🇧🇪 Thibaut Courtois

[Sheva. 5,373]

I know that the quotes are probably twisted by the media, but if that is genuinely his attitude, then it's probably best he goes elsewhere.

He's said this like 50 times now, nothing is being twisted.

Also, GK is not exactly a position where you can fight for your place "fairly". If he agrees to be 2nd choice, he will only play cup games or until Cech makes massive mistakes.

Doesn't make much sense for him, when he could start anywhere else.

[different level 1,056]

When the loan deals started 3 years ago cech was indeed the better keeper but now i wouldnt say that, perhaps Courtois is already better than cech.

You say cech doesnt show any weakness but im not even convinced about that, he had quite some faults this season

I bet you can't find a keeper who has been completely faultless through the entire season. On the top of my head I can think of two poor matches for Petr - the home draw against WBA and the first leg quarterfinal loss against PSG. I admit I haven't watched many of Atletico's matches in La Liga, but Courtois made a horrible mistake in the match against Malaga which denied the team the opportunity to triumph with the league title in the penultimate round and their championship ambitions were left hanging in the balance.

[MrBlueGuy 1,552]

When the loan deals started 3 years ago cech was indeed the better keeper but now i wouldnt say that, perhaps Courtois is already better than cech.

You say cech doesnt show any weakness but im not even convinced about that, he had quite some faults this season

Starting with getting beaten by Pastore at the near post which nearly sent us out of CL while Courtois got beaten at the same position when Sanchez scored a cracker on the edge of the box and no keeper in the world would have saved.

[robsblubot 3,595]

He's said this like 50 times now, nothing is being twisted.

Also, GK is not exactly a position where you can fight for your place "fairly". If he agrees to be 2nd choice, he will only play cup games or until Cech makes massive mistakes.

Doesn't make much sense for him, when he could start anywhere else.

All true, but I reckon the point is whether all this should be discussed in the press or behind closed doors - probably the latter.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

No shit, obviously he would want to play all the time because at any other club than Chelsea HE WILL PLAY ALL THE TIME. Yes I am looking at some of the best clubs in the world atm like Dortmund, Atletico, Barca...etc who would all love him. The only team where he might struggle to start is Real Madrid or Bayern Munich. He doesn't own the club anything, he wants to play and he should be playing considering he is probably the best GK in the world atm. If Costa comes will he have to fight with Torres(if he stays) over a starting place? or did Matic have to with Mikel?

He's said this like 50 times now, nothing is being twisted.

Also, GK is not exactly a position where you can fight for your place "fairly". If he agrees to be 2nd choice, he will only play cup games or until Cech makes massive mistakes.

Doesn't make much sense for him, when he could start anywhere else.

If he means that he wants to work hard and earn the first place spot then that is a great and an admirable attitude. But if he means that he won't agree to come back unless there is no competition for his place and that he wants Cech gone before he comes then that is not at all the attitude we want in the dressing room.

Of course Matic was not guaranteed a starting role no matter what when he came and neither will Costa if he comes. While they continue to play well, they'll be starters and when their form drops and they play badly they'll be on the bench till they start playing well again. And yes, the same applies even for goalies. Petr was dropped for a couple of games this season when his form was bad. And managers don't just judge on performances in matches, they can see what happens in training so there will be a 'fair' chance for keepers to prove they should have a starting spot.

[MrBlueGuy 1,552]

If he means that he wants to work hard and earn the first place spot then that is a great and an admirable attitude. But if he means that he won't agree to come back unless there is no competition for his place and that he wants Cech gone before he comes then that is not at all the attitude we want in the dressing room.

Of course Matic was not guaranteed a starting role no matter what when he came and neither will Costa if he comes. While they continue to play well, they'll be starters and when their form drops and they play badly they'll be on the bench till they start playing well again. And yes, the same applies even for goalies. Petr was dropped for a couple of games this season when his form was bad. And managers don't just judge on performances in matches, they can see what happens in training so there will be a 'fair' chance for keepers to prove they should have a starting spot.

He will do that, but by earning a place it doesn't mean sitting for a couple of years on the bench until Cech injured his ankle or something. Well tbf if we go on a 10 games unbeaten run with our great defence and Cech is in goal, how is Courtois going to get in? do we have to lose 3-0 suddenty? Obviously he will not agree to comeback because there are teams(some are better than us atm) who will guarantee him starting spots.

Also a GK rotation isn't really the same as player rotation, you really can't excel at training over one another. There is really not much tactic for the GK apart from coming out and collecting appropriate crosses or aims his goal kicks unlike a outfield player who might fit the manager's tactic ideas more...etc.

[nyikolajevics 2,698]

ter Stegen to Barca is official now, so there is no chance Courtios go there.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

He will do that, but by earning a place it doesn't mean sitting for a couple of years on the bench until Cech injured his ankle or something. Well tbf if we go on a 10 games unbeaten run with our great defence and Cech is in goal, how is Courtois going to get in? do we have to lose 3-0 suddenty? Obviously he will not agree to comeback because there are teams(some are better than us atm) who will guarantee him starting spots.

Also a GK rotation isn't really the same as player rotation, you really can't excel at training over one another. There is really not much tactic for the GK apart from coming out and collecting appropriate crosses or aims his goal kicks unlike a outfield player who might fit the manager's tactic ideas more...etc.

If he's better than Petr then he won't sit on the bench for 2 years. And of course he won't get into the team if we don't concede for 10 games straight, and that goes the same for any defender trying to get into the starting line up at the back no matter how good they are.

Call me naive, but I believe that in football you don't get handed starting spots, you earn them and expecting otherwise is not the mentality you'd want players in your team to have.

Of course this is all hypothetical and we have no idea if that is what Thibaut actually wants or not.

[Stingray 9,441]

If he's better than Petr then he won't sit on the bench for 2 years. And of course he won't get into the team if we don't concede for 10 games straight, and that goes the same for any defender trying to get into the starting line up at the back no matter how good they are.

Call me naive, but I believe that in football you don't get handed starting spots, you earn them and expecting otherwise is not the mentality you'd want players in your team to have.

Of course this is all hypothetical and we have no idea if that is what Thibaut actually wants or not.

With all this bullshit, it is in dutch very clear he says he is not aiming for seconds and going for the no1 spot. He doesnt ask guarantuees anywhere.

What would you say in his place. Ambitious little fucker, courtois. The most ambitious of all the belgians.

[José1893 89]

Courtois is the Goalkeeper with the most potential in the world at the moment. He should be brought back and replace Cech, who has passed his climax. I'd rate Courtois even higher than Neuer, esp. if you take into account how mature he plays concerning his age. Courtois is the future of Chelsea and we can't afford to risk the future just for Cech and another 1 or 2 years.

As far as I am concerned, I doubt that another loan to Atleti will improve Courtois. He has matured in Madrid, he has won the League and will play the final and maybe win the Champions League. No more improvement can be achieved, it's the perfect time to return to London for Thibaut.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

With all this bullshit, it is in dutch very clear he says he is not aiming for seconds and going for the no1 spot. He doesnt ask guarantuees anywhere.

What would you say in his place. Ambitious little fucker, courtois. The most ambitious of all the belgians.

Like I said, I don't trust the media on those quotes, so I won't read into what he means based on them. If he means that he wants to become first choice and will work hard to make that happen then that's great, but if he means that he won't come back if there's any competition for his spot then, yeah, I got an issue with that.

[johnnythefirst 1,076]

Yeah, sure. But you can't expect to immediately start in front of a legendary keeper, who bailed us out numerous times in the last 10 years and who also just had a fantastic season. You wait for opportunity to prove yourself.

Oh I see. He has to prove himself. K.

[johnnythefirst 1,076]

Seriously, it's obvious he's not coming back if it means being benched to Cech.

You can whine all day about this and you may have a right to, but the thing is: this is a guy who may have already won all the major prizes in football except for the World Cup a week from now. At age 21. He could start anywhere else except for maybe Bayern and everyone would be glad to have him. He has never played a single match in the Chelsea shirt. He has no emotional connection to Chelsea whatsoever. Chelsea was just the team that threw the most money at Genk when he was still playing in Belgium. He doesn't owe the club anything. Atletico would probably have bought him for slightly less anyway if Chelsea hadn't been interested.

Yes, you can force him to come back and bench him for two years until his contract runs out, but then you will destroy 30-40 million of transfer value and your reputation as a club. And he'll still only be 23 when he's finally "free".

If Cech's still ambitious (and I'm sure he is), one of them will leave, it's as simple as that. Every other option is a delusional one.

[Special Juan 28,141]

I love Cech, he will go down as a legend at this club for me but let's promote the best young goalkeeper in the world to the No1 spot he wants and give him his shot.

This isn't a gamble or a risk it's just the right thing to do at the right time.

[LukakutoStamford 779]

Nostalgia leads to failure. Courtois has won just about every trophy. He was the fastest to 100 clean sheets.

Cech is great GK but Courtois has the potential to become the best ever. Courtois just turned 22 he's not even in his prime.

The best players are the best because they are ambitious.

This is a no brainer decision

[Polo7 3,496]

A few of our younger players are over hyped, but this guy is definitely not one of em. Do whats right JOSE!

[Madmax 9,219]

This is a no brainer decision

Correct, even Ramires would get this right.

We're now at that point where Cech's experience and familiarity no longer offset Courtois' raw promise. The Belgian is no longer a greenhorn honing his trade, we're talking about someone who at 22 years old is one game away from having won every trophy he's ever competed for in club colours.

Which then makes the decision boil down to pure footballing ability. In that department, even if Cech performs at 100% for 2 more years, would you take that over Courtois (for argument's sake) performing at, say 85% over that period, knowing he could then go on and give you a dozen more years as possibly the best in his position in the world?

[zolayes 14,489]

A chance for Cech to prove how big he is ,, By being willing to take the 2nd place behind Courtois . Along with a coaching role .

[Tomo 21,751]

Continual evolution is the key to a successful and stable football club. That's were we went wrong last time, we let our key players gradually get older with no plan on who we replace them with, the result? 4 years off transition that were only just about to get out off.

My biggest example was 2008, we could have signed Modric for 16m, given him a couple off years to fully integrate into our team, then in 10/11 when Ballack left, Lamps slowed down and Essien returned a shadow off his old self, we have a brilliant 25 year old ready to be a key player for the next 7 years. Instead we signed a past his prime Deco who by that point was gone.

Hopefully lessons were learned, Cech may not be technically 'in decline' yet but it's best to act in advance as opposed to when it's to late.

[MrBlueGuy 1,552]

A chance for Cech to prove how big he is ,, By being willing to take the 2nd place behind Courtois . Along with a coaching role .

Perfectly said, if he has always been the nice guy everyone says he is, he will do it. Or maybe he is just another Cole/Lampard under AVB who sulks when things doesn't go his way? Tbf over the last 10 years he has never been challenged properly, now there is a clearly better player willing to compete with him and if he decides his ego is too big for that then he has to go no matter if he is a legend or not. This is similar with the Torres-Drogba situation but Drogba was much better than Torres at the time so he won in the end, but for example if back then Drogba was competing with Falcao/Cavani/Suarez/Aguero/Messi I am sure he probably wouldn't have been able to win.