Petr Cech: Arsene Wenger has earned the right to decide when to leave Arsenal after 20 years at club

Petr Cech believes Arsene Wenger has earned the right to determine the timing of his Arsenal departure after over 20 years at the club.

Wenger has made clear that he wants to stay at Arsenal and has been offered a two-year contract extension but the atmosphere around the club has grown increasingly toxic amid the Gunners’ worst run of form since 1995.

Arsenal players have consistently offered their backing to their under-fire manager, with Olivier Giroud the most recent to call for Wenger to sign the new deal.

And Cech, who was yesterday named the Czech Republic’s player of the year for a record ninth time, thinks it should be down to Wenger to decide whether he will stay or go.

“I think the main thing is how the season pans out, that will have a big influence,” he told reporters when asked about Wenger’s future.

“After more than 20 years, he has the right to decide that.

“As players, we need to focus on ourselves, on our performances. If we win five matches, the situation will change.

“It’s not just the coach who is responsible, but the players as well. We still have time to recover, but it’s running out quick.

“We need to win straight away, the team has the experience to turn this situation around.”

Arsenal have lost six of their last nine games in all competitions, with two of their three wins coming against non-League opposition in the FA Cup.

Their season reached its lowest point yet on Saturday, as West Brom beat them 3-1 at the Hawthorns thanks in part to two simple headed goals from corners by Craig Dawson.

Wenger said after the match that Arsenal had put particular focus into their defensive set piece preparation ahead of their meeting with the Premier League’s most dangerous side from dead balls, but it was not remotely apparent as Dawson was twice able to find space at close range to head home.

Cech, however, insisted that the problems Arsenal were seeing on the pitch were not evident on the training ground in the days leading up to their recent games.

“We have none during preparations or in training,” he said. “The issue is taking it all to matches. That’s the worst part. When things don’t go well in training, you can work on that, make it right, but this is not the case.

“Our levels of performance in matches are not near what this team can do, what it should be doing.

“We’ve lost too many points and our rivals took advantage of that. We need to start winning to qualify for the Champions League.”