Terry Prescient About Cech's Arsenal Impact

When Petr Cech signed for Arsenal in the summer we believed it was an early statement of intent from the Arsenal manager to sign top quality players to bolster his squad. Sadly Cech ended up being the only senior signing for Wenger and many felt his decision to not lower his sights and settle for slightly better rotation players would be one we'd quickly come to regret - although Graeme Souness believes so far so vindicated.

So far, in the league, the manager has left little to grumble about, leading Arsenal to second place on mere goal difference despite a heavily depleted squad due to injuries. Injuries many predicted would happen and would also scupper Arsenal's chances of winning the title. Whilst it's far too early to count any team in or out, well, maybe we can discount Chelsea now, the Gunners are doing a good job at keeping pace with a limited squad. In short, Arsenal are performing above expectations given their summer business, or lack thereof, and their injury "crisis" which means it's a good time to back them using some UK Free Bets before the odds start to shorten.

Possibly one man, apart from Arsène Wenger, who predicted Arsenal would be where they are in the league is long-term foe, John Terry. The Chelsea captain, like so many within and without his club, was astounded Cech was allowed to join a title rival and bemoaned the loss of his good friend and greatest ever Chelsea keeper claiming he would save Arsenal 12-15 points a season.

It's hard to quantify exactly how many points Cech has saved Arsenal so far but the gap between them and Chelsea now stands at 15 points - after just 11 games. This probably isn't what Terry meant as I'm sure no-one before the season started would have predicted just how spectactularly Chelsea would spiral down. However, Cech has kept Arsenal in a number of games so far this season with top class goalkeeping and it's helped ease Arsenal's injury woes.

Cech's ability has turned losses into draws and draws into wins. The confidence he gives his defence has also allowed us to revert back to a successful style of counter-attacking football. The easiest way to protect your keeper, especially if he's a little suspect or prone to lapses in concentration or over inflation of ego, is to ensure your opponent doesn't have the ball. This was the basis of our attack and defence when we played our possession based football and that often meant the lines were blurred and we were less effective.

Now we have returned to a style of football with clear, defined lines between attack and defence and that has made us more dangerous. This isn't entirely down to Cech but the team has the confidence to play deeper, coiling themselves waiting to spring, knowing that Cech will do his job properly should anyone break through. That confidence allows the team to be more efficient and clinical with the ball going forward as they know they can turn defence into attack in the blink of an eye so they are taking more shots and attempting to walk the ball in less.

This whole shift has propelled Arsenal to where they are in the league in the face of an expanding injury list when in previous seasons that injury list would have resulted in a dip in form that either knocked Arsenal off track or held them back at the start.

John Terry said Cech would save Arsenal 12-15 points per season on his own, so far he's helped us earn almost twice as many. The gap between the clubs last season would have been eradicated with the points Terry said Cech is worth which in a way suggests he thinks Cech makes Arsenal one of the favourites for the title. Let's hope that turns out to be prescient too.

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