Petr Cech’s Premier League debut for Arsenal against West Ham United was a match to forget…for the veteran keeper at least!
Not only did the former Chelsea stopper find himself stranded in no man’s land as he attempted to deal with a set piece, allowing Cheikhou Kouyate to open the scoring, he also reacted far too slowly to a Mauro Zarate shot.
Arsenal lost 2-0 and the Gunners new boy—Arsenal’s only summer signing to date—was to blame for both goals.
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Admittedly, Arsene Wenger has had his fair share of hits in the transfer market, but Cech may be set to be the latest in a long line of flops.
Arsenal fans, look away now…
Park Chu-Young
In fairness, when he arrived from Monaco for only £4 million, there was reason to believe that Park was actually a good bit of business.
The South Korea international had looked like a class act in Ligue 1—shimmying and shuffling his way through defences—he opted for Arsenal instead of Lille.
However, he was never truly trusted by Wenger and endured a succession of loan deals before leaving the club for Al-Shabab.
Igors Stepanovs
This was a particularly bad one by Arsene; Igors Stepanovs—so good they named him twi…oh no, wait.
The Latvian was procured from Skonto Riga in 2000, ostensibly as cover for Tony Adams, who was injured.
To be honest, you’d rather take a crocked Adams over his would-be replacement, a fact Stepanovs proved during a chastening 6-1 defeat to Manchester United.
Pascal Cygan
Ah Cygan. He certainly looked the part; menacing glare, imposing physique, the kind of round skull that you’d imagine could put some real oomph behind those defensive headers.
The reality, however, is a tale of aimless wandering amidst a backline that couldn’t truly fathom his presence, and a litany of reckless tackles that served to make counterparts Sol Campbell and Kolo Toure wince.
Cygan is the Invincibles squad’s dark unhappy secret.
Andre Santos
Brazil international, Turkish champion, Confederations Cup winner…what could possibly go wrong when Arsenal signed Andre Santos in 2011?
A lot, it turns out, as it turns out the left-sider couldn’t actually defend at all.
Wenger finally realised after 25 appearances and shipped him out. Last we heard, he was playing in Switzerland, potentially as a defender, although the definition was always loose with Andre Santos.
Francis Jeffers
Oh dear, oh dear. The ‘fox in the box’ didn’t quite work out that way, after leaving Everton for £8 million in June 2001.
England striker Jeffers struggled with injury, but when he did play, he rarely looked like the forward that had appeared destined for the top at Goodison Park.
His failure reportedly prompted, in Wenger, a long-term distrust of English players.