When it comes to steaming tripe, the footballing press and internet rumour-mongers are the usual culprits. However, this time it is the Czech Republic keeper Peter Cech, who let a dodgy porker leave his cakehole. [Read the rest of this entry »]
It’s been a season to remember for Petr Cech, but perhaps not for the right reasons. [Read the rest of this entry »]
There’s a pattern emerging here. Jose Mourinho leaves Chelsea, waits in the wilderness for a bit, then signs up for Inter. All of a sudden, speculation is rife that Lampard, Drogba, Essien, Cole, Terry and Cech (but not Sheva) could all be joining the arrogant loudmouth at his new club. Next thing, Mark Hughes is given permission to speak with Manchester City and, wait for it, the Daily Mirror put 2 + 2 together to come up with the below:
Once Hughes is installed as City boss, one of his first acts will be to try to persuade England midfielder Bentley and prolific goal-scorer Santa Cruz to move with him.
City tried to sign Santa Cruz last summer but were beaten to his capture by Blackburn, while £10m-rated Bentley has emerged as one of the country’s most impressive midfield talents.
Ten out of ten for predictability guys. Although it would be ironic if Hughes was to snare Bentley, especially as he has made recent utterances regarding the winger needing to honour his contract and be loyal to the club! If I were a Blackburn fan, I would be concerned by the news that Hughes is leaving and even more so if Rovers’ two best players jump off a potentially sinking ship.
For the minority of people who actually feel a degree of sympathy for John Terry after hitting the post with his penalty on Wednesday night, perhaps this footage might sway things a little. It appears that the Chelsea captain, who’s been described as a man’s man (whatever that means), decides to get up close and personal with Carlos Tevez. Yet again, this colossus of a man truly does lead by example!
The Daily Telegraph report that while Terry denies that he spat at the Argentine, there could be trouble ahead for the defender with UEFA investigating the matter. It had all kicked off when Tevez kicked the ball out of play rather than knock it back to Petr Cech, and culminated in Drogba slapping Vidic and getting himself sent off.
Terry said: “There was some pushing and shoving, I admit that.
“But no spitting, that is not my style. No way would I spit at another player.”
TV pictures appear to show Terry raising his arm and spit in the direction of Tevez, but Chelsea are demanding proof from Tevez in a bid to clear his name.
UEFA spokesman William Gaillard said: “The procedure is that we must wait for the report from the referee and UEFA delegates.
“If the referee says he saw the incident and that the player did not spit, then that will be the end of the matter.
“But if he says he did not see the incident, then we will go back to the video images.”
It’s truly hard to judge whether Terry did indeed spit at Tevez, although once again the former England captain has landed himself in a spot of bother. Yes, he may be a decent player but he’s also something of a bully and a thug, especially when a situation calls for calm heads.
Cristiano Ronaldo has scored tons of penalties this season, many of them after he’s been fouled in the penalty area. However, he showed at West Ham and then in the Champions League final that he’s not immune to missing from the spot, with Chelsea keeper Petr Cech pawing away his shot to put the Blues in the ascendancy.
However, the Daily Telegraph report that even if the Portuguese forward had scored his spot-kick, it’s likely that referee would have made him take it again due to his stuttering run-up. Is Graham Poll right to assert the below or would Lubos Michel have let the goal stand?
“A stutter on the way to address the ball is unacceptable, but to stop and eyeball the goalkeeper is unsporting.
“I believe 100 per cent that the referee would have forced a re-take if he had scored.”
Hmmm, Ronaldo has taken many penalty kicks in this manner before and he’s never been asked to re-take one. It didn’t seem like a pause midway through his run gave him any advantage – indeed, it backfired on him with Cech standing on his feet and reading the player like a book. Certainly not a very good one.
A penalty shoot-out is the sort of thing that separates the men from the boys. As a player, do you put your name forward as someone who can beat the keeper from twelve yards, or do you instead hide behind Frank Lampard and hope nobody notices you?
It appears that there were a few shirkers on Wednesday evening in the Chelsea camp. Setanta report that John Terry was not in the original list of penalty takers for the Blues and, while Drogba’s red card saw the captain shunted up the pecking order, there may have been one or two players that should have been stepping up to the plate first.
“John was not in the first five but when it comes to take them, somebody might say ‘I don’t feel well, I prefer somebody else take it’,” said Ten Cate.
“John was not in the first five to take a kick but things change during a game.
“Some people feel sick and the sending off of Drogba made us change it.
“It’s unbelievable this should happen to him though. We practiced Penalties so much all last week and he was very confident. We were all confident.”
Ballack, Belletti, Lampard and Ashley Cole were the first four spot-kick takers, before Terry smashed his shot against the post. One might have expected Saloman Kalou to have been involved before his captain, while Michael Essien is renowned for having a powerful shot. Aside from the Ghanaian, there was only Carvalho and Cech who didn’t step up to the plate, with Drogba having had his marching orders in extra-time.
What a contest the Champions League final promises to be. The bookmakers can’t split Manchester United and Chelsea in the betting, with both teams packed to the brim with talent. Just one moment of brilliance or madness could make all the difference in Moscow. Or maybe just the colour of a goalkeeping jersey…
The Daily Mail have revealed that Petr Cech is almost certain to wear a bright orange goalkeeping top for the contest against the Red Devils. He’s claiming it’s more likely to distract the likes of Ronaldo, Rooney and Tevez when they’re bearing down on goal with the ball at their feet. Could there be anything in this?
“Studies say the orange colour spreads the most when the striker attacks, in the split of a second as he focuses,” said Cech, whose side need to get a better result at Stamford Bridge than United achieve at Wigan to win their third title in four seasons.
“This colour is like a sort of alarm or alert which really spreads and is very difficult to avoid, so this should be good for me.”
Petr, as a goalkeeper, your hands and arms should be very good for you, not the colour of your goalkeeping shirt. Apparently there’s no truth in the rumour that Edwin Van Der Sar is going to dress up as a clown for the final, squirting water out of a flower and into the eyes of Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka. Which is a shame as we all would have liked to have seen that!
Despite the game finishing 1-1 at Anfield on Tuesday night, the referee should probably have awarded it 3-0 in Liverpool’s favour. After all, Steven Gerrard believes that this would have been a more accurate reflection of the match, citing the several saves made by Petr Cech as the reason why the Reds don’t have one foot in the final already.
The London Evening Standard reports that the Liverpool skipper fails to take into account that Chelsea gave as good as they got, along with scoring a perfectly legitimate goal (!) and once again it appears that the Reds camp are frustrated by the situation in which they find themselves.
“I am happy for people to say Chelsea are favourites, it’s not important. We just have to block that out.
“We were the better team and created the better chances, I don’t think Pepe [Reina] had anything to do apart from pick the ball out of the net at the end.
“Petr Cech pulled off two-three fantastic saves and we would have come off that pitch disappointed at 1-0 because it should have been a 3-0 victory.”
Hmmm. If my auntie had bollocks, she’d be my uncle as the phrase goes Stevie. Since when did Chelsea ever concede three in a match? Surely the role of a goalkeeper is to stop the ball going into the net, something Pepe Reina might have to prove next week as Chelsea look to kick on from their first leg advantage.
Hapless Chelsea keeper Petr Cech will now add a protective facemask to his protective helmet, in a bid to protect himself from rancid injuries and pratfalls. The poor guy was in an accidental training-ground clash with Tal Ben-Haim, and ended up needing 50 stitches in his face.
Despite Cech’s rotten injury, gaffer Avram Grant wants his keeper back for the Chelsea Champions League match-up in a fortnight – leaving Cech to wear two cranial accoutrements which will doubtless leave him looking like Darth Vader.
Three of the quartet that comprise the spine of Chelsea’s team are now sidelined as The Guardian report that Petr Cech will miss the Boxing Day clash with Aston Villa and potentially the rest of the festive fixtures. Will the Blues be forced into making an emergency keeper signing in January?
“[Cech] will have a scan,” said the Chelsea manager, who had the consolation of seeing his side record a 1-0 win at Blackburn, ensuring Arsenal and Manchester United did not increase their advantage at the top over the weekend.
Grant described Cech’s injury as a “side strain” and added: “I wanted to take him off before but he wanted to play on for five more minutes in case he felt better.”
The Israeli is hopeful Cech’s injury will not prove to be serious – “with this kind of injury it’s a matter of days sometimes” – but he could be forced to sign an emergency replacement depending on scan results and Cudicini’s progress.
Injuries are clearly testing Chelsea’s resolve to the limit, although the return of Carvalho has meant the defence retain a solid look, while the likes of Joe Cole, Lampard and Kalou are covering well for the injured Drogba. Quite whether they’ll have enough firepower to challenge for the title may depend on who they sign in the January transfer window.
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