More than just a Community Shield game, Sunday's match between Chelsea and Arsenal will bring back a lot of memories for Petr Cech. The 33-year-old goalkeeper wil be standing against a team where he found success for many years and a team he decided to move on from last summer.
Arsene Wenger claims that he had been interested in signing Cech even before he went to play in Stamford Bridge. At that time, the stopper from Czech Republic was playing with Rennes in France. Wegner was a good friend of Petr's agent but in the end Chelsea acted quicker and signed Cech in 2004.
“He was very young, but one of my assistants was a player in Rennes, and he said there was a very good goalkeeper there," Wegner said.
Indeed, that goalkeeper prooved to be really good. He was brave, quick, smart and really confident about his capabilities. In ten years with Chelsea, he won it all. Four Premier League titles, four FA Cups, three League Cups and two FA Community Shields are now part of his resume.
One of his best moments was when he won the 2012 Champions league with The Blues. One year later, Cech will also put his hands on the Europa League trophy. As all good things must come to an end, for Cech that end started last year when Thibaut Courtois arrived from Atletico Madrid to Real Madrid.
In the 2014/15 season, Cech was benched by the young talent. The veteran goalkeeper only participated in 17 games, including all the competitions in which Chelsea participated. In the end, he has to see Jose Mourinho's team win a fifth Premier League title from the bench and Courtois take most of the glory.
His transfer to the London rivals and now Community Shield opponents was valued in £10m. Many of his long-time Chelsea supporters were not too happy with his move and sent out even death-threats to Cech over the summer. Some of Chelsea's players like Branislav Ivanovic hope that fans resepct their former idol on Sunday.
“Before and after the game, I hope and I'm sure, they will give Petr respect,” Ivanovic claimed. "Petr knows us very well and for him it will be much more difficult mentally to play against the club he loves."
The emotional factor could play a toll against a player that for eleven years defended the colors of the team he will play against just a month after signing with his new team. Wegner is glad to finally have him on his team and Cech has the opportunity to start his stint with Arsenal by claimimng his third Community Shield title.
His successor in Chelsea has nothing but a lot of respect for the 33-year-old goalkeeper. He looks forward to matching what Cech did in almost 500 games with Chelsea. At the same time, the Belgian goalkeeper knows that his two titles with Chelsea last season are the start of something great for him.
“What Petr did with Chelsea was exceptional. I hope to get as many trophies as he did." Courtois said. "Now it’s the new era. I don’t want to be compared with Petr. I am a new player, another keeper and I’m going a different way.”
