With qualification into the UEFA Champions League knockout rounds assured, Arsenal now turn their sights toward the Premier League. Currently sitting only two points off first behind Leicester City, the manager and his players know that a serious charge to the title is there for the taking.
With such an opportunity comes added pressure on the squad, and every result going forward will be met with intense scrutiny from supporters and media alike. However, Petr Čech, who is no doubt familiar with the demands and the pressure of contending and winning major trophies, maintains that this squad is capable of handling it.
Speaking to Arsenal Player, the Czech ‘keeper expressed confidence in his teammates’ ability and willingness to handle the microscope that comes with expectations.
We are ready to play under pressure. This is something that is really nice to know because we are playing for the title and that will bring the pressure on. Then when you go further in the cup competitions the play-off rounds come up so you will definitely play under pressure.
If you want to progress and go as far as possible then you have to keep winning games. It might be that it doesn’t go well for you in one of those games and you have to chase it, so it’s good to know that we’ve been in that situation before and we can actually do it, regardless of the circumstances.
But Čech isn’t just talking about the league. As with his manager, who recently made the claim that Arsenal could make significant progress in the Champions League, Čech believes that his side will face pressure on multiple fronts, and that’s a good thing.
Hopefully it will help us to progress as a team for the next phase of the league and also in the Champions League. There’s always pressure in games where the circumstances are difficult, especially when you play away from home and need to get the result. Once you’ve experienced that then it gives everybody confidence.
One player who Čech singled out for his ability to handle the pressure of expectations was Olivier Giroud, the hero of the triumph in Greece Wednesday.
You have to give Olivier a lot of credit because for a long period of the season Theo was injured and Danny has been injured, so there’s obviously a lot of pressure on him. We rely on him but he’s shown that he’s up to the challenge and he’s kept scoring important goals.
He’s strong, big and obviously he can score. This is what you want from your striker so all the time he is scoring goals he is very important for the team. It’s great for his confidence as well because if you ask any striker, the biggest cure for them is to score goals. We hope he will continue playing well and having chances to score goals.
Čech, Giroud, and the rest of the Arsenal squad get another chance to perform under pressure and scrutiny as they travel to Villa Park Sunday to take on bottom-of-the-table Aston Villa.
