Petr Cech & David Seaman offer new Arsenal goalkeeper vital words of wisdom
Current Arsenal stopper Petr Cech and Gunners legend David Seaman have offered the club’s latest goalkeeper, Bernd Leno, their own words of wisdom on how to succeed in the most competitive division on the planet, being the Premier League, and what it takes to become the north-Londoners’ undisputed No.1.
Leno, 26, joined Arsenal in June from Bundesliga outfit Bayer Leverkusen with the ambition of taking the reins from his colleague, Cech, between the sticks for the imminent 2018-19 season and beyond, although dethroning the veteran Czech Republic international is certainly easier said than done.
Other than Cech, the German international also has Colombia’s David Ospina to contend with in his department as well as Emiliano Martinez, so in order to stand out from the crowd, Leno will undoubtedly have to outshine professionals with experience in abundance at this particular level on English soil.
Keen to fight for supremacy, Cech turned down his former club Chelsea to remain an Arsenal player this summer, and though he’s motivated to keep Leno in his shadow, the evergreen keeper – who has laid his gloves on four top-flight titles, the Champions League, Europa League and four FA Cups during his career in London – offered his colleague some insightful advice:
“You have to play your game and you have to find your way through,” Cech said to the London Evening Standard (via BT Sport).
“There are so many things that a goalkeeper coming to the Premier League has not experienced in a different league.
“Obviously you have the physicality and the way the game is played in the Premier League,
“The goalkeeper is not as protected as in Europe or different leagues. So I think that is something you need to find your way and deal with and obviously the quicker you do it, it is better for you.”
Seaman made himself one of the Gunners most extolled heroes due to his focus and dedication and opted to harp back to David De Gea’s formative years as a slight, unassuming Manchester United keeper and how he’s flourished into one of the planet’s best, an evolution which Leno needs to take a few pointers from if he’s going to develop into a prolific goalmouth guardian himself at the Emirates.
When quizzed about the difference between the Premier League and other top European divisions, Seaman revealed:
“It is a totally different pace and physicality,
“You look at David De Gea when he first came here he had big problems when he didn’t realise how physical it was in the Premier League but he adapted to that and really kicked on.
“With Leno, we have to wait and see what happens – if he is number one, we don’t even know who is going to be number one yet.”
