Thibaut Courtois has made a strong statement about Jose Mourinho’s tenure this season before he was sacked. The goalkeeper believes that letting him go was the right decision despite several Chelsea fans showing their support towards the ‘Special One’ during his last days at the club.
Chelsea have suffered an indifferent season, currently languishing in 10th position in the Premier League table. Even though their recent form has been good under Guus Hiddink, results from the first half of their season have already done the damage.
And their goalkeeper told Belgian television station RTBF as to why their season has been so poor. “It is hard to explain why our season has been bad. Maybe it is as a result of our pre-season preparations, which were very brief.”
“We returned to training on July 16 and six days later we were already playing a match against New York Red Bulls.” Courtois feels the effects of a tiring pre-season left the team lacking fitness coming into the Community Shield game against Arsenal.
“We weren't in a good physical shape. We then lost to Arsenal in the Community Shield and went on to make a bad start in the league. A downward spiral set in.”
Sacking Mourinho was the right decision: Courtois
Chelsea only managed four wins in the first 16 matches losing nine. Their loss against current leaders Leicester City was the final nail in the coffin and Roman Abramovic decided that he had enough, sacking Mourinho in December. But the Blues haven’t lost a game since and are currently on the best unbeaten run in the league
The 23-year old stopper feels that the club had no option but to let go of Mourinho saying, “We needed a change of manager at that point - I have no doubts about it. We drew too many matches and we have also conceded goals too easily. I could have done better with some of them.”
Mourinho set for Premier League return
Chelsea fans might be set for a quick reunion with their former manager but not the one they would want. If reports in the media are true then Mourinho is set to become the next Manchester United coach after being rumored to have agreed a pre-contract agreement.
The manager’s appointment is not yet fully confirmed after the higher ups are still unsure if he is the right man to take the club forward. If they eventually decide to cancel the contract the club will have to pay him $7.24 million as compensation.