Insensitive And Senseless, Were Chelsea Wrong To Dispose Legendary Petr Cech For Thibaut Courtois?

By Ewah Chika. 

When Petr Cech was sold to Arsenal for £10 million in the summer of 2015, Chelsea fans were upset though not for the sale of the legend rather due to the fact Chelsea were strengthening bitter rivals Arsenal with Cech's sale. Fast forward to two months  and it was clear from the opening season game against Swansea that Courtois was miles behind the former Rennes goalkeeper at the Bridge. 

It is now even clearer that Chelsea were wrong to have traded their club legend for an insensitive and less passionate Belgian who has been sent off thrice since the sale of Cech in 2015. 

Cech on his part is a legend in Chelsea after spending 11 years at the club winning their first league title in 50 years in 2005 before going on to win the Champions League (first goalkeeper of a London club to win that),  Europa League, FA Cup and League Cup in his time at the club. Though Jose Mourinho's time in Chelsea is littered with transfer market failings judging from the sale of the likes of Kelvin De Bruyne, Juan Mata and Romelu Lukaku, yet the sale of Cech for the sake of Courtois shouldn't be blamed entirely on him given the age difference between the pair (Cech-34 and Courtois 24) and Courtois' excellent performance while in Atletico Madrid and in his first season in Chelsea as the West London club went on to win the league title (2014/2015 season). 

Since the exit of Cech, Courtois seems insensitive, lacking passion and senseless as he has not spared any opportunity to lash out at the Stamford Bridge club. The Belgian while on international duty during the Euro's took out time to shade the West London club revealing he was more comfortable while on international duty with Belgium compared to his time in Chelsea where he feels Chelsea's defence are less competent and offer him little or no protection. This season as his form continues to regress, the former Genk goalkeeper has in his typical manner attacked his employers again saying " I feel half Spanish, when I said goodbye I had a bad time. I had cold blood. I cried. 

"I have a contract with Chelsea for three seasons, in 2018, when I enter the final year of the contract, we will assess whether to renew or leave ," he concluded this week. 

Courtois this season has already conceded six goals  in five games  and was directly at fault for the two goals scored by Liverpool last week and also the first goal in the game against Swansea a fortnight ago. Rather than work on his form, the Belgian has instead focussed on making derogatory statements about his Chelsea , disrespecting his team-mates and publicly making a come and get me plea to the two Madrid (Real and Atletico) clubs as he feels this will force Chelsea to sell him below his market price while Cech on the other hand though no longer one of the three best goalkeepers in the world at the moment , has brought a calming presence coupled with his experienced leadership to a young Arsenal side since his sale by Chelsea. 

In a bid to make the Belgian more confortable, Chelsea this season have also disposed long serving goalkeeping coach Christophe Lollichon who had been at the club since 2004 after joining with Cech from Rennes based on the recommendation of the former Chelsea goalkeeper.  

To buttress further, Courtois  is clearly better than he has performed so far in Chelsea after winning the Europa League, Copa del Rey and the Spanish La Liga performing at the very top level while in Spain. It appears the Belgian is lacking motivation with his heart far from London judging from his utterances since joining Chelsea. 

Conte is not one to condone a rotten apple who will undo the work he has done so far at the club and as expected isn't afraid to reprimand the goalkeeper if he feels he has gone beyond his boundaries. With Ashir Begovic having a rich Premier League experience having played for both Portsmouth and Stoke for years although he was unconvincing in his first game in the league cup against Leicester on Wednesday , Courtois should better be reminded he isn't indispensable and is presently constituting a nuisance and a liability for the London Club.