Thibaut Courtois

[BlueLion. 21,491]

There were people here worried about his capability to deal with the "physicality". Well, I think the moment said it all, when he went to claim an air ball and in the process of doing that planted Cahill on his ass and didn't even give a shit.

I don't think many people were serious with that... Courtois is an absolute tank!

[Steagles 70]

Courtois to sign a five year deal with CFC, per goal.com. I'm not sure how reliable the source is, but that is what they are claiming.

[Bir_CFC 3,455]

I think Courtois' major working point will be quick distribution in case of counterplay. At Atlético he's always been instructed to lie on the ground after a save and hold up play so everyone could get back into position. He shows the same tendency when playing for the Belgian NT. I'm curious to see if he can switch to fast breaks when necessary in the EPL. I hope he can because that hold up plays tends to get to my nerves sometimes

I think you could already see in preseason that he has been trying to release the ball early now. He already did it in preseason and I noticed because Cech never does it either so it was a contrast hence why it popped out as something different. He didn't do it much yesterday but he did look to release someone early almost every time. I'm guessing he just didn't find any good openings.

My question is really just about his saves very close and low to him, he tends to struggle against those imo and often parries them back right in front of goal. I'm curious to see if he makes those same mistakes this year.

[LukakutoStamford 779]

I think you could already see in preseason that he has been trying to release the ball early now. He already did it in preseason and I noticed because Cech never does it either so it was a contrast hence why it popped out as something different. He didn't do it much yesterday but he did look to release someone early almost every time. I'm guessing he just didn't find any good openings.

My question is really just about his saves very close and low to him, he tends to struggle against those imo and often parries them back right in front of goal. I'm curious to see if he makes those same mistakes this year.

Low saves are tough for a tall GK the one thing he does try to do is not only parry them but parry them back into the turf to get them to bounce high stock give him time to get back up into position, but yes he does need to improve upon the parrying direction as well as his kicks

[BenIsLegend 475]

Chelsea will now step up their efforts to secure Courtois to a 5 year contract & hope to reach an agreement inside next month
Courtois earns about £30,000 a week and can expect to see his wages more than double by committing his future to the Blues. (Telegraph) via @ChelsTransfer


Amazing he only earns 30k a week tbh.

[Fernando 6,464]

As one Belgium fan said, makes no sense getting rid of cech if this guy doesn't sign a new contract.

So hoping he signs a new one before the window closes.

Then that gives the club some breathing room.

[stroey 2,525]

As one Belgium fan said, makes no sense getting rid of cech if this guy doesn't sign a new contract.

So hoping he signs a new one before the window closes.

Then that gives the club some breathing room.

Dream scenario and master set, to let Thibo sign a new contract (5years) and Petr stays. After that, he can compete for the spot with Petr without the club need to worry that Thibo will leave when he's not playing.

[The Chels 2,502]

Amazing he only earns 30k a week tbh.

Compare that to Luke Shaw's 100k per week... Jose's not lying when he says Shaw would have completely ruined our wage structure!

[nyikolajevics 2,578]

Chelsea will now step up their efforts to secure Courtois to a 5 year contract & hope to reach an agreement inside next month

Courtois earns about £30,000 a week and can expect to see his wages more than double by committing his future to the Blues. (Telegraph) via @ChelsTransfer

Amazing he only earns 30k a week tbh.

Well, he was a 19 years old, unexperienced boy when we signed him so 30k is not that bad.

He earned this new contract, no doubt.

[Madmax 9,219]

“The manager said [he was starting]an hour before the game,” he said. “It was nice. I came here obviously to play. I know that Petr is a great goalkeeper so there is a lot of competition but, when you come back from a successful loan, you hope to play. Otherwise it would maybe have been better for me to go to another team.

“It is nice that he put faith in me and it is now for me to prove his faith is right. I need to work hard in every training session and game to gain the confidence of my team-mates and the manager.”Courtois revealed Cech has been a helpful ally since he returned from Atletico as a Spanish champion, despite the obvious rivalry between the pair, and believes it will benefit Chelsea for the veteran to stay and fight to reclaim his place. “Of course I want Petr to stay,” added the Belgian. “In training I can still learn from him because he has a lot of experience. He can give me good tips about the Premier League, things I might not know in the start. He is nice to me. We are training very well and he is still proving he is a great goalkeeper. For the team is better to have two good goalkeepers. I don’t have a problem if he stays. Hopefully I can play well and stay in the team.”

Courtois concedes that competition from Cech is not the only incentive to improve at Chelsea, with the club aiming for the Premier League title this season. He said: “Always when you are here you have pressure to perform because you are playing in a top team. There is always a pressure to win every game and to be important and I am trying to do that in every game I play.”

[Jase 43,479]

Chelsea will now step up their efforts to secure Courtois to a 5 year contract & hope to reach an agreement inside next month

Courtois earns about £30,000 a week and can expect to see his wages more than double by committing his future to the Blues. (Telegraph) via @ChelsTransfer

Amazing he only earns 30k a week tbh.

How so? He was only 19 years old when we signed him and he had hardly even achieved anything in his career back then.

[NishC300 1,865]

Gary Neville made some excellent statements about him on MNF. Absolutely brilliant the way he catches the ball and releases all the pressure for the defenders. Cech has definitely struggled at coming out of his goal and catching aerial balls in recent years.

[ParNolio7 285]

Amazing he only earns 30k a week tbh.

I'd be quite happy with 30K a week tbh

[CHOULO19 24,332]

“Of course I want Petr to stay,” added the Belgian. “In training I can still learn from him because he has a lot of experience. He can give me good tips about the Premier League, things I might not know in the start.

Exactly what I was saying in the Cech thread.

[nyikolajevics 2,578]

I'd be quite happy with 30K a week tbh

I would be happy with 30k a year..

[manpe 10,861]

I'd be quite happy with 30K a week tbh

I'm sure you would. These are top footballers we're talking about though, they're not regular people. Some of them STILL manage to go broke with those salaries.

[LukakutoStamford 779]

They go broke because they think the money won't stop and they keep getting bigger contracts but this only represents a very small % of footballers. Think about how many GKs thought they were good enough to play CL football at top club but didn't make it, we're talking about millions here.

The money issue is about relativism to others in the same profession. The only different is that he makes 30k/wk which comes to 1.5 a year, but there's a difference between being rich and becoming wealthy. Most footballers become rich and throw it away because they don't know how to turn their riches into wealth.

[Myself 793]

I'm sure you would. These are top footballers we're talking about though, they're not regular people. Some of them STILL manage to go broke with those salaries.

Then they're doing something very, very wrong.