Arsenal
Aston Villa
Chelsea
Crystal Palace
Everton
Fulham
Leeds United
Liverpool
Manchester City
Manchester United
Newcastle United
Nottingham Forest
Southampton
Tottenham Hotspur
West Ham United
Wolverhampton Wanderers
News
£10m player says he put on too much weight when he was at Arsenal
Footballers are finely tuned machines that need to be micro-managed in almost every single way.
Indeed, players’ training regimes and diets need to be controlled so that they’re in the best physical shape possible for action.
Some players don’t look fit enough at times, while, another issue that certain players face is overdoing it in the gym and becoming muscle-bound.
Trent Alexander-Arnold was accused of putting on too much weight last season as he bulked up.
Meanwhile, Memphis Depay also bulked up too much a few years ago.
Of course, having a bit of muscle on you is usually a good thing – Myles Lewis-Skelly has been praised for his strength in recent times at Arsenal, however, if you bulk up too much, you can slow down.
Speaking on Ben Foster’s Podcast, Petr Cech has been discussing his time at Arsenal, and he says that he bulked up too much during one pre-season.
Petr Cech bulked up too much at Arsenal
Cech and Foster spoke about how the goalkeeper’s physique changed at Arsenal.
Cech joined Arsenal from Chelsea for .
The Chelsea legend says that he did overdo it in the gym when he was on holiday that summer, while he also noted that the way Arsenal’s shirt was made that season made him look even bigger as well.
“You remember when you were at Arsenal? I remember you came back for a preseason. And I remember a picture of you in a short sleeve shirt. Do you remember? And you were stacked. Biceps, guns. Do you remember that?” Foster asked.
“Yeah, we went because we went on holiday. And me and my wife, when we are on holiday, we never really sit on the beach. We always like when we when we pick holiday, it has to have a good facility, gym.
“And so on holiday, I would go literally gym and then beach. So that would be my thing. And I probably overdid it in that.
“But at the same time, you know, when you you don’t sometimes realise, but in the recent years, the the shirts gets more slim fitting, everything is tight.”
“Even everybody was like, Oh, my God, I’ve seen your picture. And I said, I don’t, you know, I don’t look any different, but I just don’t have the loose and long sleeve shirt. So when you put the short sleeve, which is tight, and then you then you put your bicep, you know, everything looks different.”
The viral photo of Petr Cech
Foster referenced an image of Cech where he looked like he’d completely transformed.
That photo did go viral back in 2018 as Arsenal fans questioned what the goalkeeper had been doing during his summer break.
Cech does look more like a WWE wrestler than a footballer in that image, it must be said.
Ultimately, Cech was already slowing down a bit due to his age at that point, and the added muscle mass certainly didn’t help him with his agility.
There’s a reason some of the best goalkeepers in the world don’t have Adama Traore-esque physiques.
Arsenal would ultimately sign Bernd Leno to replace Cech, before Aaron Ramsdale and David Raya eventually arrived as Mikel Arteta’s side continued to evolve.
Now, Raya is Arsenal’s number one, and Raya has received plenty of praise this season.