Chelsea: Thibaut Courtois not making friends nor doing himself any favors

What do Chelsea FC, Loris Karius and Jordan Pickford have in common? Thibaut Courtois would be better off not opening his mouth about any of them.

Nearly every team sport has the odd position, the one with a singular responsibility for the team’s outcomes. The demands of the job, and often the physical position of this player in the game, sets the position as a breed apart. Goalkeepers in all sports, quarterbacks and pitchers tend to be highly idiosyncratic individuals, culturally and psychologically distinct from the rest of their squad. They often have more in common with each other than with their teammates. This keeps them tightly bound as a profession. In victory, they have a particular empathy for their vanquished counterpart.

Usually. Thibaut Courtois is becoming as dismissive of the goalkeeper brotherhood as he is of Chelsea FC. After the Champions League final, he brushed aside talk of an in-game concussion contributing to Loris Karius’ mistakes. He played with a concussion and did not commit any howlers, Courtois said, so he was dubious of Karius’ claims. Rather than show solidarity with his fellow keeper and perhaps take a step towards better player safety protocol (Chelsea know a thing or two about goalkeeper head injuries, mind you), Courtois shoved Karius back to the banter wolves.

Courtois continued on that streak after Belgium defeated England in the World Cup. Referring to Adnan Januszaj’s goal, Courtois said “I would have caught it,” mentioning how much taller he is than Pickford and criticizing his technique.

Pickford’s goalkeeping technique was, in fact, awkward and technically flawed. Gary Neville, among others, pointed it out and it was quite apparent. But that is not for Thibaut Courtois – a fellow goalkeeper (bad), the opposing goalkeeper (worse) and the victorious goalkeeper (omg wyd) – to point out.

Courtois’ comments about Karius and Pickford come after years of sly jabs about leaving Chelsea for Madrid. Those, in turn, come on the heels of his confrontations with Chelsea’s goalkeeping coach, Christophe Lollichon. Courtois has, at one point or another, alienated his coaches, the fans and he is now moving on to his peers.

This reputation could have a tangible impact on his future. No team wants an adverse figure in the locker room, one who is prone to strops and snark. Clubs have better things to do than smoothing out PR gaffes. He is also approaching the age where his club will expect him to mentor the younger keepers coming through the academy and training as the third-string goalkeeper. His transfer fees and attractiveness to clubs could take a hit from his increasingly well-documented attitude.

And when it is his turn to be the the (lower case) goat, other goalkeepers will be unwilling to stand up for him. Let’s say, purely hypothetically, Courtois were to allow two goals between his legs in the Champions League. Will another goalkeeper send him an encouraging text, or stand up for him on behalf of all goalkeepers in an interview? Why should they? At this point, Loris Karius would be justified in saying “At least I had a concussion. What was your excuse?” And Jordan Pickford could chime in with “Gee, maybe if your legs were shorter you could have closed them in time.” They hopefully would be classier and smarter than that. But if not, fair game.

The goalkeeper cuts an isolated figure under any circumstances. Thibaut Courtois is cutting himself off from the two most important avenues of professional support he can have: his club and his fellow keepers.

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If he wants to be a man apart, he is well on his way. But Chelsea, Belgium and his profession deserve better, particularly from someone as highly-rated.