Petr Cech: Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho have one thing in common - they both hate losing

Standard Sport12 October 2016

Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger have a chequered history, but Petr Cech knows the managerial rivals have one thing in common - a hatred of defeat.

Goalkeeper Cech tasted success during both of Mourinho's spells as Stamford Bridge boss, but decided to sign for Wenger's Arsenal in the summer of 2015 after losing his No.1 Chelsea role to Thibaut Courtois.

Mourinho has since moved on to Manchester United after being sacked by Roman Abramovich last December, renewing his rivalry with Wenger as both United and Arsenal look to make their mark in this season's Premier League title race.

The Portuguese coach has called Wenger a "voyeur" band a "specialist in failure" while the pair have also clashed on the touchline during heated matches, but Cech says the coaches are united in their desire for success.

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"They are different but there is one thing they have in common and that is, they don't like defeats," Cech told Guinness World Records after being rewarded for setting the Premier League record for most clean sheets.

"And I think this is the driving force behind the success of both of them.

"Because you cannot last for such a long time if you don't have the commitment and the hunger and if you are not doing everything to avoid defeat."

Cech achieved his record-breaking 174th clean sheet last December in a 2-0 victory over Bournemouth, overtaking former England international David James. The 34-year-old has since extended his tally to 181.

Cech joins Gareth Barry – who has started the most Premier League games of any player – in the 2017 edition of the World Records book, but revealed his teenage years had been spent up front.

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“I don’t think I was always destined to be a goalkeeper, I ended up there by accident,” Cech added. “I used to play as a striker and was always happy to score goals.

“Then one day we had a game where our goalkeeper didn’t come, nor the second. Somebody had to play.”

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