Sunday 4 October 2015 07:44, UK
Perhaps surprisingly, Petr Cech walked in for our interview at Arsenal's London Colney training ground in a good mood on Friday morning.
Perhaps even more surprisingly, he was put in this good mood by a former Tottenham goalkeeper.
Erik 'The Viking' Thorstvedt played more than 200 times for Spurs between 1989 and 1996. He now works as a pundit for a Norweigian TV station that covers the Premier League, and was at Arsenal to talk to Cech about goalkeeping techniques and the Super Sunday clash against Manchester United.
Cech hadn't recognised Thorstvedt, mainly because the Scandinavian has now lost the blond hair he had during his playing days, but evidently he enjoyed their chat.
"I've just spoken to Erik Thorstvedt," he said, walking into our room with a smile. "It was good. At first I couldn't tell it was him but you can see he was a goalkeeper. And I remember him as a player."
I had the feeling Cech wouldn't enjoy our interview quite as much. In fact, earlier in the week I wondered whether he'd do it all.
With the ill-fated decision to rest him for the midweek Champions League defeat to Olympiakos under the spotlight, there are certainly clubs and players who would have found a way to avoid him sitting in front of a camera.
Not Cech. He has a reputation for fronting up. At Chelsea he'd often be the player who came out to do post-match interviews when they lost. At Arsenal, on a pre-season flight to Singapore, he introduced himself to the club's media team and told them he was prepared to come out and speak when and if results went against them.
In fact, Cech isn't only prepared to do interviews, he seems completely unfazed by them. A barking dog had interrupted his interview with Thorstvedt and threatened to hold up ours.
"Funny, that dog only barks when journalists are here", he joked. "It's the boss's dog!"
He then got down to business. And defended his manager.
"I believe the manager has full faith in the team he picks and, as player, you have to accept his decision," said the man who has started every Premier League game but is yet to feature in Europe.
"Do I want to play every game? Yes, I want to play every game. But I also understand it's impossible.
"It's the life of the manager when you make a decision and the team doesn't win, the pressure comes. But that's part of the life of a manager and footballers as well."
After his own bad day - a league debut for Arsenal against West Ham that could barely have gone worse - Cech feels his 'new adventure' at Arsenal has started well.
He's got used to working with new players, new training and a new style. 'Little details', like where he stops for coffee in the morning, have also been sorted out. Overall, he says, the changes have lifted him.
"It's kind of refreshing, you don't go to the place where you know every yard or inch but you discover new way of doing things and it's kind of refreshing," says the Czech Republic international who was a Chelsea goalkeeper for 11 years.
"But the main part is the football, this is why I came over here and I believe this team has the quality and potential to challenge for the title. I hope we will prove it over the course of the season."
Many doubt Cech's contention that Arsenal can challenge for the league. The old criticisms - too soft, too nice, not enough leaders - are resurfacing. The 33-year-old goalkeeper, it would seem, can at least understand where the criticism comes from.
"Sometimes we need to be uglier on the pitch. Sometimes you need to make sure that, no matter how you do it, you win the games.
Sometimes we need to be uglier on the pitch. Sometimes you need to make sure that, no matter how you do it, you win the games.
"Every team needs people who guide you through the difficult moments and with the experience I have and with the experience other players have - Per [Mertesacker] won the World Cup, Mesut [Ozil] the same, the guys from the Spanish team know what it is to win big trophies - we have a good balance, together we just need to find the right time and the right way."
For so long part of a Chelsea team that always seemed to win big games, Cech admits the Super Sunday visit of United to the Emirates could tell us a lot about Arsenal's credentials.
"We know these are the big games, where if you manage to win you gain advantage over your main rival.
"And we don't want the gap to open - we know that would give them the advantage. These are the games that can make a big difference in the title challenge."
Once our interview was done I went and spoke to Thorstvedt, it turns out he enjoyed their interview as much as Cech did.
The former Spurs keeper will be watching Sunday's game back in Norway and - if his new found friendship with Cech is anything to go by - maybe he'll even be cheering on Arsenal.
Watch Patrick Davison's extended interview with Petr Cech on Super Sunday from 12.30pm on Sky Sports 1 HD
