PETR CECH: Im still the No 1 at Chelsea... Courtois does NOT scare me. ‘I had Carlo Cudicini behind me when I came here, the best goalkeeper in the Premier League at the time,’ said Cech. ‘When Ross Turnbull played for Middlesbrough he was a big English prospect and he really improved here. ‘Hilario has always been ready to play, and you can see the difference at Fulham when Mark Schwarzer is not there. He has been absolutely brilliant for Middlesbrough and Fulham and I’m still playing. This has been really underestimated.’ If Courtois comes back and he’s better than me, credit to him, well done to him, but who knows? I’m not afraid Second, that his personal style is old-fashioned, that he stays on his line, a relic of the days before goalkeepers were encouraged to leave the comfort of their penalty areas to sweep behind the back four. ‘This amazes me,’ said Cech. ‘It absolutely makes me laugh. People say I’m the old- fashioned goalkeeper who doesn’t really like to sweep. If you look how high I play on the field, regarding any goalkeeper I can remember, nobody plays higher than I’m playing. ‘Look at any goalkeeper in the league to see their average position and look at my position at any moment in the game and you will see a massive difference: you may find 10 metres’ difference. This is really funny. It is the complete opposite, the way I’m playing and the way people see it.’ ‘If, on the first day of pre-season, Thibaut Courtois is here, he is here,’ said Cech. ‘If he is not, he is not. It does not change anything. I will still have to do better than whoever else is here, to keep my place. It doesn’t change anything for me. You could ask John Terry or Gary Cahill about the very promising French central defender bought by the club. ‘If he comes back and he’s better than me, credit to him, well done to him, but who knows? I’m not afraid. I’m not a fool to think I’ve been here 10 years and I’ll be here another five, just because. ‘I am not playing because my name is Petr Cech. I’m playing because I’ve been playing well and because the manager thinks it improves the team with me in goal. I’ve never had a manager who would just put me in the goal because everybody was used to seeing me there. ‘Are you good? Are you not? I’m not crazy to think in another 10 years I will just be playing. There will come a day when somebody comes along who is better than me. That’s it. But my everyday fight is to avoid that as long as I can. This is football life. Let’s see.’ Cech also has a contract until 2016. ‘I will see what happens in two years,’ he said. ‘The moment I feel I’m not good enough to compete at the highest level I will stop, no matter if that’s in one year or 10. I’m not giving myself any deadlines. I would like to continue.’ Thibaut Courtois has been warned. Cech is not going to step aside and make it easy. #LesGetit
Posted on: Fri, 04 Apr 2014 10:02:50 +0000
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