Petr Cech takes a dig at Arsenal's silverware woes

London rivals Chelsea and Arsenal are currently battling for a place in next season’s Champions League, along with another London foe, Tottenham Hotspurs. The Blues have more or less secured their spot in the top four of the Premier League, but Arsenal require a win on the final day of the season against Newcastle United to seal their entry into Europe’s elite.

The Gunners also have a chance of leapfrogging Chelsea into third if the Blues lose at home to Everton, or if they draw against the Toffees whereas the Gunners win by a huge margin, thereby leapfrogging their neighbours into third via goal difference.

Chelsea and Arsenal have had memorable battles in recent seasons (remember van Persie’s hat-trick at the Bridge?), but none of those matches have been a Premier League title-decider, much less a cup final. In the last eight seasons, Arsenal have failed to win a major trophy, whereas Chelsea have won 10 trophies during that time, including the holy grail – the Champions League last May.

Cech, having recently won the Europa League, admitted that Chelsea have lacked stability in recent seasons. However, he believes that the fans would choose silverware over stability.

Arsene Wenger has seen 13 Chelsea managers come and go during his seventeen years (and counting) with the Gunners; however, he has still won less trophies compared to Chelsea during that period.

The managerial merry-go-round is set to continue at Stamford Bridge next season with the arrival of another manager but according to the Metro, that has not deterred Cech in taking a dig at Arsenal.

He said, “If you see the stability and organisation and the control Arsenal have, it’s amazing. But if you ask their fans about the last eight years they’d say they’ve not won anything and they don’t like it. Our fans may say ‘Yes, we’d like to see more stability,’ but we’d rather have the cups. It’s very hard to choose.”

It indeed is a conundrum whether fans would want trophies at the club, or if they would opt for stability which usually produces long-term benefits for the clubs. Just take a look at Everton, who have consistently been able to challenge for the European places under Moyes. You would think that the Toffees would be fighting for relegation with their tight budget if not for the Scot, who is set to take over at Manchester United next season onwards.

Speaking of Manchester United, theirs is the ideal situation which one would want at a club – winning trophies whilst having stability at the club. However, Cech believes that the Blues have instilled a mentality to win, irrespective of which manager is at the helm.

The 30-year-old said, “The ideal situation is Manchester United scenario where you have the same manager and you win a large number of trophies. But we seem to prove all these things wrong. It just shows at Chelsea that everybody is trying to do his best, no matter who the manager is, no matter how the season goes.”