The priority for Petr Cech, as it always has been, was the result. When Arsenal reached the 80-minute mark against Bournemouth at the Emirates Stadium on Monday, however, 2-0 up and in control, the goalkeeper admitted his thoughts did begin to wander.
“I have to confess that I started thinking about the record,” Cech said. “The most important thing was to win the game and once we got the 2-0 lead and it was going towards the end of the game … In the last 10 minutes, I was checking the clock. I was thinking, OK … ”
More than 11 years on from his first Premier League clean sheet, which came on his debut for Chelsea in the 1-0 home win over Manchester United – the game that also launched José Mourinho’s career in England – Cech stood on the brink of No170.
David James retired with 169 Premier League clean sheets; his last appearance in the top flight had been for Portsmouth in May 2010, and Cech has long had him in his sights. When the Czech Republic international left Chelsea last summer and chose to remain in the division with Arsenal, rather than move abroad, it became a matter of when, and not if, he caught and overhauled the former England No1.
The clock has ticked loudly. There was even the false alarm after Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Stoke City on 12 September, in which Cech played, when it was said that he had equalled James on 169. Cech, though, made a statement via Twitter in which he said that four of his clean sheets did not count as he had not played the full 90 minutes in those matches – and so his correct number at the time was 165.
Nobody has heard the ticking more than Cech and those final minutes against Bournemouth seemed to stretch like hours. This thing matters to him, so when the full-time whistle blew, and he and Arsenal had won 2-0, the elation surged. The cameras zoomed in on him, just as much as Arsenal’s man of the match, Mesut Özil, and Cech embraced his team-mates and waved happily to the crowd.
When he walked into the tunnel, he raised his arms in the air and shouted: “At last!” It was not the most memorable game – and Cech did not have a serious save to make – but, to the 33-year-old, it will always have a special place.
“I feel really proud because I believe that this is the best league in the world and one of the most difficult leagues to play for a goalkeeper, and so to have achieved such a record is a great personal achievement,” Cech said.
“What makes me happy the most, probably, is that these clean sheets have so far brought four Premier League trophies. So, hopefully, we will add clean sheets this season and we will celebrate at the end of the season. This is far more important.”
Cech kept 162 Premier League clean sheets over 11 seasons at Chelsea to win those four titles and there was resistance from key figures at Stamford Bridge to him moving to Arsenal, although not from the most important one – the owner, Roman Abramovich.
Mourinho, who was the manager at the time, was dead against it, while the captain, John Terry, said Cech would be worth 12 to 15 points per season to Arsenal.
The fear for them was that Cech could prove to be the missing piece in a title-winning jigsaw and, with Arsenal bang up there at the halfway point of the season, it could yet be realised. Apart from his nightmare debut in the 2-0 loss to West Ham United at the Emirates, Cech has been calm and solid, and, sometimes, outstanding.
No sensible professional will ever offer the “We’re gonna win the league” soundbite, least of all Cech, but it is clear he is confident; that he thinks Arsenal are level-headed, consistent and in a strong position.
“Everybody wants to win the league and we are one of those teams who wants to go and try to win the league,” Cech said. “We are working every day, game by game and, so far, we are in a very good position. Going into the new year, we are in a position where we can actually aim for our targets.
“We don’t feel overwhelmed when we win. Obviously, you are disappointed when you lose a game like we did at Southampton on Boxing Day but the reaction and consistency of the work is very important and, so far, we’ve been doing that, preparing every game as well as we could. Now we are in a really good position so, hopefully, we can carry on that.”
Cech is well known for his professionalism, for a certain meticulousness, and it was reflected when he tweeted about the four clean sheets that ought not to have counted towards his record.
“You know, it’s great when somebody gives you the record but I wanted to have the record when I know I have really done it in the right way,” Cech said. “I always like to do things the right way. Obviously, as I was approaching the number of David James and people kept reminding me, I had a look at my numbers because I really wanted to make sure that I knew when it could happen.”
Cech looked at the statistics section of his personal website, which he revealed was inspired by a more low-tech chronicle – one kept by his father since his first professional game for Chmel Blsany in 1999.
“My father has a book where ever since I started playing games … he wrote down the games that I played in,” Cech said. “And then, when I did my website, we thought that was a really good idea, that people can keep track of my games.
“So, if you go to my website, you will find it all there. You can set which league, competition, year, whatever you want. Does my father still keep his chronicle? I think so but I don’t know. He has it at home back in the Czech Republic. I know he was doing that, so I suppose that he is still doing it.”
Cech’s thoughts as he departed the Emirates after the game against Bournemouth took in how he might seek a memento of the occasion. “I will keep the shirt and once I wash it, I will make the players sign it,” he said. “Just to have a memory of the game in which it happened.”
Could he rely on them not to write rude messages on it, as happened to Jamie Vardy, the Leicester City striker, after he broke the Premier League consecutive games scoring record in November? “Maybe I will not give them a chance,” Cech said, with a smile. “Maybe, I just ask for the signature. I will see.”
There was plenty of back-slapping and congratulation for Cech but one tribute stood out. It came from Bob Wilson, the former Arsenal goalkeeper and coach. “Petr is a special guy,” Wilson said. “D’you know what he did after the Southampton defeat on Boxing Day? He went into the away end, gave his gloves to one of the fans and said sorry to them. I’m just delighted that he’s got this record.”
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