The D-Day for Unai Emery seems to have arrived with Arsenal facing their toughest competition of this year’s campaign against a top European club Napoli, Yes the only one we wouldn’t have wanted to face in the Quarter-Finals of the competition along with Chelsea.
However, apart from tactically negating his opposition, Unai Emery also needs to decide on the most important of whether on not to allow nerve-prone Cech to play in the most important game of his Arsenal career. The odds are high and against us when we face a brick wall opponents heavily dependent on their strikers as well.
We are in no position to make any mistake as it would mean a direct exit from Champions League. The experience may support our experienced keeper but the history doesn’t. Former Czech international cannot be risked with placing in most dependable position.
Why do I say this is because of Petr Cech’s knack of making silly mistakes which otherwise could be prevented and also being nervy in some places he shouldn’t. This is where Bernd Leno comes in with all his confidence and dynamism.
Cech may have had a brilliant run against Rennes in out Round-of-16 encounter but his history against big teams is way beyond acceptable. Consider the FA Cup experience of last year against Manchester United which shook us out of the career.
If I were Emery, I wouldn’t have risked our title chances at the expense of Petr’s experience in the Premier League. You got to be harsh on an individual for a better team performance and this is the time for Emery to do so, step up the podium and announce a playing XI without Cech.
Let me remind you that this is our home game and an away goal for Napoli can prove to be a crucial decider of who goes into the team. The call to play Cech may have become a ritual when it comes to Europa league, but this time the tradition has to change if Gunners fancy Europa League title.
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