Petr Cech arrived at Arsenal last year to fans’ delight. With his £11 million move came much expectation, many believed the Czech international would save the Gunners around 10-15 worth of Premier League points over the course of the season, giving them their best chance yet at their first league title in over 10 years.
Maybe that is an accurate figure, as Cech certainly didn’t disappoint in his first season at the club. However, the team as a whole couldn’t come together well enough to overcome Leicester City winning the league – who couldn’t?
Nevertheless, Petr Cech says he was left feeling disappointed with his first campaign at Arsenal but says the Gunners will do all they can to make amends next season.
Speaking to Sky Sports News, Cech admitted the last campaign was a missed opportunity for Arsenal to win the league.
“We were disappointed,” he said. “We thought that we were good enough to challenge for the title and to be in the title race until the last game. Unfortunately, Leicester did remarkably well and it was a historical achievement for them.”
“We couldn’t match them but we finished second which was the best finish for Arsenal for a long time. There were a lot of positives from our last campaign but obviously we would like to carry that on and improve for the next season because we finished empty-handed and that is not what we wanted.”
“We started well with the Community Shield but obviously you want to add some important trophies to that. The aim for the next season is to add some silverware to the cabinet and we will definitely work for that.”
Cech expects an even tougher campaign this time around though, with a lot of their rival teams improving well over the summer.
“Liverpool will be one of those teams who will want to challenge for the title, having played well with Jurgen Klopp after his arrival.”
“We expect a big challenge because [Manchester] United have been improving their squad, they’ve changed their manager and they’ll be hungry for success.”
“Man City with their new manager will do the same thing and let’s not forget Liverpool and Spurs and us, I think it will be a very exciting season and will be very challenging for many reasons. Chelsea will definitely be there with Antonio Conte.”
“We’re in for an exciting season.”
But he warned champions Leicester they might not find it easy to repeat their success.
“Let’s see how Leicester will do this season because playing as champions will be a completely new experience for them and it will not be so easy for them to live with the expectation so there’s a big challenge ahead for them.”
“One of the things I’m looking forward to seeing is if they manage to live with the pressure as well as they did last season.”
[Quotes via Sky Sports]