With the season well and truly over, it’s time to look back at some of the way some members of the team performed in the course of the 2015/16 season.
Without much ado, let’s start shall we?
Petr Cech (43 Appearances, 21 Clean Sheets)
Arsenal fans will always admit that Petr Cech was a ‘steal’. The superb goalie that had served Chelsea for 11 years notching up a record 220 clean sheets in 486 appearances moved from West to North London and immediately made the goalkeeping position his for keeps. It was evident that the likes of Wojciech Szczesny, David Ospina and Emiliano Martinez were never going to contest with the legendary goalkeeper.
Cech proved his worth over the course of the season, calming the defense and making a plethora of saves including this astonishing double save against Stoke at the Britannia. In 34 Premier League games, Cech made 101 saves and kept 16 clean sheets making him a forerunner for the Golden Glove awards. If you add the three clean sheets in the Champions League, one in the FA Cup and one in the Community Shield, that took his tally to 21 for the campaign, which is certainly impressive for a goalie in his debut season with a club.
With Cech currently 33, he still has so many years ahead of him and he’s going to be a mainstay at the club for years to come.
Rating – 8/10
David Ospina (12 Appearances, Four Clean Sheets)
With Cech arriving at the club, it was evident that either Ospina or Szczesny was going to make way because it was going to be a challenge keeping all three goalies happy so the Pole was shipped out to AS Roma to get regular game time. That meant that Ospina was going to play second fiddle to Cech when he returned from his Copa America.
Due to Cech’s status as Arsenal’s No. 1 goalie, Ospina had to wait till March to make his first Premier League appearance and this was due to the fact that Cech suffered a bizarre thigh injury in the defeat to Swansea. Ospina kept two clean sheets in the four Premier League games he played. He was also the traditional ‘Cup keeper’ and featured regularly in the domestic cup competitions, but he was under the spotlight when he was selected ahead of Cech in the Champions League game against Olympiakos.
Ospina has proven that he is a dependable second choice goalie and despite his meager appearances this season, he made a good account of himself.
Rating – 7/10
Sayonara
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