Petr Cech vs Thibaut Courtois: Is the Belgian hotshot ready to displace the Chelsea veteran?

Thibaut Courtois

Jose Mourinho will be the envy of managers across the world next season as he faces the tough decision of who to pick in the battle between two of the best goalkeepers in the world in recent seasons.

After helping Belgium reach the World Cup finals in Brazil next summer, Thibaut Courtois has told the media that he does not plan to play second fiddle to Petr Cech when he returns to Stamford Bridge next season.

“I want to play, I will not be sitting on the bench,” said the 21-year-old.

“At Atletico I feel great and being here allows me to play in the Champions League.

“I’ve grown a lot at Atletico, especially last season when we won the European Super Cup and the Copa del Rey.

“I’ve made great progress, especially in terms of speed, reflexes and experience. I am in my best form and I feel like I am among the five best goalkeepers in the world.”

Despite his claims, Courtois will face an uphill battle if he is to take the no.1 jersey away from Cech – who was a key member of Mourinho’s success during his first spell in London.

Cech holds the Premier League record for keeping 25 clean sheets on the way to the club’s first title during the Roman Abramovich era in 2004/05 and Mourinho holds a great working relationship with the Czech Republic international.

His position came under threat after Mourinho left in 2007; losing his form which some blamed on Cech’s confidence issues after a near-fatal collision with Reading’s Stephen Hunt left him with a fractured skull. His form has steadily improved over the past few seasons though, returning to the top of his game to again become one of the best in the world.

Last season’s statistics are evidence to how far Cech has come since his injury, finishing the season top of the goalkeeping performance charts and keeping the second highest number of clean sheets.

He has started the current campaign in a similar fashion, again finding himself top of the Performance Score pile as Mourinho looks to bring the Premier League crown back to Stamford Bridge.

Cech was the best performing goalkeeper in the Premier League last season (Click on image to enlarge)

Cech’s future is not cut-and-dry though, and Courtois has been putting pressure on the former Rennes shot-stopper with some scintillating form of his own in his triple-season loan spell at Atletico Madrid. Last season saw him build on winning the 2011/12 Europa League with Atleti by producing vital performances throughout the season, culminating in him lifting the Copa Del Rey crown in May.

He, himself, was towards the top of the performance score table, finishing second only to Athletic Bilbao’s Gorka Iraizoz. Courtois was, however, miles ahead of anyone else in La Liga when it came to keeping clean sheets, shutting the opposition out 20 times in his 37 appearances in the league, 8 more than his nearest challenger.

The level of concentration needed to perform at this level is way beyond his years as goalkeepers tend to hit their peak during their early thirties. There are obvious exceptions, of course, and one of them is currently going through a rough time of things at Manchester City after a few costly errors have brought his experience into question.

Joe Hart is a prime example of what could go wrong for Mourinho if he was to choose Courtois over Cech next season, but you could also pose the question, how can a goalkeeper gain experience if you don’t take the risk of playing him.

When Chelsea signed the young Belgium international from Genk in 2010 they probably didn’t expect him to progress to the level he’s playing at so quickly and face the dilemma of losing potentially the best goalkeeper in the world because of not being able to accommodate him so early in his career.

The final decision however, will always be Mourinho’s and Chelsea fans will trust him to make the correct decision going off his history.

He faced a similar dilemma in 2004 when he replaced the acrobatic Carlo Cudicini with a 22-year-old Cech (Courtois will be the same age when he returns); a decision that has, nearly a decade on, proven to be an astute one.