Petr Cech fit and firing in Chelsea battle to hold off Thibaut Courtois as first-choice goalkeeper
Battler: Petr Cech, Chelsea's No1 for a decade, is determined to see off Thibaut Courtois's challenge
It is 10 years since Petr Cech moved to Chelsea as the most expensive goalkeeper in the club’s history.
He was signed for £7 million from Rennes as a highly-rated 22-year-old, who was sure he could take over from the established number one Carlo Cudicini.
Cech was immediately given his big chance by the new manager Jose Mourino after Cudicini suffered an elbow injury in pre-season.Chelsea beat Manchester United 1-0 in the opening game of the 2004-05 season and in March 2005 Cech set a new Premier League record of 1,025 minutes without letting in a goal.
Having been the best goalkeeper in the Premier League for the past decade and kept a club record 220 clean sheets for Chelsea, Cech has started his preparations for the new season with the boot very much on the other foot.
Thibaut Courtois returns to Chelsea on July 30, having won the Spanish league title in his third season on loan at Atléico Madrid to go with the Copa del Reya and Europa League he won in the previous two. In that time he has established himself as one of the best young goalkeepers in Europe.
Like Cech in 2004, Courtois is 22 and has made it clear to Chelsea that he intends to go back to Stamford Bridge to play.
Cech's dislocated shoulder against Atlético Madrid in the Champions League in April appeared to have ensured that Courtois would start the first Premier League match of the season against Burnley. But Cech has recovered almost three weeks ahead of schedule and proved in his first game of pre-season against Austrian side RZ Pellets WAC that Courtois will have a fight to follow in his footsteps.
Mourinho claims he does not mind upsetting one of his goalkeepers and wants both men to stay. But, should Courtois get his wish, then Cech clearly has no intention of being the back-up. Paris Saint-Germain have already made their interest clear.
“I don’t want to be on the bench,” said 32-year-old Cech. “This is why I am trying to do everything to be in the team. But I don’t want to talk about ifs and buts. Let’s see how I am going and what happens. All I have under control is my own performance on the pitch and the way I have to play. Everything else is out of my hands. I know what I have to do.
“When I joined, it was the same thing. Carlo Cudicini was the equivalent to me in the first game and I managed to get that jersey off him. Obviously, the work I put in, the manager put me in the first team in goal and it kicked on from there. I will try to do the same this year. It is no different.
“Every year there is a challenge. If you are going to be in the team you are going to have to do better than the other guys in the team. I think Mark Schwarzer, when he came last year, did remarkably well during the pre-season and when he played in any game he did very well, so I knew the challenge was there.
“I always give my best and, obviously, that is all I can do. I will do my best and do everything I can do to be as ready as possible for when the season starts. Jose Mourinho will make his choice and decide how his team is going to look for the first game, second game, third game, whatever game.
“It is up to us players to show we are ready to play and make him pick us. I am not any different. I am doing everything I can to make him pick me. I don’t know how quickly managers make the right decisions, but you have got to trust him.”
Cech scrapped plans for a summer holiday to spend his break at Chelsea’s training ground to recover as quickly as possible from the dislocated shoulder that had threatened to keep him out until September.
“I spent the days at Cobham working and trying to get the work done,” said Cech. “I did as much as I could. If you keep working, you push the boundaries to the limit. You can’t go over the limit, but if you really go as far as you can go, then you might come back early. I have done that before and that experience has helped me go through it again.
“It was great to be back. Obviously, it has happened far ahead of what we thought it might have been. That is a good thing.
“I know that I am fit, although obviously I have this shoulder. Apart from this, I am fit and I did not feel any problems over the 90 minutes. I am happy with the condition I am in, let’s see what happens next.”
