Chelsea defender, David Luiz has named former teammate, Petr Cech, as Arsenal’s danger man ahead of both teams’ clash in the Europa League final in Baku.
The Blues will come up against former team-mate, Cech, in what will be the veteran goalkeeper’s last game before retirement.
Luiz said he was determined to make sure that Cech, who left Stamford Bridge for Arsenal in 2015, ends a glittering career on the losing side.
“Pete is fantastic, a great person, a great man. The best goalkeeper I played with. One of the best professionals I had the opportunity to work with,” Luiz was quoted by Mirror UK as saying.
“I wish Petr could be on our side. I hope he plays a good game, but I hope we win against him.”
Talking about the Europa League final clash, Luiz added, “This is a totally different occasion. It’s a big London derby, big opponents, a high-level rivalry, everybody wants to win, everybody wants the best for their clubs, so we are going to try our best.
“Arsenal are doing great. It is never easy to change, especially after the many years Arsene Wenger was there.
“Then Unai came to try to build a new philosophy and to try to gain the trust of the players, from the fans, from the club, and he has been doing an amazing job.”
Luiz played under the Arsenal boss, Unai Emery, for a few months when they were both at Paris Saint-Germain, so he knows how difficult it will be to beat him
Luiz said, “He’s a great guy, a great coach, a great person, and in this competition especially, he knows how to win.
“That’s why Arsenal are there, that’s why Unai is there in the final — again. That’s another thing we have to realise: we have to beat Unai as well as Arsenal.
“He’s a great coach, he’s passionate. He loves his work. He likes to build teams who are spirited and play with passion, you can see that.
“Now in modern football, the first attacker is the goalkeeper. We value what goalkeepers do with their feet.
“And the first defenders are the strikers — everybody has to defend and the defenders set the style of the team. I love being a ball-playing centre-half, it’s the evolution of football.
“I remember when I started, nobody wanted me to play the ball out from the back, everybody wanted me to kick the ball long.
“It depended on the style of the coach, but now everybody understands.
“The top six in England, which has four teams in the European finals, are all teams who play the ball out from the back, play a possession game, try to create.
“Football is all about gaining time. If you put the ball up in the air, you’re going to lose time.
“That’s why we try to build from the back, to give the players with the talent the time to receive the ball between the lines and make the difference.”
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