This story first appeared in the August edition of the Arsenal Magazine.
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Only 16 days had passed since the Czech Republic’s elimination from Euro 2016, but Petr Cech was already back between the sticks. “You have to make sure you get your body behind the ball,” he tells the young boy standing next to him at Great Strahov Stadium. “Try again… good!”
We’ve joined the goalkeeper at his Petr Cech Football School in Prague, an academy that Arsenal’s No 33 goes far beyond just putting his name to. Every summer, he invites children from all over the world to Prague. He attends their coaching sessions, offers advice and, above all, ensures the kids enjoy themselves.
“You can see that the children are enthusiastic, that they enjoy their time, and that when they say something, they really mean it,” Petr later tells the Arsenal Magazine. “Kids are usually like that, whether it’s a positive or negative thing. When you tell them something, they usually respond and you can see they try things. This ‘wow effect’ of talking to somebody you get to see on TV is something you can take advantage of.
“I think it’s very important because you cannot forget your roots. You can’t just burn everything which was in the past. I think it actually helps you to improve and have this driving force to get better every day.”
That “driving force” helped Petr to excel during his first season in north London. He may wear 33 on his back but Petr was the undisputed No 1 last season, both at Arsenal and in the Premier League in general. He kept 16 Premier League clean sheets on his way to winning the Golden Glove for the fourth time. For long periods of 2015/16, it looked as though Arsenal could win their first league title in 12 years - Leicester City’s fairytale ultimately denied them. So what needs to change next term?
“We did well in plenty of games, and even in the big games, but we dropped some points in the matches where we were the favourites and weren’t expected not to win,” Petr explains with a rueful smile. “We need to improve that, we need to avoid silly losses of points in the games where you play better, you have chances and in the end you drop points. I think that’s the only thing we need to improve because otherwise we had a very positive and good campaign last season. We finished second, which was the best finish in some time. Of course we were disappointed not to have won the title but the team has stayed more or less together and the manager has improved the squad by buying new players. He still has time to do as he wishes, so we’ll see how that will be. But I think we have a very good squad and that we can challenge for the title again.
“The Premier League becomes far more competitive every year. It’s gradually improved because when I came, you could see the difference between the top half and the bottom half of the table. But now there is no big difference because everybody wants to join the Premier League, everybody wants to join the atmosphere, the excitement and play in front of full stadiums. People in England love football, no matter where you’re from. Everybody loves football and that’s not only the case in the Premier League. You go to the Championship, to League One, to League Two and you have full stadiums, which is great to see. You don’t see that anywhere across the world. People want to be a part of it and the players want to be a part of it. I think over the course of the last five years, it’s shown that it doesn’t matter if you go to a top five, top eight, top 10 or top-15 team. You see that players with international experience go to any team because they want to be a part of the Premier League.
“I expect the same this season - the newly-promoted teams will attract and buy players, they will improve their squads and they will be very competitive. It will be exciting to see because the big teams are improving. Manchester United are spending a lot of money, City have improved their squad and both have changed their managers, so they will come with a new hunger and want to prove that they can do better than last season. We obviously want to improve, we will want to be there. Then there’s Tottenham, Chelsea, everybody. It will be a very challenging season and I’m really looking forward to that.”
For the first time since arriving in England, Petr will be able to focus solely on club football next season. Euro 2016 was his final international tournament, the final chapter of a record-breaking career with the Czech Republic. The man is a living legend in his home country. Petr has made more appearances than anyone in Czech history, more than Poborsky, more than Nedved, more than Rosicky. He represented his nation 124 times in total, including at five major tournaments. Retiring was a difficult decision to make.
“Only time will tell how much I miss the national team,” he admits. “I think I always will because I played with pride and I really loved those 14 years that I played with the national team. I’ve made fantastic memories and I will keep them. We always qualified for the big tournaments. But I’ve had so many club games to play year by year too, and I think I’ve reached the point where I believe that if I want to continue doing things to 100 per cent every day, like I’ve always done, then I will probably need more time to get rest and recover. This is a purely football-based decision. If I want to prolong my career and play at the highest level for as long as I can, then I will probably need to find the balance so that I can continue to do so.
“I’ve never played for personal records or numbers like that. When I was a kid, my ultimate dream was to play for the national team at least once. Having done it so many times makes me really proud. You look back at the Czech and Czechoslovakian history and you see so many great names and players. I managed to play more games than them, which shows the consistency and quality of my game. As a goalkeeper, you either play or you have to sit on the bench and don’t get many caps. Personally I rate this fact the most: that I was able to perform at a level so every goalkeeping coach and every manager I had in the national team had the confidence in me that the team would benefit from me playing, rather than just helping. In terms of personal achievement, this is probably the most precious for me.”
Petr’s final match for the Czech Republic took place on June 21, well over 11 months after he reported for his first pre-season at Arsenal. The opportunity for a short summer break was gratefully received.
“When I go on holiday, I try to switch off for a week,” he smiles. “Even during the Euros, I only watched certain games, rather than all of them, because I try to get away from football for some time and relax with the family. I switch back to football sooner rather than later because you want to get ready for the new season. You hear about teams signing players, about managers changing clubs and you suddenly think “oh, the season is coming back”. We have individual programmes during the summer to make sure that you don’t come back without any pre-preparation. Then the holidays are gone. I’m pretty much always looking forward to the new season and relishing the challenge ahead.
“I’m usually training anyway during the summer. I don’t like the idea of coming back, being off your fitness and then you have to build it up again and again. I love active relaxation, so I’m not the sort of person who goes to the beach, lies down and read a book. I can’t do that and I’ve never been able to do that. I’ll pay with the kids, run around, play tennis, golf and go to the gym, just to make sure that I feel well and then step by step I’m getting ready for pre-season. I’ve always done that and I keep my routine during the holidays. In the last week I get gradually ready for the sessions so that when I come back, I’m not too tired. As I mentioned, I don’t like the idea of just lying on the beach and then coming back, jumping into the first training session and ending up so tired that you can’t even walk for three days after. I’ve never done that and that’s when I keep my regime even during the holidays.”
That “active relaxation” included both a pre-Wimbledon training session with fellow Czech, Radek Stepanek, and the time he spends with kids at his football school.
“It’s great because they all look up to me as a player who achieved all these things in international football,” Petr says of the participants. “I grew up here and went through a difficult time as a kid in the way that you need to find and pass your own challenges. If you can pass back the experience and show the kids that there is a way, that no matter where you’re from, you always have a chance to fulfil your dreams if you work for it and if you really try hard. My example is probably the best for them to follow or to have as a model. I’m from a small town in the Czech Republic where nobody really expected that I would become what I came.”
Petr was the same age (11) as many of the children who attend his football school when Czechoslovakia dissolved in 1993. How has the country changed since?
“After the revolution, everything was new,” Petr remembers. “The people had to find their way into democracy and the system. Now we are a proper European country. If you come to Prague, it’s one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. Everything is renovated and people really care about how you present yourself and how the city looks. You wouldn’t see a difference with all the other European countries.
“Your background usually forms you in a certain way and to remember that is sometimes good because life can go in different waves - sometimes you are up and sometimes you are down. But if you have your feet down, appreciate the good moments and work during the difficult moments, you have a better chance to succeed.”
The goalkeeper’s career has been littered with success so far and he has his eyes set on more.
“I’m already looking forward to the new season because I love playing games, I love having the feeling that all the work you’ve done in pre-season is going to pay off. That’s the ultimate goal - the weekend where you play the opening game, where you’re in the team and where you can win. This is the ultimate excitement. In the last week I always look forward to the start of the season because I know I’m ready, I know I’m fit and I want it all to start.
“Regardless of how many games you’ve played, you’re always nervous. I’m always a little bit nervous and have this excitement, this anxious in me. I think “OK, you need to be ready, you need to perform, it’s going to be a difficult game and you need to do your best”. I’ve always had that and I think that’s what keeps you focused and drives you forward every day to come back to training. I don’t know what would happen if you lost that feeling because I’ve never had it. That’s probably when you think “OK, I don’t like this anymore”. That excitement tells me that I love what I’m doing and should keep doing it.”
More quizzes coming soon!
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