Thibaut Courtois

[Term-X 7,891]

Easy fix, play petr first half. Play thibaut 2nd half. Problem solved

Yea, because that would be sustainable, wouldn't it.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Imagine the reaction if he makes a mistake....

I imagine people would just say he's young but clearly talented and to stick by him because he'll come good in the end.

[kellzfresh 7,226]

Starting Courtois is very important, because it shows our other loaned players that if you're good enough, you play for Chelsea. They will put in extra 10% effort to be acknowledged and get the shirt.

[Bir_CFC 3,455]

Courtois is the right decision. He's earned it. Yeah he doesn't have PL experience but he's gotten 3 years of experience in Spain and Europe now. Enough experience imo to not question it anymore. Cech on the other hand has to find a new club, doesn't make sense to keep him around or for him to stick around. He's still got a lot of years left at the top.

[DanishBlue 426]

None of our players out on loan are on Courtois' level though, but it is no doubt a nice message to send to the players.

[Myself 793]

wooohoo fuck yes

Don't get me wrong I love me some big pete

[TomCFC 356]

Good luck, Thibaut. Start of a new era.

[DavidEU 2,023]

Going from starting the 13/14 season with one of the best goalkeepers in the world, to starting the 14/15 season with (another) one of the best goalkeepers in the world.

Us Chelsea fans are ridiculously lucky nowadays!

[LukakutoStamford 779]

I get why people get upset. I went through this same thing as a SF 49ers fan when they had to decide between Joe Montana and Steve Young. Montana still had some left in the tank but the reality was he had 3 years whereas Steve had 10-12 more years left.

The problem is that if you keep Cech and get rid of Courtois is that you have 5 years of Cech who will be declining albeit at an unknown rate. Then you still have to find a replacement. Sure good goalies are easy to find but it's quite difficult to find a top 5 GK in the world let alone a GK who has world #1 potential.

By choosing Courtois it's likely you are solving any GK questions for 10 years barring injury which allows you to focus on other issues and allows to look for Courtois's potential replacement.

However you rate the two GKs there isn't enough of a difference to overwhelm the good business aspect of the choice. Sure it stinks to have to lose Petr but his replacement is youth extremely talented and has Europa Experience, Champions League experience, La Liga experience, international experience and World Cup experience. Sure he doesn't have PL experience but it's not like he's coming straight from the Belgian league or MLS. He's used to dealing with world class players. He owns Messi at the moment as well.

[CMS 382]

Do you remember Seaman in the latter stages of his career? He was all over the place and conceding corner goals against Macedonia.

VDS is the only example in recent times that stayed to a high level till he was 40, for one VDS there are hundreds of Cassilas and Givens.

Later stages not at 32.

[Peppi85 110]

a lil teaser

[Nero 1,794]

[johnnythefirst 1,076]

Didn't he say the exact opposite yesterday?

[johnnythefirst 1,076]

Cech at Courtois' age was miles better.

Where? In Football Manager? He was just about getting recognition outside the Czech Republic and France at that time. Courtois has a Spanish Title, Cup and two European Finals under his belt. Do you realize how insane it is they won the league competing with Barca and Real?

I'm not saying Cech wasn't as good. He might have been even better, who knows? But saying he was "miles better" is an emotional statement you could never prove.

[Stingray 9,441]

Ok. This is it Thibault. Let's show the world why everyone thinks you re the golden boy. To displace a monument like Cech, at least you need to be very awesome in your climb towards greatness.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

I'm very happy that he's coming into the team with general support and acceptance of the decision from the fans.

Yesterday, Petr was asked about his debut for us and he said he remembered everyone chanting "Carlo, Carlo" and that no one wanted him in the team.

That must have added immense pressure. I'm glad Thibaut has strong support from the fans already.

[Stingray 9,441]

I'm very happy that he's coming into the team with general support and acceptance of the decision from the fans.

Yesterday, Petr was asked about his debut for us and he said he remembered everyone chanting "Carlo, Carlo" and that no one wanted him in the team.

That must have added immense pressure. I'm glad Thibaut has strong support from the fans already.

Lets all hope he does well and we win.

[Myself 793]

If he really is going to be our no. 1, we HAVE to get a new contract tied down sooner rather than later.