Soca Warriors Online Discussion Forum
Sports => Football => Topic started by: pecan on October 28, 2006, 09:39:16 AM
-
This is real tough ...
Cech starts on long road to recovery By Oliver Brown 28/10/2006 - The Daily Telegraph
Petr Cech cut a frail but far from forlorn figure yesterday as he offered a highly personal account of the injury that has shattered his season. The Chelsea goalkeeper, normally such a daunting physical presence, has made a heartening initial recovery from his depressed skull fracture but showed, in his first interview since that fateful clash with Reading's Stephen Hunt two weeks ago how far he still has to go.
"It will be really difficult, because I can't move for a long time – 15 to 20 minutes, and then I am exhausted," he said. "Sometimes you wake up and you have a horrible headache, so you have to take your medication and it's very strong. After, you feel really tired really quickly. I just try to live with that and I hope that every day it's going to get better."
Cech, who needed emergency surgery to have two metal plates inserted in his skull, bore visible signs of the ordeal, with shaven hair and a long scar down the left side of his head. His rehabilitation begins next week under the watch of Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho and club doctor Bryan English, and he appreciates how the path back to fitness must be gentle.
"Even with the metal in your head, you need some recovery," Cech said. "They will prepare some programme for me – massage, little walks, these kinds of things, so I start maintaining my body. I hope I will be able to go back as soon as I can."
Since the collision that left him stricken on the pitch at the Madejski Stadium, triggering a fevered debate over the safety of goalkeepers, Cech has not wanted for sympathy from his partners in the trade. Ricardo at Sporting Lisbon has written a letter to him, while Newcastle's Shay Given has sent a text.
The message from Given, himself convalescing from a perforated bowel after a clash with West Ham's Marlon Harewood, struck a particular chord. "He's injured, he knows how it feels," Cech said. "He sent me a message wishing me a speedy recovery, so I was very happy. I could keep going with that."
As for the incident itself, the goalkeeper's memories are clouded and his feelings raw. He was floored in the first minute of the match against Reading as Hunt's knee connected with his head, and admitted his struggle to recall the moment of impact.
"The last thing I remember is the shaking hands before the game started," Cech said. "I remember the warm-up, I remember all the way from the hotel to the stadium, because usually I always take the programme and I read a little bit. I go around the pitch, I want to see what the pitch is looking like. I don't even remember the kick-off."
Uncomfortable as it made him, Cech described how he has watched the incident replayed on television. "I have seen it once and I was surprised," he told Chelsea TV. "I thought it happened on the other side of the head. So that just proves that I don't remember anything."
For the moment, though, he is content simply to draw strength from his legions of supporters. Referring to the response from Chelsea and beyond as "fantastic", Cech placed greatest emphasis on the support from his wife, Martina. "She was the most important person, because she was every day in the hospital, even days I couldn't remember her.
"She stayed there for 24 hours and she was really tired. She had a lot of things to do but she showed me the love every minute and I really appreciate it."
-
This is quite hard to read. I had an ankle injury that kept me out for 2 months, but that is nothing in comparison to this. Wow! Best wishes to Cech on a complete recovery.
-
Doh worry, fellas, he will be back and, for all the chelsea supporter out there: The media is making more of Chelsea's goalkeeping "crisis" thaan they need to. Hilario proved to be a worthy replacement to both Cech and Cudicini and their 4th string 'keeper (Yves Ma Kalambay) is a Belgiun Under-21 International.
-
Doh worry, fellas, he will be back and, for all the chelsea supporter out there: The media is making more of Chelsea's goalkeeping "crisis" thaan they need to. Hilario proved to be a worthy replacement to both Cech and Cudicini and their 4th string 'keeper (Yves Ma Kalambay) is a Belgiun Under-21 International.
But still........losing your top 2 keepers in one game is still a big deal regardless of who is in the reserves, even if just from a psychological perspective.
-
Doh worry, fellas, he will be back and, for all the chelsea supporter out there: The media is making more of Chelsea's goalkeeping "crisis" thaan they need to. Hilario proved to be a worthy replacement to both Cech and Cudicini and their 4th string 'keeper (Yves Ma Kalambay) is a Belgiun Under-21 International.
But still........losing your top 2 keepers in one game is still a big deal regardless of who is in the reserves, even if just from a psychological perspective.
How has it affected Chelsea's performances on the field so far?
-
It may be too early.....but, the best goalie in the world is done!
-
protective helmets for goalies .. has de time come?
-
But still........losing your top 2 keepers in one game is still a big deal regardless of who is in the reserves, even if just from a psychological perspective.
How has it affected Chelsea's performances on the field so far?
dat third string 'keeper ent doin too bad atall :o :o
-
Doh worry, fellas, he will be back and, for all the chelsea supporter out there: The media is making more of Chelsea's goalkeeping "crisis" thaan they need to. Hilario proved to be a worthy replacement to both Cech and Cudicini and their 4th string 'keeper (Yves Ma Kalambay) is a Belgiun Under-21 International.
But still........losing your top 2 keepers in one game is still a big deal regardless of who is in the reserves, even if just from a psychological perspective.
How has it affected Chelsea's performances on the field so far?
No doubt I hear what you're saying. I just think that given the circumstances in which Chelsea lost their two top keepers, (one almost losing his life), it could have made a huge impact on their season (it hasn't yet)...so news coverage and media hype surrounding the "crisis" is fair & warranted in my opinion....
One might also want to argue that the media hype could have played a part in the 3rd string keeper rising to the occasion and stepping up the level of his game.....
maybe ?
-
Personally, i'm really worried about Cech's career even after he makes a fully recovery from that injury..
being a goalkeeper, i can tell you more than any other position in the game, confidence in yourself is the single most important element of a goalkeeper's game.. the mental aspect could be a goalkeeper's greatest weapon or greatest weakness...
goalkeeping i think is 75% confidence, 10% decision-making which comes with experience, 10% positioning/awareness, 5% agility..
Have you ever noticed how the best goalkeepers are not the ones who could fly from one side of the goal to the next.. Not the ones who are the most athletic or physically superior.. If you watch the world's best keepers like Buffon, Cech, Kahn, Lehmann and Casillas you can see that this holds true... With the exception of Casillas none of those keepers really fly but they all know how to control the situations using confidence and excellence of judgement..
I think it will be extremely difficult and near impossible for Cech to overcome the mental scars of this injury to return to be just as good as he was.. I saw him go into some collisions in some games before he got injured, particularly the one with Jason Roberts against Blackburn and thought to myself, this man real fearless.. But subconsciously, there is no doubt he would be impacted and it would affect his ability to bravely go into situations like that in the future..
But I really hope he can recover and be the best again.. He is a great keeper and it would be a real loss for the sport if he doesn't come through...
-
goalkeeping i think is 75% confidence, 10% decision-making which comes with experience, 10% positioning/awareness, 5% agility..
You make some good points Omar....I also think it would take alot for Cech to ever be the goalkeeper he once was.
One thing I was always curious about though, is how do people come up these percentages...
-
Doh worry, fellas, he will be back and, for all the chelsea supporter out there: The media is making more of Chelsea's goalkeeping "crisis" thaan they need to. Hilario proved to be a worthy replacement to both Cech and Cudicini and their 4th string 'keeper (Yves Ma Kalambay) is a Belgiun Under-21 International.
But still........losing your top 2 keepers in one game is still a big deal regardless of who is in the reserves, even if just from a psychological perspective.
How has it affected Chelsea's performances on the field so far?
No doubt I hear what you're saying. I just think that given the circumstances in which Chelsea lost their two top keepers, (one almost losing his life), it could have made a huge impact on their season (it hasn't yet)...so news coverage and media hype surrounding the "crisis" is fair & warranted in my opinion....
One might also want to argue that the media hype could have played a part in the 3rd string keeper rising to the occasion and stepping up the level of his game.....
maybe ?
I understand where you are coming from too, Kicker, and I offer you this: The greatest impact that the injuries of Cech and Cudicini would have had on the team as far as the team's performance is concerned would have been in the game that the injuries occured and maybe one or two games immediately after. Hilario proved his mettle against Barcelona, keeping a clean sheet while pulling off a couple of fine saves, too. I do see your point about him rising to the occaision possibly to prove to everyone (particularly, the media that are questioning his ability) that he is capable of holding his own, but all the media hype in the world isn't going to make a 'keeper out of a goat if he has no ability, and remember this: while he may be a third string 'keeper on Chelsea behind two among the top five in the premiership, he could easily be a starter for a host of other teams. Maybe you would have more gotten that rise out of Yves Ma Kalambay, the younger, less experienced 4th stringer. I think a fair indication of how much confidence the team and coaching staff have in Hilario and Ma Kalambay is the fact that Chelsea have not even attempted to bring in another 'keeper, which i'm sure they'd be able to do under these circumstances.
I think that once the prognosis is good on Cech's health the team are going to still be concerned about his health, and i'm sure they may even miss him on the field, but I really don't think that they as a team are as worried about the actual "goalkeeping" aspect of their game as the media was quick to infer. This is not to say that Hilario is going to be perfect every time he plays, but it would be unfair of anyone to expect that of him.
Respect.
-
anybody have a link, I didn't see it
-
if that man reached back to 100% fitness it go be a miracle
I see the interview the way he talk like eye hand eye cordination and motor skills were affected
-
if that man reached back to 100% fitness it go be a miracle
I see the interview the way he talk like eye hand eye cordination and motor skills were affected
i share dis opinion ... a superb athelete can recover but to 100% i dunno?