Thibaut Courtois

[Spike 12,049]

1 minute ago, Captain Ahmed said:

You're alongside him in the locker room to assert this point of view. @Spike tell them what the Montreal Canadiens fans were saying about Carey Price in the old days (unconcerned.insouciant,bad attitude)

Yep, he was pretty much 50/50 staying or being dealt. I watched a short doco about it a while back and Habs fans were really losing patience with Price. There was a hugely controversial decision made by the office on keeping Halak or Price, they went with the later and eventually Price turned from Public Enemy No.1 to the favoured hero of Montreal.

Price is now a franchise player, head and shoulders above all the other goaltenders in the NHL. He is so dominant on form, he carries the Habs to the playoffs. It's not like the Habs are a bad team either, they are quite talented but without Price, they wouldn't be anywhere close the playoffs. 

The Halak vs. Price situation really mirrors Cech vs Courtois in a lot of ways.

[Tomo 21,733]

5 hours ago, Leif said:

I still would. Anyone who plays for this club, but doesn't care about it, is a piece of shit in my opinion, and I have *never* seen a player care less about this club. Both Torres and Gallas look like Terry compared to him.

Where have you got that from? He didn't look too happy last season and probably was  keeping his options open just incase last season was a one off, you can't expect a world class keeper to commit his prime years to midtable.

[MCM4PR3Z 411]

7 hours ago, Tomo said:

Where have you got that from? He didn't look too happy last season and probably was  keeping his options open just incase last season was a one off, you can't expect a world class keeper to commit his prime years to midtable.

No, you don't understand it! We need the best goalkeeper in the world and he must be happy playing mid table football!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Muzchap 8,966]

All contract negotiations reach a stalemate- then compromise is reached. 

Storm in a teacup

[Leif 6,006]

14 hours ago, Captain Ahmed said:

You're alongside him in the locker room to assert this point of view. 

Isn't that a bit like saying, you can't call Oscar shit unless you've played with him?  Isn't that a bit like saying, a detective can't deduce a murderer's motive, because he wasn't there when he was slinging the knife?  We probably misunderstood what Hitler was about tbh, we weren't there in Germany.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

He is quite outlandish but I think it's something we've just got to be like 'meh' with it. 

The club have shown their desire to keep him though so it kind of just feeds into his ego. It was a massive thing for them to let Cech go at all, let alone for Arsenal, and they're not going to be in any rush to sell the one guy they had a sure-fire replacement in. The power-shift at Chelsea has been an interesting observation, our key players have shown desires/hints all hasn't been well and they could have jumped ship but the club has refused to entertain those - Costa for example. 

But now our 'key players' category has somewhat changed. Now it's players like Moses, Pedro, Kante who are in this bracket and less so Terry, Fabregas, Ivanovic. 

[Gilvorak 3,734]

Best goalkeeper in the League. Look at De Gea now that United aren't conceding 5/6 chances per game.

[MCM4PR3Z 411]

4 hours ago, Gilvorak said:

Best goalkeeper in the League. Look at De Gea now that United aren't conceding 5/6 chances per game.

 

I read about every day an article of a current or ex-goalkeeper that says that having 10 chances against you every game is the easiest situation you can have as a goalkeeper. When you only have 1 or 2 chances against you every game, you're mentally drained after the game and it's ten times harder to make sure you do your job when those chances suddenly come.

I think that the general image of goalkeeping is completely wrong when you hear professional goalkeepers speak about their job.

[MCM4PR3Z 411]

5 hours ago, Gilvorak said:

Best goalkeeper in the League. Look at De Gea now that United aren't conceding 5/6 chances per game.

Before he made 50 ridiculous mistakes every season but got enough chances to show he could make excellent saves too. And because he's United, the media loves him.

When De Gea only has 1 or 2 chances against him every game, people will see his true capacity. He will not be able to correct his ridiculous mistake 5 minutes later.

[kellzfresh 7,229]

I found some quotes on Courtois talking tactics with skysports. He likes tactics a lot from what I can tell.

It was a tough start. One that suggested Conte would need time. Instead, Chelsea are flying. And Courtois is convinced he knows why.
"I think it's the system," he says. "It not only gives cover for the goalkeeper, in general it's a good system. When one guy can drop down and you can still have four at the back, when one guy can put pressure high up and you still have a solid shape that's quite good.
"We've played it a few times with Belgium now too and it's a system that's very hard to play against. In the summer we were working on another system. It was after the Arsenal game that we decided to go to three at the back. Since then we have trained it constantly."

In fact, he speaks with the lucidity of a coach when discussing the details that have helped turn Chelsea's form around. In particular, the impact that the changes have made on his options as a goalkeeper.
"With a three you can put two in the middle, two wide and have your wing-backs open," he explains. "If the opposition full-backs close them they risk leaving the winger alone. Then I can maybe go to the winger. So it's hard for a team to really put you under pressure high."

 

[MCM4PR3Z 411]

Courtois likes tactics since he was born, so playing under Martinez, Mourinho, Simeone and Conte must be a dream for him. He also has an opinion about everything and is a giant. So I can only see him as a coach or as an analyst after his career. And he has too much of an opinion to settle as an assistant-coach. So who knows he will be our coach in 25 years.

[BlueLyon 9,359]

 

Courtois looks like that kid from primary school who pulls all kind of shit tricks but pretends to be innocent.

[LAM09 6,744]

5 hours ago, MCM4PR3Z said:

Courtois likes tactics since he was born, so playing under Martinez, Mourinho, Simeone and Conte must be a dream for him. He also has an opinion about everything and is a giant. So I can only see him as a coach or as an analyst after his career. And he has too much of an opinion to settle as an assistant-coach. So who knows he will be our coach in 25 years.

Martinez.... 

[MCM4PR3Z 411]

10 hours ago, LAM09 said:

Martinez.... 

Martinez is a great tactical coach, just because he lost his grip on the players in his last 2 years in Everton doesn't mean he's a bad coach.

[LAM09 6,744]

13 minutes ago, MCM4PR3Z said:

Martinez is a great tactical coach, just because he lost his grip on the players in his last 2 years in Everton doesn't mean he's a bad coach.

Didn't he get Wigan relegated or did I imagine that?

[Amblève. 4,995]

Absolutely fantastic performance from Courtois today. Not only did he keep us in the game when his teammates in front of him failed but he also stayed calm thoughout the game and distributed the ball brilliantly, something that you ABOLUTELY NEED from your GK in a high-tempo game like this.

[MCM4PR3Z 411]

Courtois was the best goalkeeper worldwide besides passing abilities for sure. But if he keeps on passing the ball like this, Neuer is certainly history.

[Beepu 1,714]

I have been surprised by his passing and calmness on the ball. Great to see him celebrating at the other end as well.

Get that contract signed!