Thibaut Courtois steps up as a pass recycling option when Chelsea bunker in

Chelsea played so deep against Manchester City they brought Thibaut Courtois into the regular ball rotation schema. The goalkeeper’s stats sheet revealed another detail of Antonio Conte’s most protective and risk-averse strategies.

When Antonio Conte shifted Chelsea to the 3-4-3 last season, one of the many worries about the Blues’ ability to sustain the tactic was Thibaut Courtois. Courtois is an excellent shot-stopper, but he is not a ball-playing goal-keeper. He is certainly nothing close to being a Manuel Neuer-style sweeper-keeper, or even a buccaneering ball-handler like Willy Caballero.

Chelsea made 392 passes against Manchester City, their second-fewest of the season. Only against Tottenham in week two – when the Blues were dealing with two suspensions and an injury to Eden Hazard – did the Blues spend so little time on the ball, with 280 passes on 32% possession.

Thibaut Courtois had almost identical passing involvement in the two games. He made 36 passes against Tottenham: 12.86% of Chelsea’s total. The goalkeeper had 12.76% – or 50 passes – against Manchester City.

In Chelsea’s home fixture against Manchester City in match-week 7, the Blues had only three more passes than they did at the Etihad. Of their 395 passes in the first 1-0 loss, Courtois completed 35, or 8.86%. Chelsea’s only other game of similar pass volume and Courtois’ involvement in the pass rotation was the early January game against Arsenal. The keeper made just under 10% of the team’s 420 passes.

Unsurprisingly, the more Chelsea have the ball, the less need they have to involve Thibaut Courtois. Under normal circumstances, the extent of Courtois’ involvement is to start the play moving up-field. If Chelsea are maintaining possession and racking up their pass count, they are likely doing it in the opposition’s half. Courtois’ total number of passes and the ratio of his passes to the team’s total decrease as the team pass count goes up.

However, when the Blues take an extremely defensive posture, Courtois’ pass numbers spike. As the Blues concede possession and the opposition control the ball in Chelsea’s half, Courtois does not just wait for the ball to come to him. He must move into the space to provide an outlet to his beleaguered centre-backs, and quickly move the ball across the pitch before the opponent can take away his passing lanes and close him down one-on-one.

Against Manchester City, his passes originated not just with his saves and catches. Antonio Rudiger, Cesar Azpilicueta and even Cesc Fabregas looked to Courtois as a recycle option to work around Manchester City’s high press. When Chelsea sit deep against top opponents, Courtois has to double as another outfield player. He must be as skilled with his feet and aware of positioning and space as anyone else.

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Thibaut Courtois’s ball-handling and passing developed over the course of last season and the first half of the current campaign. His involvement in the passing schema on Sunday showed how effectively he has added to his skill set, even if he still lags Manuel Neuer or even Manchester City’s Ederson in this attribute.

Just as importantly, Courtois’ passing against City showed how Antonio Conte’s tactics – while disturbing and frustrating to many (this writer included) – were of a piece with how he has approached games like this all season. Courtois played a similar role and the Blues played a similar pattern as they did in the first Manchester City fixture, and against their north London rivals.

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Chelsea only won one of those four games, leaving many questions of creativity and rigidity unanswered. But Sunday’s performance was hardly the outlier many initially thought.