Petr Cech was Jose Mourinho’s choice in goal on Wednesday and the veteran keeper did not disappoint his manager. Cech made two match saving saves against Romelu Lukaku when all three points were still in the balance. He has made four starts in the Premier League this season against Hull City, Everton, Swansea City, and Newcastle United and all four have been clean sheets.
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Cech spoke to Chelsea TV, as quoted in the Daily Mail, about the record and said, “I’m delighted with the way the cleansheets are going, especially in the Premier League and hopefully it will stay like this for a while. I think the most important thing is to get three points, because if you played 0-0 it would’ve been nice for me to get a cleansheet but it wouldn’t have been good for the team. I’m more delighted with the fact we scored at the end and we got three points.”
The record for clean sheets in the Premier League is currently held by journeyman keeper David James. James played for 10 clubs in his long career, which is still ongoing in India, and played for four clubs in the Premier League. That list of Premeir League clubs includes Liverpool, Aston Villa, Portsmouth, and Manchester City with the longest stint being 7 years at Anfield where he made 216 appearances.
Overall, the former England international made 572 appearances and notched his 170 clean sheets in them. That gives him a ratio of a clean sheet every 3.3 appearances, a far cry from Petr Cech who has an astounding ratio of a clean sheet every 1.97 appearances. The Czech international only has 331 appearances in the Premier League but has already managed 168 clean sheets. If he was to play as many years in the Premier League as David James then he could easily add another 100 clean sheets to his tally.
Of course he may not be plying his trade in England after this season and many Chelsea fans will tell you that they are hoping for an overseas transfer for Cech. There has been rumored interest from a number of clubs in the Premier League such as Liverpool and Arsenal but he has kept quiet about his preferences. Ideally he could make the move to an overseas club like PSG or AS Roma where he will get the chance to play Champions League football and compete for silverware.
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With 13 Premier League matches left in the season, and Chelsea still involved in two other competitions to keep Thibaut Courtois busy, Cech is almost a lock to break the record. Jose Mourinho will know the significance of the record to Petr and the fans so he will give him the chances he needs to break it.
It is hard enough imagining him in another team’s kit but breaking the record with another team would be too much to bear. Of course Mourinho would never sacrifice the quality of his team for the sake of a record but if Petr Cech continues to play like he did against Everton then may finish the year as Chelsea’s number 1 anyway.