season, two seasons? There is a very good chance that if we don't win the title next season or come very close, Wenger will call it day. And then any new manager will have his own ideas on the playing staff.

Either you believe Ospina will win you the title next season or you don't.

posted on 27/6/15

comment by D'Jeezus Mackaroni (U1137)
posted 28 minutes ago
People took one look at Ospina and decided he wasn't good enough.
And when I say 'took one look', I don't mean watched him play. I mean literally took one look, saw his height and his face, and decided he was crap.
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Dj, that happens with all players. This is why I talked about players without the reputation earning the respect of their fellow professionals. That takes time. This is the difference between players who come into the club that lift it because they have earner their corn elsewhere compared to players from France or poorer leagues who have to produce and carry on producing till they are established. To an extent this is why Mourinho only buys proven players now because he knows that they will give him the best opportunity to produce immediate results that clubs like Chelsea, Inter, Madrid expect.

posted on 27/6/15

http://www.flashscore.com/match/YcQjGt9N/#match-statistics;0
http://www.flashscore.com/match/YcQjGt9N/#video

It was at times Ospina vs Argentina

posted on 27/6/15

http://www1.skysports.com/football/argentina-vs-colombia/338153
I would say if Cech replaces Ospina you will probably drop 5 more points due to this.

posted on 27/6/15

Some points are more 'valuable' than others. That is where Cech will make the difference. He may well save/cost the exact same number of points as Ospina or Scez. But Cech's points will be made up of more of the valuable ones which influence the top of the table.
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Because Ospina lost is points in those games... Oh hang on.


J99, you are talking about players, I was talking about fans. The Arsenal players have shown they respect Ospina massively.


Nothing that is being credited to Cech coming hasn't already been shown by Ospina.

posted on 27/6/15

It's amazing people are complaining we are selling Ospina and replacing him with Cech. This is the biggest non brainer of all time, one of Arsene's easiest ever decisions to make.

posted on 27/6/15

J99, you are talking about players, I was talking about fans. The Arsenal players have shown they respect Ospina massively.
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They are affected equally. Players don't live in a vacuum. Look at response Ozil and Alexis had initially from the crowd, the media and the players. I am not saying the players are going to disrespect Ospina. He is an International of a good footballing nation. However there is a difference when someone of the reputation of Cech joins compared to Ospina. Communication is already sorted and Cech has won everything at club level. A signing of his caliber will inject a positive vibe right through our defense. That is not measurable by metrics. Neither will be the positive affect on the dressing room when things go wrong. This is what Terry was intimating and I believe on this occasion he is correct.

posted on 27/6/15

Nothing that is being credited to Cech coming hasn't already been shown by Ospina.
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You're wrong there DJ. The following is accredited to Cech but not Ospina.

1. Being or having been in the top 3 Goalkeepers in the world.

2. Being a proven commanding and game changing presence in the Premier League, time and again.

3. In depth knowledge of the opposition in the league.


Although I appreciate what you're saying re points. It's starting to sound dangerously close to "Cech is no better than Ospina." Personally I had no real issue with Ospina being the No. 1 next season, but the only position I'm particularly concerned with is DM as I see that as the critical one. However a goalie of Cech's quality wanting a move to the club, is just too good an opportunity to pass up.

It's near impossible to nail down an exact number of points but it's a given that Cech is the better keeper. So the exact number of points is irrelevant really. The bottom line is Cech is better than Ospina and I don't doubt for a second, that next season Cech will be the difference in some games where Ospina would have made none.

It's a bit harsh on Ospina given his season but hey, I don't care. It's the kind of ruthless call people have been complaining AW never makes. But it looks like he's set to win a title this time around so doesn't give a toss about Ospina's feelings. Good on him

posted on 27/6/15

comment by Bats (U18355)
posted 30 minutes ago
It's amazing people are complaining we are selling Ospina and replacing him with Cech. This is the biggest non brainer of all time, one of Arsene's easiest ever decisions to make.
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You're only amazed because you've forgotten that this is the ARSENAL board. To be fair though DJ isn't complaining as such. Just trying to quantify something that can't really be quantified other than in the simple terms "Cech is way better than Ospina, end of!"

posted on 27/6/15

John Terry

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