WE NEED A JUMP-START

Cech admits his frustration that Gunners haven’t mounted a real title challenge for years and understands the anger of the fans

PETR CECH has admitted his frustration at Arsenal’s failure to mount a serious Premier League challenge since he moved to the Emirates.

Gunners Wenger signed the keeper from Chelsea in 2015 to try to add finishing touches to a potentially title-winning team.

But his men fell short in the past two seasons and already look outside bets this time round. boss Arsene

Cech, who at Chelsea won the title four times, understands how fans feel, particularly as Arsenal were last champions in 2004. Defeat in today’s North London derby will not help the mood among already unhappy supporters.

“You can see how big and strong is the support the club has,” said Cech. “People are passionate. When you’re used to seeing a team winning the title and suddenly have a 12-year gap. Then when you have a little hope, there’s a little bit missing, you have one point missing there, two points missing here.

“That’s why last season the reaction of the fans was the strongest because it’s accumulated year after year.

“I can understand the frustration. As a player you get frustrated too when you don’t reach targets because that’s why you come every day, prepare every day, why you train and I’m used to winning titles. I’m not happy when three years in a row you don’t win one.

“The dressing room is very strong regardless of the pressure because we work hard every day and sometimes there are small margins every day which make big differences in modern football. It’s up to us to make that up.”

Cech conceded Manchester City – top of the table and a dozen points better off than Arsenal – already look red-hot favourites.

“Twelve points is a big gap, but the season’s very long and we’ve seen in the past it can change pretty quickly,” said the 35-year-old.

“Chelsea last season had a difficult start but a run of 15 wins made all of the difference. City started really well last season then dropped points and things changed very quickly for them. If they carry on how they’ve started then it will be difficult for anybody to catch them.”

Cech admitted his disappointment at failing to save any of the 13 penalties he has faced with Arsenal – a surprising statistic given he was involved in one of the most dramatic shoot-outs against Bayern Munich in the 2012 Champions