Cech – West Ham mistake was completely new to me

Arsenal’s first-choice keeper Petr Cech has shed some light on the mistake he made on the opening day against West Ham United.

The Czech shot-stopper was uncharacteristically left stranded off of his line, leaving Hammers midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate to head into an empty net, during the first half of his Arsenal league debut. The set-piece goal gifted West Ham a lead that they built on in the second half, eventually winning by a 2-0 score line.

The summer signing spoke of the blunder in a recent interview with magazine Sport.

We were all raring to go and then the first half was really slow. There was a bit of a lack of rhythm and you think: ‘Let’s put a bit of energy in here.’ So when that ball came [a free-kick by West Ham’s Dimitri Payet], I was thinking: ‘Let’s go and get the ball and make something happen.’ A fast counter-attack, or whatever. And this was where the mistake came, because there was no way I could have got this ball.

I wanted to do something extra, but this usually goes wrong. You shouldn’t do things that are extra; you should do things the precise way and not try to do something you don’t have to.

You learn in every moment, even at 33.

And, in a way, you surprise yourself because this has never happened to me before. I’m always good at keeping myself focused on doing what I need to do.

The next test for the Czech ‘keeper and the rest of the squad comes in the form of an away visit to newly promoted Watford, next Saturday evening, where Arsenal will be looking to repeat the performance they produced against Manchester United.