Thibaut Courtois

[iseah100 5,612]

Mikel-Varane swap

Varane+20m or no deal.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

No news on him being injured.

Must be Jose that wanted to protect him (which wasn't really necessary IMO).

But in the end Petr really saved us 2 times today!

Still you shouldn't play mind games with your GK I think... always dangerous.

Mind games?

No, not in my opinion. Simply rotation.

Cech is three games away from breaking the PL clean sheets record and his history here means he deserves the chances to try and attain that achievement.

Courtois will just have to deal with that fact. While you have another of the world's top five goalkeepers you can never be an undisputed number one. Courtois has to appreciate the fact he has played 66% of our games this season, because the other 34% have seen Petr Cech take to the field. Petr freakin Cech. We're not talking about Ross Turnbull here. We're seeing Mourinho use two world class goalkeepers, and why ever not? If it brings the best out of the two of them and they're both relatively happy, then it can only be a good thing for the Club.

When Petr inevitably moves on in the summer, Courtois will be the number one for definite. BUT - until then, he's going to have to bide his time. If he wanted to play for a club where he'd play 90% of the games he should have asked to stay in Spain for another year. Cech is goalkeeping royalty and Thibaut has to respect that fact, which I'm sure he does. I think he actually relishes having to be at his best because he knows one sub-par game and that could be curtains for the remainder of the season.

[Hamilton 2,120]

Mourinho said he needed a rest..

[DanishBlue 426]

It's not that wierd tbh, Courtois has been bad in the last couple of games (he couldn't handle simple crosses against Villa) and because of that he had to be benched when we have another WC keeper in Cech. End of...

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Courtois hasn't been "dropped". He's being subtly reminded by José that he isn't undisputed in his position. He'll be back in for the PSG game, 100%.

[MCM4PR3Z 411]

Now, I really really wonder how Courtois is going to perform against PSG if he plays. Option 1. His confidence got a blow and he will play bad. 2. He got reminded that there is another world class goalkeeper at the bench and he well shine. 3. He really was mentally tired like Mourinho said and a game off does him well.

I have no idea which one of the 3 is true, but I certainly hope it's not option 1.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

[Madmax 9,219]

Why must every decision/choice/action be minutely scrutinised and pondered over? A whole lotta philosophers and thinkers around these parts.

[Stingray 9,441]

Why must every decision/choice/action be minutely scrutinised and pondered over? A whole lotta philosophers and thinkers around these parts.

I wouldn't call them philosophers, more sophists [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

[zolayes 14,489]

this may well keep Petr here next season

[rantdeville 195]

Why must every decision/choice/action be minutely scrutinised and pondered over? A whole lotta philosophers and thinkers around these parts.

In a sense, I think we have an obligation to understand the nature behind the decisions that are made around us. I'd be much more worried if we appealed to the vanities and authorities and did not question their motives.

There is a limit, I concede, where a desire to understand dissolves into splitting hairs...

Anyways, will be interesting to see how this turns out.

[Stingray 9,441]

In a sense, I think we have an obligation to understand the nature behind the decisions that are made around us. I'd be much more worried if we appealed to the vanities and authorities and did not question their motives.

There is a limit, I concede, where a desire to understand dissolves into splitting hairs...

Anyways, will be interesting to see how this turns out.

This is exactly what I meant by sophists - splitting hairs or debating how much angels fit on the tip of a needle [emoji41]

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Actually if you want to know the reason why Cech was preferred against Everton, all you need to know is listen to what Jose said after the match. He said that with Cesc and Diego out, and more importantly, JT being a doubt up until an hour before the match, he felt we needed an experienced leader and communicator on the pitch.

[MCM4PR3Z 411]

Courtois has one big problem that he can't help at all. In an interview earlier this season he said:

"Normally, I coach my defense a lot, but at Chelsea everybody knows what they are doing. As a 22 year old newcomer in Chelsea, you can't tell John Terry how he should run. At the moment, I let John organise the defense. But as long as I keep proving myself, I will be able to coach the defense more and more."

[petre.ispirescu 4,928]

Courtois has one big problem that he can't help at all. In an interview earlier this season he said:

"Normally, I coach my defense a lot, but at Chelsea everybody knows what they are doing. As a 22 year old newcomer in Chelsea, you can't tell John Terry how he should run. At the moment, I let John organise the defense. But as long as I keep proving myself, I will be able to coach the defense more and more."

A "problem" in the way that he can't do it because of the quality in front of him, not that he is not capable of doing it.

His commanding of area when in Atletico was immaculate.

[MCM4PR3Z 411]

A "problem" in the way that he can't do it because of the quality in front of him, not that he is not capable of doing it.

His commanding of area when in Atletico was immaculate.

Yeah, but Jose has put him on the bench because he wanted the coaching of Petr. So the only reason why he is benched is the fact that he is 22 years old.

[Atholy 1,293]

Mind games?

No, not in my opinion. Simply rotation.

Cech is three games away from breaking the PL clean sheets record and his history here means he deserves the chances to try and attain that achievement.

Courtois will just have to deal with that fact. While you have another of the world's top five goalkeepers you can never be an undisputed number one. Courtois has to appreciate the fact he has played 66% of our games this season, because the other 34% have seen Petr Cech take to the field. Petr freakin Cech. We're not talking about Ross Turnbull here. We're seeing Mourinho use two world class goalkeepers, and why ever not? If it brings the best out of the two of them and they're both relatively happy, then it can only be a good thing for the Club.

When Petr inevitably moves on in the summer, Courtois will be the number one for definite. BUT - until then, he's going to have to bide his time. If he wanted to play for a club where he'd play 90% of the games he should have asked to stay in Spain for another year. Cech is goalkeeping royalty and Thibaut has to respect that fact, which I'm sure he does. I think he actually relishes having to be at his best because he knows one sub-par game and that could be curtains for the remainder of the season.

Hi Alex! I understand what you're saying and I can agree on that.

Let me rephrase what I wanted to say with 'mind games'. (Also bare in mind that I posted this before José gave his explanation, which was a very reasonable one imo!)

In general I'm not a big fan of rotation amongst GK's and certainly not in benching them after a weaker game. IMO a goalkeepers most loyal friend is: confidence! So as a coach, you cannot protect your 1st GK enough I think. Even after a total blunder... (or maybe even two)... I would still show confidence to my 1st GK because that's just what they need. Also frankly I don't care if that 1st GK is Thibaut or Petr (this is José's choice and the boys should fight for this spot in training).

I absolutely had nu clue Petr was this close of getting the EPL clean sheets records. He deserves this more than anyone else. So sure I would take this in consideration when interchanging those two! But I would only do this if I knew my 1st GK (in this case Thibaut) is mentally strong enough to cope with this situation of being benched after 'a weaker game'. Apparently this is also the case with Courtois, otherwise I'm pretty sure José wouldn't have done it.

In the long shot I also don't think it's a healthy thing to have 2 of the T0P 5 GK in the world in the same team. They miraculously seem to have a good connection at the moment (let's pray this remains until we are the League Champs!)... but eventually a situation like this is a recipe for disaster. Furthermore it's not really fair to one of the two that have to be happy with 'second pick'. None of the Top 5 Goalies in the world deserve this status. It makes my heart bleed to see Petr on the bench all the time!!

But from our (fans) point of view... we are very spoiled and we should enjoy this as long as we could of course !!!

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Hi Alex! I understand what you're saying and I can agree on that.

Let me rephrase what I wanted to say with 'mind games'. (Also bare in mind that I posted this before José gave his explanation, which was a very reasonable one imo!)

In general I'm not a big fan of rotation amongst GK's and certainly not in benching them after a weaker game. IMO a goalkeepers most loyal friend is: confidence! So as a coach, you cannot protect your 1st GK enough I think. Even after a total blunder... (or maybe even two)... I would still show confidence to my 1st GK because that's just what they need. Also frankly I don't care if that 1st GK is Thibaut or Petr (this is José's choice and the boys should fight for this spot in training).

I absolutely had nu clue Petr was this close of getting the EPL clean sheets records. He deserves this more than anyone else. So sure I would take this in consideration when interchanging those two! But I would only do this if I knew my 1st GK (in this case Thibaut) is mentally strong enough to cope with this situation of being benched after 'a weaker game'. Apparently this is also the case with Courtois, otherwise I'm pretty sure José wouldn't have done it.

In the long shot I also don't think it's a healthy thing to have 2 of the T0P 5 GK in the world in the same team. They miraculously seem to have a good connection at the moment (let's pray this remains until we are the League Champs!)... but eventually a situation like this is a recipe for disaster. Furthermore it's not really fair to one of the two that have to be happy with 'second pick'. None of the Top 5 Goalies in the world deserve this status. It makes my heart bleed to see Petr on the bench all the time!!

But from our (fans) point of view... we are very spoiled and we should enjoy this as long as we could of course !!!

If it wasn't Cech, and if Cech himself wasn't so close to the record, there would be next to no rotation, of course.