Petr Čech still respects Arsène Wenger despite Fa Cup snub | OneFootball

Petr Čech has insisted that he respects Arsène Wenger’s decision to only play him in the Premier League this season, but admits he would have loved to have played in the FA Cup.

The Czech Republic international has played all but one of his games in the league this term, with David Opsina being nominated by the manager as Arsenal’s cup goalkeeper.

And the 35-year-old has revealed that he doesn’t question the manager’s decision-making but does have a real affinity for the FA Cup – a competition he’s won four times.

“Well, you have to respect the way your manager sets up the team or what he plans for the season,” he told Match of the Day.

“I had known prior to the season that David would play the FA Cup games. Obviously I would love to play the competition as well but you have to respect the manager’s decisions.

“I ended up playing the quarter-final and semi-final [last season], but then I didn’t play the final so I had some part in the process.

That is in stark contract to the way Čech’s former club Chelsea decided on who would play in goal in cup competitions.

“At Chelsea we never decided which competition you play, it was a game by game process,” he said.

“If you kept playing well then you were fit and you didn’t need rest then the manager had his choice to pick the goalkeeper for the competitions.”